Arne Slot sends message to board: Transfer MUST happen | OneFootball

Arne Slot sent something of a message to the Liverpool board on Sunday as the Reds drew 2-2 at Fulham. A transfer simply must happen.

Liverpool drew 2-2 at Fulham on Sunday and they’ll feel hard done by. If only because Fulham’s equaliser came deep into stoppage time after a once-in-a-lifetime hit from Harrison Reed.

The fact is, though, that Liverpool didn’t do enough to earn a win here. They nearly scraped one thanks to Cody Gakpo’s late goal but it wasn’t at the end of a strong performance.

In fact, it’s been a while since Liverpool put in a genuinely strong performance that earned three points. Maybe the win over Wolves? Even that wasn’t a dominant overpowering of a team.

But Arne Slot can feel a little like his hands were tied here. His starting XI came across like a message to the Liverpool board that this squad, despite all the money spent on it, simply isn’t good enough.

A transfer simply has to happen.

Liverpool's starting XI

Hugo Ekitike missed this one with a 'minor' injury. Alexander Isak is already out, of course, and Mo Salah is off at AFCON. The result of all that is Liverpool facing Fulham without any reliable goalscorers in the team.

Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz dovetailed as a front-two but other than that, this was wall-to-wall attacking midfielders across a middle four. Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones played on the flanks, with Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister the central pairing.

Counting the 'strikers' that's actually six playmakers there. Six playmakers with no real out-ball or goalscorer to create for. And it showed.

This team has no pace in it unless Jeremie Frimpong is played in an attacking role, while no one knows how to make threatening runs. The two goals came by surprise - everyone thought Wirtz was offside for the first, while the second was the result of Fulham's poor attempt to block at the front post.

Liverpool are not going to get anywhere without more pace in attack and more depth. The team we saw Slot put out just isn't it - it's too slow, one-note and unreliable.

And there's no obvious way that changes. Even with Ekitike in there, it's not quick and dynamic enough. The midfield all wants to do the same thing and the current system sees at least five of them out there, all wanting it to feet between the lines.

This slow, disappointing team felt like a message to Liverpool. The players aren't there for a dynamic team, especially after Isak's injury. If the club want to win and play in a system that can hurt teams, a new signing (or two) must happen.