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Arne Slot’s 25/26 Liverpool Masterplan – FM24 Tactical Concept

Arne Slot 25 26 Liverpool Masterplan FM24 Tactical Concept

From Frimpong to Wirtz – Tactical Overhaul Under Arne Slot Simulated in Football Manager 2024

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After winning the 24/25 Premier League title, Liverpool are wasting no time at all to try and improve their squad further; With Jeremie Frimpong already through the door, his former Bayer Leverkusen team-mate Florian Wirtz and Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez look set to join him at the Reds – the club are also heavily linked with a move for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitiké as an attacker to replace Darwin Nuñez, with the Uruguayan seemingly set to leave the club.

In this article, I’ll be delving into how these four potential signings will transform Liverpool’s tactics under Arne Slot, before showcasing my concept of said tactics and the results they achieved in testing on FM24. Firstly, let’s have a look at how I think these signings will affect Liverpool’s build-up structure and my tactical idea in accordance.

Less Bodies = More Opportunities

In 24/25, Arne Slot’s Liverpool built up play from the back in a 4-2 shape, with both full-backs sitting deeper to form triangles with the centre-back and holding midfielder on their side - this deeper set-up drew the opposition higher, creating space between the lines for Liverpool to exploit.

With the opposition usually preferring a ‘+1 advantage’ in their backline to help deal with the threat of Salah, the opposition would drop a player from the press, meaning Liverpool would almost always have a numerical advantage in the build-up phase.

The deeper build-up shape also created opportunities for verticality, with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s long passing ability being crucial in taking advantage of these opportunities – an example of this deeper build-up shape can be seen below:

In accordance with the aforementioned four potential signings, I decided a structural change was needed. Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez are both more naturally attacking-minded than Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and as a result, neither full-back are in their most optimal positions when positioned deeper.

Instead, my tactical concept sees the pair both vacate the deeper positions, formerly filled by Robertson and Alexander-Arnold, and move higher and wider instead. To allow this, I asked Van Dijk and Konaté to ‘Stay Wider’ in their player instructions – this wider positioning replaces the full-backs in build-up and opens up the centre for Gravenberch to occupy.

In consequence of the full-backs moving higher and wider, I also wanted our remaining midfielders to also drop deeper to provide support in our build-up – their deeper positioning creates a very flexible and vertical 1-2-1-2 build-up shape (including our ‘keeper) that has the intention of drawing the opposition midfield out, creating gaps between the lines for our wingers, like Wirtz, to move into. This shape can be seen in the example picture below:

Throwback to ‘19

The addition of the attacking full-backs in Kerkez and Frimpong will also have a major effect on Liverpool’s shape when in settled possession as neither full-back will be in their most optimal positions if forming a back-three with the two centre-backs. As a result, my tactical concept sees the pair move higher and wider in settled possession, allowing the two wingers to invert into central areas – creating a frontline reminiscent of Liverpool’s famous front-five in both the 18/19 and 19/20 seasons under Slot’s predecessor Jürgen Klopp.

Regarding the rest defence behind this fantastic front-five, my tactical concept sees a 2-3 rest defence structure being formed with both central midfielders sitting slightly wider in order to provide an aslope supporting passing option behind; The centre of our rest defence shape will be occupied by Gravenberch to form the midfield three. An example of our in-possession shape can be seen in the photo below:

Life after Trent

A crucial nuance in Liverpool’s title-winning system in 24/25 was the combination of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah on the right-hand side, as the Englishman’s elite vision and passing ability could regularly send Salah away in-behind opposition defences.

With Trent Alexander-Arnold departing, and Frimpong lacking a comparable passing threat, for Liverpool to reap similar rewards in 25/26, they’ll require a radical tactical switch to allow a player with comparable passing ability to get into the sort of positions Trent Alexander-Arnold used to thrive in; In my tactical concept, Dominik Szoboszlai was deemed the worthy replacement. Now, the demands I asked of him in that right centre-midfield position were clear, and I needed a role that would see him:

Drop deeper and wider into a ‘quarterback’ position.
From said ‘quarterback’ position, release direct, searching balls in-behind for Salah to chase.
Form a midfield three in settled possession.

Upon reviewing a couple of different roles, I concluded that the ‘Deep-Lying Playmaker’ role on the ‘Support’ duty, with the added player instruction ‘Stay Wider’, was most beneficial.

Let’s Break Down the Tactic

In Possession

When we have the ball, we continue what worked so well for Liverpool in 24/25 as we prioritise shorter passes to retain possession – we play these shorter passes at a higher tempo in order to keep the opposition moving and to encourage quicker, more vertical football at times. Our possession begins from the back as we encourage our team to play out from the back.

When we reach the final third, we remain patient in working the ball into the box, looking to work potential cut-back situations. Finally, we further encourage vertical, transitional football by asking the team to pass into space.

In Transition

When we lose the ball, we counter-press immediately to try and regain possession – if successful, we instantly spring lethal counter-attacks. From goal-kicks, we want to continue what worked for Liverpool in 24/25 and try to draw the opposition onto us by asking the ‘keeper to slow the pace down – when he does eventually distribute, we want him to pass it straight into Gravenberch who will come deeper to receive between the centre-backs.

Out of Possession

When we don’t have the ball, we want to continue what Klopp and Slot have built by pressing high and being aggressive in doing so. To supplement our high press, we want our backline to hold a higher position and step up in order to compact the midfield space. Finally, we try to force the opposition inside as that’s where the opposition are most vulnerable to losing the ball.

