Liverpool 2.0 launched at Wembley – and Slot has bugs to fix

Arne Slot’s Liverpool 2.0 got their grand unveiling at Wembley on Sunday and the reviews are in. Occasionally brilliant, occasionally shambolic, with improvements needed.

Four of Liverpool’s summer signings made their first competitive starts for the club in the Community Shield, which they lost on penalties to Crystal Palace.

Record £116 million acquisition Florian Wirtz started in attacking midfield, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez formed a new-look pair of full-backs, while Hugo Ekitike led the line as the central striker.

The only new face not in the starting XI was goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who was on the bench as Alisson kept his place.

And there were some clear signs the revamp may lead to spectacular results. The game finished 2-2, with the goals coming through Ekitike and Frimpong. It is the first time Liverpool have had two players score on their competitive debuts since August 2006, when Craig Bellamy and Mark Gonzalez netted versus Maccabi Haifa.

But Liverpool 2.0 have bugs. They twice had leads pegged back, were often sloppy in defence, and were on the ropes towards the end.

“We have four new players – we need time to adapt,” Slot told his post-match media conference at Wembley.

The Community Shield is not an isolated incident. In Monday’s 3-2 friendly win against Athletic Bilbao, Liverpool conceded twice from set-pieces.

Palace arguably had only two big chances in this game – Jean-Philippe Mateta’s 13th-minute penalty and Ismaila Sarr bursting through with 12 to go. They scored both.

Let’s start at the back. For years, especially under Jurgen Klopp, one of Liverpool’s defining traits was the attacking impetus brought by full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson.

Frimpong and Kerkez are, in many ways, in a similar mould – much more attacking in the traditional full-back sense.

But, while Kerkez is near identical to Robertson in how he plays, Frimpong stays far wider than his predecessor. Don’t expect many Alexander-Arnold-like adventures into central midfield – but do expect some good, old-fashioned overlapping runs.

However, in defence issues remain. Liverpool will have hoped that Frimpong would bring the defensive solidity they sometimes lacked with Alexander-Arnold, but the Dutchman played Sarr onside for the second equaliser.

And it was not only at full-back where Liverpool looked defensively suspect. They were opened too easily before the first-half penalty – Mateta was set free by a through ball, leading to the attack which ended in Virgil van Dijk fouling Sarr.

There was not a recognised centre-back on Liverpool’s bench. Jarell Quansah has departed for Bayer Leverkusen and Joe Gomez “has a minor injury”.

Slot expects him to be back soon, but Liverpool need to sign at least one more central defender before the transfer deadline on 1 September.

Moving into midfield, Wirtz was the outstanding Liverpool player at Wembley. Slot has clearly tweaked the system to suit their record signing – and the early signs are positive.

Wirtz has been given a role freer and further forward than Liverpool had previously from an attacking midfielder – they had nobody to do that role last season.

He almost formed a strike partnership with Ekitike at times, so close together were they. Indeed by the time he was substituted, Wirtz was playing as a false nine with Ekitike already taken off.

This freedom allowed the German to float wide left after four minutes, to pick up the ball and play in Ekitike for the opener.

There were 22 passes in the build-up to Liverpool’s opener, finishing off a move that lasted 66 seconds and involved nine players.

Until being taken off in the 84th minute Wirtz looked perfectly balanced, always in control, never flustered. His influence all over the pitch for Liverpool is already clear.

At the point of his substitution, Wirtz led Liverpool for passes and entries in the final third, crosses and touches in the Palace box. He had the third most touches in total. Everything went through him.

“It has been a really impressive performance for Wirtz,” former Palace striker Glenn Murray told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Very dominant.

“He was tiring by the end of it and that is something he will need to get used to. But he is looking like a very good signing.”

In front of Wirtz, Ektike has the makings of a genuine, out-and-out centre forward Liverpool simply did not have before because of Darwin Nunez’s shortcomings.

His goal was well taken, and his cross with the outside of his boot in the first half that found Cody Gakpo in an offside position was sumptuous.

But one should remember that Nunez’s debut also came in the Community Shield – the 2023 win over Manchester City. The Uruguayan scored, looked streets ahead of Erling Haaland – and never hit those heights again.

“Always nice to score a goal, but it would have been even nicer to win a game,” Slot said of his new frontman.

“Ekitike had a good impact, but he came two weeks ago during the Asia tour. But he had a good game for sure.”

So who will Liverpool add in the final three weeks of the transfer window? One name is on everyone’s lips – Alexander Isak.

At times on Sunday, it looked as if the last thing Liverpool needed was another first-choice striker. But as Palace celebrated in the sun, the appeal of the wantaway Newcastle forward became clearer.

“Liverpool want another striker,” former Reds goalkeeper Chris Kirkland told BBC Sport after the game. “We’re all greedy. Every team wants as many strikers as they can.

There were also weaknesses deeper in midfield for Liverpool, but they are a cheaper fix.

Ryan Gravenberch was absent because his partner was giving birth, while Alexis Mac Allister was only fit enough for a cameo off the bench.

Curtis Jones lined up alongside Dominik Szoboszlai in holding midfield, and completed all 53 of his passes.

“Gravenberch was a massive miss today – he was my player of the season last year,” said Kirkland.

There can be no question Liverpool will be disappointed to miss out on a trophy, especially against the side who finished 12th last season and have several injury issues, with Eddie Nketiah and Cheick Doucoure among those set to miss the start of the season.

But Reds fans should not take it too harshly. For starters, only one of the past 14 winners of the season opener have gone on to lift the Premier League trophy – Manchester City in 2018-19. In the Premier League era, only eight of the 33 winners of the Charity or Community Shield have gone on to win the title.