Freedom, Fluidity, Formations & The Future | The Deep Dive 

We were all living inside of a box and your question helped us break out of it. Well done, Chris

Chris is there when a viral moment is needed. ASMR, flaunting his thunder thighs, not charging his latop or getting shot down by Slot, he's the man to get the job done. Pure gold for the channel.

Feel like all fans wanted the answer to that question. It really loosened him up and made it a better interview. Good job.

Yeh Chris, you asked the best question, and Arne wasn't having a go at you, he said about whoever suggested 4-2-3-1....so don't worry....I hope you get some good interviews with him and have a chuckle about it.....and he is Dutch and they do come across as arrogant sometimes....just a cultural thing....

Thanks for asking a real football question and not a variation of "are you in intimidated by Klopp/Guardiola?" like everyone else.

His answer is very much in keeping with the modern day managers Klopp, Pep, Alonso etc. But I thought his explanation of defence was very telling, because we were very high risk high return under Klopp and we relied on VVD and Alisson's 1v1 qualities last season. I don't think we will see as much reliance on that under slot and there will be a bit more structure.

Don't worry, Chris, it was not your fault. You were misinformed by Josh, on the formation.😂

I wouldn't devalue the moment. His answer actually was exactly the info you wanted. It couldn't have been a better answer, and your question unlocked it. I'd appreciate it, not call it being ended

Honestly, its the kind of intelligible questions we should be asking to help improve our understanding of football as fans. Rather than questions that generate headlines.

Good shit, boys! It's interesting to see/hear the different things said about Slot's style of play from both him and others. Slot has mentioned he is an admirer of Pep and his style of football, which is very much positinalism to me, yet also talks about "freedom." These two statements are in opposition to one another. Although Pep's system seems to be 1 side positionalism with the winger staying wide and attacking his man while the other side generally has a bit of freedom to move in and move back. I'm curious to see Slot's interpretation of these somewhat contracting priciples and how he sets up this squad so we can have a proper go at what he IS doing rather than what he did or what we think he's gonna do.

4-1-4-1. Thats will be lethal if Slot gets it right. 2 wingers 2 tens 😋 The emphasis is on rhe interchange between your winger and the No10 . Thats where the fun happens. Thats the whole point of playing that formation really. And you're quite flexible to slip into any shape defending wirh it. Go on Slot 💪 La Laaa La La La

Brilliant question…I was Wondering that myself-because I thought he played more of a 4-2-3-1 when I watched Feynord play in the CL. Gotta remember though that klopp didn’t really play a traditional 4-3-3 for close to 6 years….he played a very free flowing system. He’s implemented a 4-5-1, a 4-3-1-2 false 9, a 4-2-4, box 4-4-2 system and an interchanging 3-2-2-3. Defensively, it was more of a 4-3-2-1. The difference is we all adjusted to trusting what klopp was implementing. Hope slot shows versatility and does well.

Very good show and I agree with the conclusion that it’s a deep squad with many possibilities. I still think we’re 2-3 players short. I’d like to see a left footed RW and CB and possibly another DM. This is probably my favourite redmen show. Pls keep em coming 👊🏼

Great question, i love listening to you both you talk a lot of sense level headed and good to listen to. Keep up the good work.

Great show lads and very good insights into players and Slotto. Before I forget at about 15:00...y'all referred to Darwin's goal conversion % club v country etc. etc. ... I feel that needs to be caveated by two things that cancel out the assist taking an extra touch etc. .... and that is the complete inexplicable EASY tap ins he missed and also, the seemingly South American curse we have of him hitting the feckin cross-bar a million times. He topped the woodwork stat with 9 times - DOUBLE anyone else - he'd have been 4th highest scorer if he slotted those and would have matched having the 5th highest shots of 108 with Haaland on 121. I just don't know where the hell to fall on this guy.... love him for attitude, workrate, passion, mentality and skill... but feck me if he just concentrated/focussed an extra 15% on his finishing he'd be world class... and the thing is we need clinical upfront if we want to compete for anything in '25. Why? Because other club's rebuilds are going to come right I reckon and it means we CANNOT waste chances like he did all season. Guess we'll just have to see how it and Slot's plans shake out. Up the Reds!!

