Quarterback full-backs, Salah unleashed, and a midfield overload no-one could crack — the complete FM26 breakdown of Arne Slot's Premier League-winning Liverpool 4-3-3.
In January 2024, Liverpool managerial legend Jürgen Klopp announced that he would leave his beloved Reds at the end of the 23/24 season. This announcement, understandably, sent shockwaves around Europe, especially given the fact Liverpool were well and truly in the Premier League title race at the time. In the end, Klopp didn't get his fairytale ending as poor form late into the season saw his final season end trophy-less. This announcement also sent shockwaves around the entire club, and it was absolutely vital Liverpool found the correct replacement. Ultimately, relatively unknown Feyenoord manager Arne Slot was the chosen one, and was swiftly appointed as the club's heir to Klopp's throne.
Ahead of the 24/25 season, many neutrals and pundits believed Liverpool would have a transitional year and would struggle, especially given that Arne Slot would have to get to grips with English football. However, Arne Slot took football in England like a duck to water and, ultimately, led the Reds to a sensational Premier League title, overthrowing the recently dominant Manchester City and challenging Arsenal. But how did he do this...?
Tweaks > Overhaul
Jürgen Klopp, in his nine years at the club, implemented a heavy metal, gegenpressing brand of football to great success. Arne Slot, in this regard, appeared to be a very optimal recruit by Liverpool as his brand of football at Feyenoord was incredibly similar — both coaches would demand intense, high pressing and attacking football. It's with this where you can see why Liverpool had adapted so smoothly to Slot's system, as the core principles are very akin, just with slightly different details. If you want to see exactly how Klopp's Liverpool system worked before Slot arrived, our Klopp 4-3-3 Gegenpress FM26 tactical recreation breaks down the predecessor system in full.
Pioneering a Generation
Amid the rise of box-shaped midfields in European football, clubs in England, especially, have reverted to traditional 4-4-2 defensive shapes, as you can match up the midfield box created by teams. The issue with the 4-4-2, however, is that it can be easily overloaded by a three-man midfield, famously exposed in England by José Mourinho and his Chelsea side in 2004/05.
Arne Slot spotted this vulnerability and would look to exploit it as many times as he could. He would do this by forming a slightly staggered 4-3-3 shape in possession, with one of the holding midfielders vacating his position, allowing the other (typically Gravenberch) to become a single pivot. And, instead of having a full-back invert or having a centre-back step up to create a double-pivot, the single pivot would remain a single pivot. What this would create is clear numerical superiority in the midfield, and no-one knew how to crack it!
Arne Slot's 'Quarterbacks'
As mentioned above, the common thing at this time was to have your full-backs invert, join the centre-backs, or move higher to offer width. Arne Slot, however, would position his full-backs in very interesting areas of the pitch that were reminiscent of a classic 'quarterback's' positioning in an American Football game. This is significant as it would ask major questions of the opposition:
Do you press the full-backs? Or do you stick to your position?
Each question has an answer, of course, and yet each answer has its benefits and detriments. For example, if you were to press the full-backs, you would be eliminating the deep threat, especially with Trent Alexander-Arnold and his elite vision and passing ability. However, the drawback of this is that space would open up for one of the midfielders to arrive into. And, with Liverpool already possessing a numerical advantage in central areas, this would only exacerbate the issues posed by Slot's side.
On the other hand, if the opposition were to opt against pressing or marking the full-backs, this would give Liverpool the opportunity to move the ball out of the build-up phase with ease and allow them to assert themselves. Additionally, from this more withdrawn, narrower positioning, Liverpool would have as many as five outfield players to circulate and recycle possession between in deep areas, drawing the opposition higher and thus creating space either between the lines or in-behind the opposition's defence.
This is a perfect example of what Slot's side would do, and how it would pose issues to the opposition. In midfield, Liverpool would possess a 3v2 numerical advantage (blue triangle), forcing the opposition deeper. However, if one of the opposition's wide midfielders were to press higher to close down (pink line) one of Liverpool's 'quarterbacks', the central midfielder on the same side would thus become available (orange circle) to receive the ball as the spare man. Conversely, if the wide midfielders were to allow one of the 'quarterbacks' to receive the ball with ease, this would lend the necessary time and space to said 'quarterback' to get his head up and pick out a direct pass forward — Trent Alexander-Arnold, as previously alluded to, was particularly proficient at this.
