Slot Highlights Wirtz’s Creativity to Compensate for Alexander-Arnold’s Departure
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has expressed his confidence that the “creativity” of new signing Florian Wirtz will help mitigate the loss of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who joins Real Madrid this summer. These statements came after the team showcased their new players in a friendly against Athletic Club, where Liverpool won with a score of 3-2. In the friendly match, which featured the participation of new signings valued at a considerable sum, Liverpool’s goals were scored by their established Premier League figures, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo. Salah also missed a penalty in the final minutes of the match. Wirtz, in his Anfield debut, offered fans a glimpse of his potential, demonstrating intelligent play and great ability to link up, he even came close to scoring the first goal.Slot also highlighted the quality of the centers and Alexander-Arnold’s ability to find his teammates, qualities that, according to him, Wirtz can bring from a different position. New signings Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Hugo Ekitike also demonstrated their adaptation to the team. Wirtz came close to scoring with a header that hit the crossbar, before Ekitike assisted Salah for the goal and Gakpo scored twice after the break, following Oihan Sancet’s equalizer for the visiting team. In the match, Liverpool had a defense with few options, due to the absence of Virgil van Dijk due to illness and the injury of Joe Gomez, which made them vulnerable in set pieces, as demonstrated by Maroan Sannadi’s goal.“I think there is always room for improvement in every area and we have added, in my opinion, some extra weapons,” Slot commented after the match. “Florian has a lot of creativity in the final third and we have lost a lot of creativity from the back with Trent’s departure.”
Arne Slot
In both matches, Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident last month, was remembered with a minute of applause and chants in his honor. The match stopped in the 20th minute to join the tributes. The Liverpool second-string team won 4-1 in a previous match, with 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha continuing his outstanding pre-season with a goal. Ben Doak, three years older, also scored, along with Darwin Núñez and Harvey Elliott, two players whose future could be away from Anfield. Núñez, linked with Al Hilal, and with AC Milan interested in the Uruguayan international, celebrated his goal with enthusiasm. Elliott, for his part, was the last to leave the field, sending kisses to the four stands.“In other pre-season games we have conceded too many chances, but today we have conceded almost nothing and that also pleased me,” added Slot. “So conceding two goals from set pieces in the second game is not what you want, especially if you are playing against Crystal Palace next week, who are a very strong team in set plays.”
Arne Slot