CHRIS. You asked the question that ALL fans want to hear. And got us an insight we didn’t have previously, can’t say that about any question asked

6:45 yes formation doesn’t necessarily equate to actual positions on the grass but the roles are different with different formations.

Really interesting Video! Thank you lads, YNWA 👍💯

Josh needs to write a book on different tactics and how they compare with each other. About time we got a book solely on football tactics. ❤ Gr8 job guys, can't wait for the preseason to start fully.

Chris beats himself up to much about that question but it was by far the best in the press conference and the answer we all wanted to know as Liverpool fans. I just hope Chris didn’t wear them rainbow socks he wore in the transfer podcast a few days ago for the press conference 😅

It was a great question and he gave a fair bit of consideration to it. Fabulous!

great insights lads great question tho chris to slot none of them so called journalists could come up with a question like that well done

Chris great question which as you say opened up a world of possibilities. It also shows a great sense of humour from Arnie. I like the fact that he kept eye contact. Arnie is clever and I think the players will respond to his approach. The Liverpool players may have been slightly worn out. Klopp is my hero and I have adopted his principles in my life as a coach, teacher and running a social enterprise. Trust in Arnie in the same way we had to trust in Jurgen at the start. Great question Chris relationalism is key and complex which will break teams down

Interesting vid as ever guys. Sounds like we nearly have the squad we need already & won't have to bring many more players in which is good but also a bit disappointing in some ways too. However, regardless, Slot's first team, formation & tactical set up of the season against Ipswich is going to be fascinating! LMAO if it's a 4-2-3-1.

Excellent question lads!

@Chris & Josh. Nothing wrong with your question to Slot. Maybe just the wording as we totally get what you meant and was a cool question. Some managers come in with a philosophy, look at the squad and spend first 3 transfer windows moving players out and in that fit their specific model. Then there are managers that come in and adapt philosophy to the squad they have and the club and fan expectations. Then hopefully there’s Slot - as suggested by your analysis and his own words - something more like Cruyff’s Total Football where the formation is fluid based on personnel available and game situations and transitions. 5-3-1-1 on back foot transitioning to 3-2-4-1 etc when breaking

Quality take down from Slot , well done Chris lol

From what little I've seen of Slot's Feyernoord in the Eresdivise and in Europe the previous seasons. And say we don't get many new signings in the door. I would say there is some different possibilities than those mentioned here for several players in the current squad. Firstly, and this is not my personal prefrences by the way, I would not be suprised to see Jones as the 6 in his system. Ability wise, he's maybe the closest in profile too Weiffer (now gone too Brighton) we have. Would take some work getting him ready for it, he would have to get even better than he has defensively the last years. Then I would not be suprised if Szobo is used as a LW, I actually think that might suit his skillset, and as well as give him the possibility too get in even better finishing positions with that great foot of his. I could actually see Diaz be used as the 9, at least in certain games, that also goes for Salah btw. I'm not sure Gakpo actually fits Slot's prefered style of play, but given his form at the Euros, he'll be given a chance for sure. One of the most worrying things for me, is the lack of a left footed CB in Slot's system. And how he sees VVD's position in this team going forward. Cause if one watches both certain games, and the wast amount of clips of his prefered way too play out of the back in build up. A left footed CB is crutial regarding passing angles amongst other things. I don't know if Liverpool in general are truly aware of the difference we're going to see if Slot is true too his tactical approach from his time at AZ Alkmaar and Feyernoord. Because it's far more intrikat play out from the back, much slower build up from the back, and rarely as direct as we've been used to seeing from Klopp's Liverpool. Of course, many coaches of a certain quality are able to tweak their ideas as the go. Xabi Alonso normally prefered a 4-3-3 with Real Sociedad B, but from almost the very start at Leverkusen they've played mostly a variant of 3-4-3. My long winded point is, I personally find it hard to be sure of where several of the current squad fits in under Slot, and will not state with any certainty who will play where on the pitch. But as stated in the beginning, I have the feeling that there will be some "shocks" with how he deployes some of our current players compared too what we're used to.