Let's Break Down the Tactic
In Possession
From build-up, Slot would position his full-backs and two holding midfielders relatively deep, forming a 4-2 build-up shape that would create ideal conditions for Liverpool to draw in the opposition's high-press through strategic, short passes beginning from the centre-backs. Upon progressing from build-up, Liverpool would constantly look for the ball in-behind the opposition's defence for Salah to chase. Alternatively, if the opposition didn't press high too often, Liverpool would look to find the underlapping runs, on the right side, from Trent Alexander-Arnold or Dominik Szoboszlai from the no.10 position.
In the final third, Liverpool were patient in their attacking exploits and would work the ball into the box to try and create high-xG chances regularly. In general, Liverpool primarily utilised shorter passes in order to retain possession, however, they could go direct at times, especially if the opposition were pressing higher. Additionally, Slot would instruct his players to converge narrowly in-possession, shortening the distances between each player and, thus, optimising the side's counter-pressing. Finally, upon regaining possession, Liverpool would be merciless on the counter-attack — a key component of Klopp's gegenpressing strategy that Slot adopted in his first season.
Out of Possession
When Liverpool didn't have the ball, they would sit in a 'high-block', wherefrom they could often leap into an aggressive high-press. To supplement this, Slot instructed his defence to hold a higher line — this would also compact the space in midfield. When they would step up to press, Liverpool would actually tend to force teams inside, wherefrom their tough-tackling midfield could extinguish any danger — this also allowed Salah to remain higher as an outlet option for the eventual counter-attack once possession switched hands. Finally, upon losing possession, Liverpool would rigorously counter-press to try and regain possession as swiftly as possible.
Player Roles
Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper
When Liverpool had possession, Alisson would remain deeper as a secondary passing option — this slightly withdrawn positioning would actually entice the opposition to press higher, as the backwards pass would trigger most teams' players to lock into their high-pressing strategies. Conversely, when Liverpool didn't have the ball, Alisson had the responsibility of holding a higher position to sweep any loose balls in-behind the Reds' defence and claiming any crosses into the penalty area.
Wing-Back | Full-Back
Trent Alexander-Arnold, in this system, would be instructed to be available in deep build-up — like his counterpart on the left. However, unlike his counterpart, the right-back was given licence to move forward to support Salah on the right. From here, instead of holding the width himself, Trent would invert to occupy the opposition left-back, allowing Salah to remain available as he held the width on that side.
Something interesting emerged when analysing Alexander-Arnold's FBREF report during the 24/25 campaign: under Slot, he seemed to be carrying the ball forward far more often than under Klopp — therefore 'Dribble More' was applied. Lastly, Trent would tend to utilise his exceptional long-passing ability and vision, which saw him provide goals for Salah on a few occasions last season.
Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Centre-Back
Both centre-backs, in this system, were ideally comfortable with the ball at their feet, and in Van Dijk and Konaté, Slot was blessed in this regard. However, they had slightly different demands asked of them. The right-sided centre-back, Konaté, was mainly asked to progress the play over shorter distances, whereas his partner (Van Dijk) was asked to progress play over longer distances.
Centre-Back | Centre-Back
Van Dijk is, and was in this system, more of a Ball-Playing Centre-Back — however, on FM26, you can't instruct a Ball-Playing Centre-Back to opt for 'More Direct Passes'. The direct passes are crucial to encourage switches of play in-game, as Van Dijk would regularly switch the play to Salah on the right, who'd be holding the width.
Full-Back | Full-Back
Whilst their movements were similar in a few regards, the full-backs made contrasting movements when the team had settled possession. On the left, Robertson would tend to hold his position and would often form a wide back-three with the two centre-backs.
Defensive Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder
Under Arne Slot, Ryan Gravenberch has developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe, excelling in a deeper role that, at one point in his Liverpool career, looked a tough ask of him. In this system, Gravenberch would remain deep and help to recycle play with shorter passes, although he could go more direct at times to find the no.10 or the striker. Additionally, upon receiving the ball under pressure, Gravenberch had a tendency to roll his marker before carrying forward aggressively — alas, due to the rigidity of the roles in FM26, this was unable to be applied in-game.
Box-to-Box Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder
Mac Allister's role, in this system, epitomised that of a classic 'Box-to-Box Midfielder': in build-up, Mac Allister would remain deep alongside Gravenberch to form a double-pivot. However, as Liverpool progressed up the pitch, so too did Mac Allister, who would strategically position himself between the lines and in the left half-space — from here, upon receiving the ball, he could pick out an attacker with a riskier pass. Additionally, as Liverpool entered the final third, Mac Allister was particularly proficient in crashing the box as a tertiary, late crossing option.
