Excl: “It’s Great For The Club” – Liverpool Legend On One Of The Key Strengths Under Arne Slot | OneFootball

Written by Brendan Doyle

Redmen TV Reporter Dan Clubbe sat down with Liverpool legend John Barnes to get his thoughts and opinions on Arne Slot’s start to life at The Reds so far, as well as Luis Diaz and Liverpool’s attacking depth.

Dan Clubbe: So, life so far under Arne Slot, you were over in the US and got to witness the pre-season but as for the Premier League, Champions League and the League Cup it’s all gone pretty well so far hasn’t it?

John Barnes: Yeah it doesn’t surprise me and as you said I was in America and saw them in the pre-season and saw the work that they did, I saw the messages the players were taking on board in terms of what Arne Slot wants them to do which is obviously different to Jurgen’s messages, the more technical players such as Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Ryan Gravenberch will thrive under him. Of course, we were wondering how it will go under Slot, a new philosophy, a new system and a new style of play, a new manager needs to be given time but Slot so far has hit the ground running. The game against Nottingham Forest didn’t go our way, we didn’t play badly as such, we just didn’t win.

DC: A very impressive start. One of the most impressive elements of it as well is Luis Diaz, it just a phenomenal start of the season for him. I’d ask you if you’re surprised but you’re probably not because he’s got the quality quite clearly but there’s definitely a new lease of life and a new version of Luis Diaz we’re seeing right now because he’s been phenomenal.

JB: Well of course! I thought he was great last year, maybe not as good as he is now but it’s still only early on in the season. He always said the potential and you could see last year in his dribbling ability now he is choosing when to dribble whereas last year it was a bit more dynamic and intense going forward whilst also tracking back, but this year he’s now dribbling knowing he’s having a lot of the ball due to the fact we are now playing a much more ball possession-based game which means he can lay it off to a teammate knowing he will receive it again. Whereas last season he was maybe trying a little too hard but this season he’s making better decisions with the ball.

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DC: Yeah definitely what a start of the season for him. Somebody behind him is pushing every step of the way, Cody Gakpo. Every time he’s been given an opportunity he’s taking it with both hands! What do you make of his start of the season? Is it healthy for both of them to compete with each other?

JB: It’s great for the club. It’s great for both the players who are putting in good performances and the best thing about it is that all of the Liverpool players have good character. If they’re not playing they’re not going to sulk, if they don’t start and they come off the bench they’re going to give 100% and that’s a good thing that Jurgen has left behind, good characters. We’ve seen that before when iconic managers leave and obviously this time round it’s happened when Jurgen has left. We’ve seen when Alex Ferguson left Manchester United and when Arsene Wenger left Arsenal the players dropped a level but our players haven’t, they’re not just playing for the manager they’re playing for the club and the fans and it’s really shone through.

DC: There are also six frontline attackers in our squad, does that make you as a former player think that you have to play well and their standards can’t drop otherwise there is somebody behind you who is willing to take your shirt and starting place off you at any given opportunity?

JB: Absolutely. If you look at Jota for example who plays off the front three, there are opportunities for four to play. Obviously they’re going to drop back into a 4-3-3 at times out of possession, but the way we play now doesn’t mean when we have our out-and-out midfielders and out-and-out strikers. I think every now and again as we saw against West Ham he will have a fourth dropping in behind the striker, I don’t think it’ll be like the way Jurgen did with Firmino. When you have six players you know you can make changes and they’re going to perform, I think it’s very healthy for the club and the players themselves.

DC: There certainly is such a variety in that attacking line, is that the difference-maker? We’ve seen the midfield work really well with loads of cohesion, balance and good chemistry in there. We know Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have started the season superbly as well and Trent Alexander Arnold we know he’s an absolute genius with the ball at his feet. However, that attacking six is where Liverpool probably stands out amongst the rest in the premier league.

JB: Well of course but when you haven’t got them all what are you going to do? When you play Manchester City who are going to have as much or if not more possession than you that’s when you’re really going to have your contemplate whether you’re going to play those players who aren’t necessarily defensive midfield players. So that will be the interesting thing because at that moment Slot will be playing against a very attacking team and the teams we’ve played so far are the teams we should be beating, it’ll be very interesting to see what team we play against Manchester City and Arsenal but ultimately, Manchester City will do the same thing. They don’t necessarily play defensively, they have one or two defensive midfielders but if we keep the ball we won’t have to defend. I think we will concentrate on keeping the ball and winning it back, whereas with Jurgen, yes we did play a possession-based game, but we were very good at winning the ball back with the players we had.

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