Liverpool’s Build-Up Breakdown: The Hidden Flaws Behind Arne Slot’s System | OneFootball

Arne Slot’s second season in charge of Liverpool hasn’t gone to plan. With three consecutive defeats in all competitions and several late winners masking deeper problems, questions are beginning to surface around Slot’s tactical set-up.

From the loss of Trent Alexander-Arnold to the integration of big signings such as Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, Liverpool look like a side still searching for structure. And the root of many issues lies where their dominance once began — the first phase of build-up.

Why Trent Was So Important to Liverpool’s Build-Up

Few players have reshaped a team’s structure the way Trent Alexander-Arnold did for Liverpool. Under Jürgen Klopp, he evolved from a traditional full-back into the side’s primary playmaker — a deep-lying quarterback who dictated tempo and progression from the right half-space.

When Liverpool built from the back, Trent would sometimes step inside alongside Fabinho, forming the base of a 3-2 structure. From there, he connected defence to midfield through his elite passing range — pinging diagonals, finding Salah’s runs in behind, or switching play to Robertson on the far side to stretch the pitch.

As analyst @EBL2017 highlighted after Liverpool’s draw with Arsenal in December 2023, Arsenal’s shadow-marking press often forced Liverpool to recycle possession — yet Trent still found ways to bypass pressure with disguised line-breaking passes that set up key attacks.

Trent’s versatility made him unpredictable. At times, he operated as a wide wing-back to deliver crosses from deep; at others, he inverted into midfield to dictate play through the centre. His technical security in tight spaces and confidence to switch angles with one touch discouraged teams from pressing high — one misplaced trigger could leave Salah or Núñez through on goal.

No matter how opponents adjusted — whether pressing aggressively or defending in a low block — Trent’s presence alone altered their behaviour. His ability to dismantle defensive structures with a single pass forced teams to respect Liverpool’s first phase. Without him, that dynamic has disappeared.

Liverpool’s change in build-up under Arne slot

During Slot’s first season, Liverpool’s build-up began to shift. The side moved away from relying heavily on the full-backs to progress possession, instead placing greater responsibility on the lone pivot, Ryan Gravenberch, to control the first phase.

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 27: Ryan Gravenberch of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Selhurst Park on September 27, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images)

Slot instructed both full-backs to stay slightly narrower in possession, creating compact triangles with the centre-backs and the pivot. The shape often resembled a 3-2 base, with Gravenberch sitting behind Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, who occupied the half-spaces between the lines. This gave Liverpool numerical stability in build-up while maintaining vertical lanes into the front line.

Gravenberch’s composure was central to this. His ability to receive under pressure, open his body, and play forward allowed Liverpool to bypass aggressive presses and control transitions. When opponents blocked central access, he could recycle through Robertson or Ibrahima Konaté to draw the press and reopen space.

It was a shift towards a calmer, more deliberate form of progression — one designed to prioritise control over chaos, echoing Slot’s Feyenoord principles. But when Liverpool faced issues in build-up, they always had Alexander-Arnold to bail them out — stretching the pitch with long diagonals that instantly changed the game’s rhythm.

STArting the new season without Trent

With the significant change in personnel over the 2025 summer, Liverpool’s in-possession structure has had to evolve drastically. New profiles have altered the dynamics of the build-up; Milos Kerkez has come in at left-back, while Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong, and at times Dominik Szoboszlai have occupied the right flank. Building out from the back was always going to look different.

On the right, Slot now alternates between two types of players: natural runners such as Frimpong and Bradley, or a midfielder stepping wide when Szoboszlai starts there. All three provide vertical threat and ball-carrying ability, but none possess the same progression quality or technical range that Robertson and Alexander-Arnold once offered.

Statistically, the drop-off is clear. Frimpong, Bradley, and Kerkez average 4.13 progressive passes per 90 this season per FBref, whereas Robertson and Alexander-Arnold combined for 7.6 last term — a substantial reduction in forward distribution from wide areas.

The current build-up shape still resembles a 3-2, with Szoboszlai often tucking inside from the right to support the pivot. However, inconsistency in the back line has hurt Liverpool’s rhythm.

