Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version or go back to LFC Live.net

At this point of the season the Reds were only just beginning to take England and the continent by storm as Arne Slot's relatively unknown methods proved difficult to predict, so it was a rare circumstance that the opposition actually had an insider who could tip the scales in their favour.

"He wants to play a dominant style of football and overcome the opponent with possession," Lutsharel Geertruida told RB in the build-up to the match.

By the time Slot arrived in 2021, Geertruida was a man grown, but it was only after the now-Liverpool head coach came into a position of influence was he able to discover his voice as a leader, working behind the scenes to overcome a stutter that meant he avoided the spotlight whilst becoming the captain he was destined to be.



Read More.

Hope for an even greater future under a coach who has won a Premier League title in his first campaign using a team of players like Alexander-Arnold, inherited from a past era.

Blessing in disguise may be too strong a terminology to describe the exit of a unique footballer like Alexander-Arnold, but this is happening with ideal timing to help Slot build the team he envisioned, to carry on the mission the way he originally intended, the way he built Feyenoord into the domineering unit that Geertruida was a key part of.

Liverpool's average Premier League possession under Slot - 58 per cent - proves they are dictating play, yet not to the full extent Feyenoord were in the Eredivisie during his last term at De Kuip - 61.8 per cent.

Part of Slot's adaptation to English football has been working with what Jurgen Klopp left to him and fine-tuning his own system where required.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool, 2024/25) passing, defensive and touch stats compared to Lutsharel Geertruida (Feyenoord, 2023/24), as both right-backs played under head coach Arne Slot.

With that, the majority of his output to other teammates in 2024/25 has occurred from deeper positions when compared to Geertruida's tendency to see more touches of the ball overall, the majority in the middle third, exchanging more often at short-range (5-15 yards) and mid-range (15-30 yards).

Slot's Feyenoord at the peak of their power, albeit in a division of less quality opposition, were able to establish a foothold higher up the field than Liverpool have done so far under the same coach.

But most incredibly of all, for the areas that Alexander-Arnold prides himself in being able to make a difference despite playing as a defender - goals and assists - his nine (3G, 6A) combined this term fall flat in the shadow of the 13 (8G, 5A) Geertruida was able to contribute, all whilst switching between positions far away from the opposition's penalty area.

Now, talk is already growing of who Liverpool should sign to replace their outgoing right-back and only once has Slot's former player been named.