Slot Highlights Wirtz’s Creativity to Compensate for Alexander-Arnold’s Absence
Liverpool coach Arne Slot has expressed his confidence that the “creativity” of new signing Florian Wirtz can help compensate for the loss of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is leaving for Real Madrid this summer. These statements came after the friendly 3-2 victory against Athletic Club, where some of the team’s new signings could be seen in action. In the friendly match, Liverpool’s goals were scored by Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo, who are already established figures in the team. Wirtz, in his first appearance at Anfield, demonstrated his worth with intelligent touches and a great connection with the game, showing why the club signed him as their star player.The new signings, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, also demonstrated their adaptation to the team. Hugo Ekitike showed his flexibility in the attack. Wirtz was close to scoring a goal, but the ball hit the crossbar. Later, Ekitike assisted Salah for him to score. Gakpo also contributed with two goals, while Oihan Sancet scored for the visiting team. Liverpool, which presented itself with a defense with some absences, showed vulnerability in set pieces, which led to Maroan Sannadi scoring an equalizer after a corner.I believe there’s always room for improvement in every department and we’ve added some extra weapons, in my opinion. Florian has a lot of creativity in the final third and we’ve lost a lot of creativity from the back with Trent’s departure. Trent’s crosses and his ability to find the runners were special; Flo has this quality in a totally different position. He brings that creativity.
Arne Slot, Liverpool coach
In both matches, Diogo Jota was remembered, who died in a car accident last month. Fans paid tribute to the player with applause and chants. In addition, in the 20th minute, the game stopped so that the players and staff could join the tribute. Liverpool’s substitute team won 4-1 in a previous match, with Rio Ngumoha continuing his impressive pre-season with a goal. Ben Doak, Darwin Núñez, and Harvey Elliott also scored. Núñez, who has been linked with Al Hilal, celebrated his goal by showing the team’s crest, while Elliott said goodbye to the field with kisses to the fans.In the other pre-season games, we have conceded too many chances, but today we barely conceded anything and that also pleased me. So conceding two goals from set pieces in the second game is not what you want, especially if you’re playing against Crystal Palace next week, who are a very strong team on set plays. That’s another thing we need to work on.
Arne Slot, Liverpool coach
