Arne Slot’s Crucial Use of Wingers and Fullbacks

… And the positional future of Dominik Szoboszlai

Written on 30/05/2024, data collected on 25/05/2024

After looking at how the new Liverpool manager Arne Slot wants his number nine to play in an article here, it’s time to delve into how he likes the wingers to play and whether they are any different to how Jürgen Klopp made use of players in that position over the years.

Slot has preferred the 4-2-3-1 formation more than the 4-3-3 one which has been Liverpool’s staple under Klopp. The now former Feyenoord boss wants two holding midfielders, a creative number 10 and two narrow wingers supplementing the number nine-type striker (not the false nine of Klopp).

Talking about wingers, the 45-year-old wants opposite-foot players on either side of the field. In the recently concluded season, he had Yankuba Minteh (left-footed) and Igor Paixão (right-footed) on the right and left wing respectively. 

In this article, we will look at the numbers these two have produced and compare them with Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz’s (choosing Diaz and Salah because they play all of their minutes in wide areas - unlike Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Núñez). 

Later on, we will look at fullback numbers from both teams to conjure up any similarities/differences. Lastly, there will be a section on whether the new manager would be best suited to deploy Szoboszlai in one of the wide or higher positions, instead of central midfield.

Liverpool v Feyenoord Wingers

This section contains numbers of four players (two each from Liverpool and Feyenoord) - Salah, Diaz, Minteh and Paixão. Varying metrics are included for us to understand their playing style along with the underlying performance.

For Liverpool, Salah dominated all the goal-scoring and assist-making numbers in addition to having more touches in the box when compared to his teammate Diaz on the other side of the wing. The latter though, showed better qualities in taking defenders on in wide areas and being versatile in positions taken during the team’s attack. Despite the change in formation where Trent Alexander-Arnold moved into midfield in possession, Salah’s numbers haven’t taken a big hit in terms of touches in the opposition box and shots. The Egyptian has gotten better at chance creation. 

Have a read of the piece I did about Salah a few weeks ago juxtaposing his performances over the past few years. 

Looking at Minteh and Paixão, the former has mirrored numbers with Salah in a lot of aspects and has slightly better returns in dribbling as well. The latter, although, is ahead of Diaz in most metrics while being unlucky in the assists section (read the expected assist row).

With regards to crossing the ball into the opposition box, the Feyenoord pair attempts more than the Liverpool duo by some margin. With Santiago Giménez as Slot’s number nine in the Eredivisie who plays as a penalty-box striker rather than a false nine, the wingers can afford to put more balls in the box knowing there is a target man ready to pounce on any opportunity.