Two games on, Liverpool’s shock defeat to Nottingham Forest is starting to look more and more like a strange blot on Arne Slot’s otherwise pristine copybook.
Five wins from six games since the former Feyenoord boss stepped into Jurgen Klopp’s shoes. 13 goals and only two conceded.
If there were any fears that last week’s Nottingham Forest reverse was the beginning of a downward spiral from a man who arrived amid unhelpful comparisons with a Manchester United-era David Moyes and a post-Arsene Wenger Unai Emery, the manner in which Arne Slot’s Liverpool dispatched AC Milan and AFC Bournemouth put those concerns to bed.
Liverpool were outstanding at the San Siro in their midweek Champions League opener.
Despite Christian Pulisic’s third-minute opener, the six-time European champions roared into life with MIlan boss Paulo Fonseca singling out Mo Salah for praise after a much-improved display.
There was to be no goal for Salah in Italy, though not for a lack of trying. The Egyptian King hit the bar twice. He also remained absent from the scoresheet when Bournemouth arrived at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
Salah would assist Darwin Nunez’s thumping strike, however. Fellow forward – Luis Diaz aided by a Kepa Arrizabalaga display that had Peter Schmeichel shaking his head – also maintained his goal-a-game record with a rapid-fire first-half brace.
Andoni Iraola hails Liverpool trio Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz
And Cherries boss Andoni Iraola was gracious in defeat, highlighting the formidable strength of a Liverpool frontline who started without either Cody Gakpo or Diogo Jota but still hit the net three times in the first 37 minutes.
“They haven’t changed the identity of the team. They are very, very dangerous,” Iraola said during his post-match press conference.
“They have a lot of speed, especially up front. Especially Darwin, Luis Diaz, Salah, you always have the threat in behind because they have this speed and these different structures to play more positional.
“They lost the game against Forest but they are doing very well.”
With 19 shots on goal apiece – and with Bournemouth posting an XG of over one – the game was maybe a little more even than the lopsided scoreline suggests.
Iraola, however, was keen not to phrase this as a hard-luck story. Yes, Bournemouth had their chances. But after Liverpool came flying out of the blocks, there was only one direction the three points were heading.
“I understand the stats were quite level but they were better than it mattered,” adds the former Athletic Bilbao defender. “When the game is on the line, they were much better than us. When they had the chances, they made the difference.
“You look at the stats and think [nearly] 20 shots, seven corners. We had momentum, but it had less value. At 3-0, they were pushing still.”
Arne Slot delighted but wants more ‘consistency’ from Nunez
With ten goals to their name and 18 ‘big chances’, Liverpool remain one of the most creative and ruthless teams in the division.
Slot, while he will still be hard-pushed emulating the remarkable feats of Klopp on the red side of Stanley Park, has seen a transitional era at Anfield made a whole lot easier by the outstanding attacking talent he has inherited.
“There were these 12 minutes of one attack after another that led to three goals, which was really pleasing to see at that moment,” Slot smiled at his own post-match presser, delighted to see Diaz and his much-maligned striker get on the scoresheet after Darwin Nunez was criticised by Alan Shearer for his profligate display against Forest.
“[Diaz’s] finishes in both situations were really good,
“Of course, I play a [Nunez] because I like him to score goals. I play a winger because I like them to assist or to score goals. Because, if you want to win a game, you need to score goals.
“I think consistency you get by two things – you get by work-rate and you get it by team performance. If the team performance is not consistent, it’s so difficult for an individual to be consistent as well. We just have to create our habits day by day on the training ground and in the games to get this consistency.”
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