After winning the Premier League in his first campaign of English football, Arne Slot has the challenging task of retaining his title heading in to his second season at Liverpool.
The evolution of full-backs is one of the most interesting in the current tactical landscape, with players being asked to fill multiple roles in games to facilitate and platform their teammates.
Take PSG for example, Achraf Hakimi is comfortable as a nominal right full-back, can invert into midfield, can provide width high on the right, can operate in the half spaces and can even attack the box popping up in striker positions.
Nuno Mendes is the same, filling left centre-back, left-back, high and wide on the left and the halfspaces when needed.
This fluidity allows PSG to rotate positions on the ball, moving the opposition defensive block around to find gaps and exploit them.
Slot set his Liverpool side up with a nominal back four on the ball, forming a 4-1 base with Ryan Gravenberch in the middle and Alexis Mac Allister with Dominik Szoboszlai just in front, looking to receive between the lines.
The usage of full-backs this season at Liverpool was slightly more conservative, staying deeper and narrow in the first phase of build up, before providing support further forward once Slot’s side progressed through the thirds.
This allowed Liverpool to play more direct at times, knowing their full-backs were positioned to deal with defensive transitions when they lost possession.
However, with Trent Alexander-Arnold now gone and Milos Kerkez joining up with Jeremie Frimpong at the club, Slot could be looking to use his full-backs more dynamically next campaign.
Let’s start with Kerkez, who is a slightly more natural fit when speaking about replacing one of their current full-backs.
The 21-year-old left-back has plenty of similar traits reminiscent of Robertson in his prime, pressing with intensity, full of energy and flying forward to whip crosses into the box.
Last season, Kerkez averaged 2.64 possessions won in the defensive third per 90, making 1.4 tackles per 90 and only losing 0.38 challenges per 90.
Robertson on the other hand, averaged 1.84 possessions won in the defensive third per 90, making 1.41 tackles per 90 and losing 0.72 challenges per 90.
Kerkez also adds more running & carrying power, averaging 2.86 progressive carries per 90 and receiving 5.31 progressive passes per 90 compared to Robertson who averaged 2.32 progressive carries and 3.91 progressive passes received per 90.
Overall, Kerkez will offer a refresh at left-back, adding more tenacity, energy and ability to cover ground, something that is becoming more and more important each season in the Premier League.
However, Frimpong is a slightly different case, coming in to replace Alexander-Arnold despite being quite drastically different profiles.
As you can see from his average positions in the touch map above, Frimpong was often tasked at Bayer Leverkusen to hold the width high and wide on the right, sometimes being the most advanced player on the pitch.
Where Kerkez felt like more of a Robertson replacement, the addition of Frimpong can tell us a lot about Arne Slot’s plans for next season.
Whilst Alexander-Arnold excels in progressive passing, averaging 8.82 per 90, Frimpong only managed to average 2.14 progressive passes per 90.
However, Frimpong does provide extra running power (similar to Kerkez), completing 3.89 progressive carries per 90 and receiving 10.6 progressive passes per 90.
Compare this to Alexander-Arnold, who only averaged 1.94 progressive carries per 90 and 3.57 progressive passes per 90 last season.
These movements in the transfer market from Liverpool would suggest Slot has something up his sleeve for next season, implementing more athleticism and mobility to his side.
This could see the full-backs more advanced than they have been this campaign, relying on their recovery pace to defend in transition and mobility to aid the counter press.
Whatever it is that Slot has in mind, you can bet the new full-backs will have a huge role to play in his new system.