READ ALSO: FM24 Treble-Winning Tactic – Antonio Conte’s Napoli

Player Roles

Sweeper Keeper – Support

In this position, I want Alisson to support our build-up from a slightly withdrawn position, in-turn creating another horizontal line in our build-up – having multiple horizontal lines in our build-up will naturally draw the opposition higher and will create gaps for us to exploit using verticality in our build-up. When we don’t have the ball, I want Alisson to come off his line regularly in order to sweep loose balls and to claim crosses into the penalty area. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect. No added instructions.

(DR) Wing-Back – Attack

In this position, I want Frimpong to play as high and wide as possible – this positioning, along with Salah positioned inside, will create a 2v1 against the opposition left-back when facing a back-four. Additionally, I want to enhance the greatest strengths of Frimpong in his raw, explosive pace and his tricky, effective dribbling ability. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions below:

Ball-Playing Defender – Defend

In this position, I want Konaté to regularly break the lines with penetrative passes from deep. Additionally, I want Konaté to carry the ball forward when in a position to progress play without the need for a risky pass. Finally, when we are building up, I want both centre-backs to move wider to allow Gravenberch to drop between them to receive from the ’keeper. Therefore, I felt this role was ideal, with the added instructions:

Central Defender – Defend

In this position, I want to continue what worked so well for Van Dijk in 24/25, and that was his consistent switches of play to Mo Salah on Liverpool’s right – adding the ‘More Direct Passing’ player instruction will encourage this in-game. Additionally, as with Konaté alongside him, I want Van Dijk to hold a wider position. Therefore, I felt this role would suffice, with the added instructions:

(DL) Wing-Back – Attack

In this position, as with Frimpong, I want Kerkez to move as high and wide as possible in-possession. I also want to try and get the best out of Kerkez and his impressive crossing ability by asking him to ‘Cross More Often’ – ideally aiming these crosses to the back post for one of/both Salah and/or Frimpong to attack. Finally, as with Frimpong, I want Kerkez to be able to carry the ball forward regularly. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:

Defensive Midfielder – Defend

In this position, I want Gravenberch to shield the back-four and hold his position when we attack. When he receives the ball, I want him to release short, simple passes into his more creative team-mates. Therefore, I felt this role was optimal, with the added instruction:

Deep-Lying Playmaker – Support

In this position, as aforementioned, I want Szoboszlai to situationally drop deeper and wider into a ‘quarterback’ position to receive the ball – from here, he can play line-breaking passes into attackers or play a threatening pass in-behind for an attacker to chase. Therefore, I felt this role was best suited to do this, with the added instructions:

Carrilero – Support

In this position, similarly with Szoboszlai, I want Mac Allister to move wider, however, in the Argentinian’s case, I want him to move wider to support Kerkez and Wirtz – this wider positioning will also provide good wide cover if the opposition try and counter-attack. When he receives the ball, I want Mac Allister to put his fantastic passing ability to good use by playing risky passes more often. Therefore, I felt this role epitomised everything I wanted in this position, with the added instruction:

Inverted Winger – Attack

In 24/25, Mo Salah was a force to be reckoned with, as he scored 34 goals and conjured up 23 assists in all competitions – his incredible performance partly thanks to how Arne Slot managed to platform him tactically without wavering his own tactical principles. In my tactical concept, I’ve tried to replicate the role that yielded such a performance; When Salah receives the ball, I want him to directly attack the opponent, where he can either shoot, play a team-mate in-behind or whip in a cross towards the back-post for a team-mate to attack. When he doesn’t have the ball, I want him to move narrower to allow for Frimpong to hold the width and I also want him to be potent at making runs in-behind. Finally, when we don’t have the ball, I want the wingers to be the first pressing instigators, forcing the pass from the opposition’s centre-back inside/back to the ‘keeper. Therefore, I felt this role was suitable, with the added instructions:

Inverted Winger – Support

In this position, I want Florian Wirtz to move inside as he is incredible in the left half-space – this movement will see him vacate the left channel, allowing Kerkez to provide width on the left. I also want to give Wirtz complete freedom to roam from his position in order to find pockets of space to be more effective – him situationally vacating the left half-space will open up the left channel for Ekitiké to exploit if timed correctly. As with Salah, I want to exploit Wirtz’ complete quality as a player – when he receives the ball, I want Wirtz to be able to carry the ball up the pitch with the intent and options to either play a team-mate in-behind, shoot or use his brilliant crossing ability to find the back-post. Finally, as with Salah, I want Wirtz to press more often in order to instigate our high-press. Therefore, I felt this role was ideal, with the added instructions:

Complete Forward – Support

In this position, I want Ekitiké to be, well, a complete attacker, where he can situationally drop deeper to link play, but can also stretch the pitch by making a run in-behind. When we don’t have the ball, I want him to mark the player closest to him as tightly as possible, allowing the wingers, instead, to instigate the press. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instruction:

Player ‘Swap Positions With…’ & Personalised Player Roles

To add a little bit more fluidity to the system, my tactical concept sees Wirtz (AML) and Ekitiké (STC) swapping their positions – as a result, they both have personalised player roles for those positions, both of which can be seen below:

Inside Forward – Support

False Nine – Support

Big Game Tactic

I don’t usually cover additional tactics in my blogs, allowing people to find out for themselves what the additional tactics entail upon downloading. However, I wanted to quickly showcase a specially-made ‘Big Game’ tactic I created alongside this tactical concept – it’s essentially a tweak of the tactics used by Arne Slot in Liverpool’s impressive 0-2 win against Man City in February, in accordance with the signing of Jeremie Frimpong (WB – Attack). Here it is, in a quicker, albeit detailed fashion:

Let’s Break Down the (Other) Tactic