Jota might be the most valuable forward we have. DO NOT FORGET HIM

Top work as always.

Think you let Josh off the hook, which was very generous of you because he’s a big reason we all thought Slot played 4231.

My favorite part about the Slot answer is the little pause he has where he goes "yeno should I body him?" and the other half of his brain just says "yea go head" and he just swings around and pile drives Pajak with a smile. Think he might get the city after all hahah

The way Slot uses his teams; If you stop the time to illustrate positions during 1 single attack, you will see many diffrent formations during the attack. In the end it's about creating an overload and dominate during this attack, while moving forward. Short and fast passing, and plenty of movement are used to create these transistions, so expect very few instances where longpasses are used. Tempo variations are also used to put the opposition on their backfoot.

Can't wait for the new season to see which formation Arne doesn't play. Up the Mighty Reds.

The disrespect on robbo is crazy

People had a laugh but Chris got a response most of us LFC fans wanted cos we learnt something from that answer it wasn’t a cliche non answer.

I NEVER want to see Mac playing a 6 EVER AGAIN, it's like Pep saying to Bernardo Silva can you play the 6 today, it's absolutely ridiculous

We missed you lot

Hi Chris! To be truthful I thought he was rude. Not impress Mr Slot

Slot has acknowledged that one of the big reasons for his appointment was that he played 4-3-3. So I wonder if that's why he was so strong in shutting down any suggestion to the contrary in front of his new boss!

Should we talk about Alisson's penalty skills? I'm not going to lie, I feel kelleher is alot better when it comes to penalties.

Diaz played many games on the right for Porto.

I agree Gapko will do well in the Euros like a lot of players do well in euros but it never really translates fully to the Premier League season. Diaz is better!

Are you being Served? And the answer is Yes - Arne served for an Ace...

Has Chris considered that maybe Slot won't give away his tactics in a press conference to a content creator?

Not sure what Josh is going on about regarding Gakpo. Have you been watching him at the Euro's?

Chris! No f*cking way should that be your last question. Get up, dust yourself down and go again. That is the Liverpool way.

I think you're mentally making it more than what it was with the Arne Slot clip. I think he was ever so slightly disengenous because he must know that all the football media were all saying he played 4231 at Feyenoord. So called 'Dutch football experts' included. So I think you were a bit unlucky there, Chris to end up with the response you did. Anyway it's not that much of a big deal but it doesn't always seem that way when you're the one involved.

Your question was ok but it could've been more concise and you should've attributed it to someone else (e.g., according to published author and sports commentator Josh Williams.....is that how you'd define your style?)

The deep muff dive

After seeing young bradley performance for NI think I'd play him instead of Salah might not get as many goals as salah but would certainly help us win the ball back and supply nunez far better than salah would as would jeremie Frimpong if we were to buy him. Salah the weakest link in my opinion when we are without the ball.

Don't play Endo as a six, I would say. His defensive abilities are not there to play as a six. Endo, I see more him being a box to box, kind of, midfielder. That is my second thing, I think Liverpool don't have a defensive midfielder, that may become a problem later on. There may be a solution though, to play Trent as a six. Then again, that is, in my opinion, only a temporary solution. Formations do depend a whole lot on the players being available. a Specialist six, as you like to name it, I think is essential/ important to say. In certain situations your might need Trent as a right back and as a six, and that is where I forsee the problem. If these situations do occur, Liverpool will have a massive problem.

Fsg out every single premier league club spends more than us and we just sit Thier and get linked to every player and sign no one

Deep dive into what? Slot has said nothing about what he'll do & you have no idea who will even be in the squad next season 😂

The irony of this channel trying to talk about any tactics, formations, etc when it comes to Arne Slot and what he will/wont do…… yeah maybe you lot need to just wait until the season starts and actually watch what he sets up

He destroyed you. I'm sorry what do you even know about footie? We all know you love 4-2-3-1...

Scam

Hii