Both Konaté and Kerkez can appear hesitant under pressure, and Kerkez in particular lacks the long-range passing of his predecessors. He averages 5.44 long passes per 90 at a 38.7% completion rate, compared to 15.9 for Trent (48.6%) and 8.59 for Robertson (46.4%) last season.

The result is a slower, less expansive first phase — one that struggles to stretch the opposition horizontally or break lines quickly.

Without Trent’s diagonal range and Robertson’s left-sided precision, Liverpool’s build-up has lost its natural release valves.

MIdfield dynamics and the double 10 problem

The absence of Trent’s progression has forced Liverpool’s midfield to adapt, but the adjustments have created new structural issues. With Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike both operating as hybrid 10s, and Ryan Gravenberch now dropping between the centre-backs to start play, Liverpool’s central shape has become crowded rather than cohesive.

Gravenberch often slides into the back line alongside Van Dijk and Konaté, giving Liverpool an extra man in the first phase. While this theoretically improves build-up stability, it leaves a void in the pivot area ahead of the defence. Mac Allister, positioned higher, must frequently drop to receive from the back three, which compresses Liverpool’s midfield spacing and slows their vertical progression.

The result is a stacked midfield line with limited vertical staggering. At times, all four central players occupy the same horizontal band, leaving no one positioned between the lines to receive on the half-turn. When this happens, Liverpool’s centre-backs are forced to circulate possession laterally, slowing tempo and inviting the opposition press.

Meanwhile, both Wirtz and Ekitike tend to occupy similar zones between the lines. Slot’s idea is to create two advanced playmakers who can receive between opposition midfielders, but in practice, their movements often overlap. Both prefer coming short to receive rather than stretching defences vertically, which pulls them closer to Mac Allister and limits Liverpool’s depth.

The result is visible in Liverpool’s positional structure: a flat central quartet where Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Wirtz, and Ekitike often stand on parallel lines. Without clear vertical staggering, the passing lanes become predictable, forcing Liverpool to recycle possession or play hopeful diagonals into Salah.

The problem isn’t technical quality — Wirtz and Ekitike are elite on the ball — it’s positional geometry. When the build-up starts with Gravenberch dropping deep, the midfield loses its natural anchor, and when both 10s come short, there’s no one positioned to receive behind the press. That disconnect has turned Liverpool’s possession from fluid to hesitant.

How slot can restore balance in build-up

For all of Liverpool’s tactical evolution under Arne Slot, their issues in the first phase are less about intent and more about structure and spacing. The core principles remain sound; control through short combinations and verticality through central progression but the execution has suffered from unbalanced roles and mismatched profiles.

The first step towards regaining stability is restoring a consistent pivot presence ahead of the centre-backs. When Gravenberch drops into the defensive line, Liverpool lose their link between phases. Slot could counter this by deploying Mac Allister deeper in the early build-up to maintain central connectivity, or by trusting Jones or a more natural No. 6 (Bajcetic in the future?) to hold that zone permanently.

Secondly, Liverpool need clearer asymmetry between the full-backs. While Bradley and Frimpong operate as aggressive outlets on the right, Milos Kerkez has taken on a more conservative role on the left — often staying deeper to support circulation rather than overlapping into advanced zones. That creates a natural imbalance in Liverpool’s build-up, with most of the vertical threat loaded to one side.

Allowing the right-back to invert into midfield during early phases rather than both full-backs holding width could help re-establish central progression and give Gravenberch or Mac Allister a consistent passing partner in the pivot area. It would also free Kerkez to step slightly higher when the ball shifts left, offering an underlapping outlet to connect with the left-sided interior.

The dynamic also changes when Alexander Isak starts up front. His tendency to stretch the last line with diagonal runs into the channels naturally creates more space for Wirtz and Ekitike to drop and combine between the lines. But when Isak is absent, both 10s drift toward the ball, narrowing the attack and making Liverpool easier to contain.

Slot’s challenge is maintaining that same vertical variety regardless of personnel — ensuring that one player always provides depth while another connects the play. Allowing one full-back — typically on the right — to invert and support midfield rotations could recreate some of the rhythm Trent used to provide.

Liverpool’s problems aren’t born from a lack of talent but from a loss of identity in possession. Slot’s task is to rebuild new pathways to the same end: controlled progression, vertical threat, positional harmony. Until then, the first phase will remain a work in progress.