Attacking Midfielder | Tracking Centre Forward
In this position, the attacking midfielder was asked to frequently roam from his position to help create overloads, especially on the left-hand side. Beyond that, he was mainly instructed to provide those aforementioned underlapping runs in the right half-space. He could also be a lateral goal-threat, given his prominent off-the-ball movement. Finally, he would usually form a front two with the striker to form a 4-4-2 out-of-possession — both 'strikers' would drop deeper to support the midfield as the opposition progressed higher, allowing Salah to retain a higher, outlet position.
Wide Forward | Wide Outlet Winger
In 24/25, Mo Salah completed one of the greatest individual seasons in football history, as he carried Liverpool to their 20th league title in scintillating fashion: 34 goals and 23 assists in all competitions, with 47 goal contributions in the Premier League alone. The Egyptian King had the season of all seasons — largely thanks to Arne Slot, who platformed his best player to perfection, allowing him to focus entirely on attacking and creating.
In this system, when Liverpool had the ball, Salah would remain wide — however, it was when he received the ball that he became a lot more unpredictable, as he could weave inside and out before shooting, finding a team-mate with a riskier pass, or even crossing to a team-mate at the back post. This autonomy and multi-faceted unpredictability proved far too much to cope with for almost all defenders he faced. When Liverpool didn't have the ball, Salah was given licence to remain higher and wider as an outlet.
Wide Forward | Wide Midfielder
On the left side, the left winger's game was a lot more streamlined. Like Salah, he would stay wide throughout Liverpool's attacks, before attacking the back post aggressively. Upon receiving the ball, both Diaz and Gakpo — Liverpool's primary left winger options — would tend to cut inside and take on their man.
Centre Forward | Tracking Centre Forward
The striker in this system, like the no.10 behind him, would roam from his position to help create overloads. However, if unnecessary, the striker could situationally choose whether to drop deep to receive the ball to feet or make a penetrative run in-behind to chase a through ball.
Results
Premier League
In the Premier League, in testing, we absolutely tore the competition apart and eclipsed Liverpool's campaign in real life, amassing 97 points after winning 31 games, drawing 4 games, and losing the remaining 3. Across our 38 league games, we scored 100 goals (2.63 goals per game) and conceded just 25 goals (0.65 goals per game) — the league's best for each statistic. In fact, the xG table suggests we could've potentially exceeded our exceptional performance, as we conceded more than we were projected to, and matched our goals scored to our xG for.
Domestic Cups
We began the season as we meant to go on, beating Crystal Palace 3-1 in the season's curtain raiser, the Community Shield, securing our first piece of silverware for the campaign. In the FA Cup, we were defeated by Fulham on penalties after an initial 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage, bringing an end to our hopes of winning every trophy available. However, we would go on to avenge this failure by lifting the FA Cup at Wembley in May, defeating Fulham's London rivals Brentford 5-0 under the arch! On our way to FA Cup success, we beat the likes of Aston Villa (2-1), Arsenal (4-1), Southampton (1-6), and Man City (3-1).
UEFA Champions League
We made it seventh heaven for Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League as we defeated domestic rivals Man City 1-2 in the Final! On our way to European success, we overcame Real Madrid (5-3 AGG), Benfica (7-2 AGG), and Marseille (6-2 AGG) after initially finishing 3rd in the League Phase. This European success completed a magnificent treble-winning campaign.
Conclusion
When club legend Jürgen Klopp announced that he'd be leaving Liverpool at the end of the 23/24 season, it sent shockwaves around world football, and it hurt Liverpool as their quadruple charge was inadvertently sent off course and Klopp's final surge ended trophy-less. This collapse meant it was even more pivotal that Liverpool got their decision correct on who'd replace the German.
In Arne Slot, Liverpool got the right man, as he guided them to an unexpected Premier League title at the very first time of asking! It was a magnificent season for Liverpool, characterised by revolutionary build-up strategies, brave attacking football, and a season of a lifetime from their Egyptian King, Mo Salah. If you're a Liverpool fan looking to try the original system that Slot inherited, our FM24 Arne Slot Liverpool tactical recreation is also available to download and compare.
If you want a taste of this beautiful tactic, make sure to download the tactic using the link attached to this article and make sure to follow FM Blog (@fmbIog) and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials. I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves! Thanks for reading!
