Liverpool FC: The pressing problems for Arne Slot’s rebuild

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Liverpool are far from the well-oiled machine they were at times in Arne Slot‘s first season in charge and one of the main causes for concern is the way they press – or don’t press. There was a moment in Liverpool’s game against Chelsea when Dominik Szoboszlai closed down three or four consecutive opposition players as they passed the ball across the back line.

The numbers Last season Liverpool’s pressing was – perhaps unsurprisingly in the post-Klopp era – slightly down on previous years, but it was sometimes still effective when deployed. It’s not always useful to look at numbers after just seven league games in a season and it’s not worth reaching too many conclusions from them, but for what it’s worth they do show Liverpool’s pressing has dropped off, having already dropped off last season in comparison to the Klopp era.

One of the reasons some of Liverpool’s new signings under Klopp took weeks and months to adapt was not that they couldn’t fit into the attack, but because they were still not used to how Liverpool pressed as a team out of possession. Liverpool’s issues revolve mostly around their near-unprecedented first-team overhaul and players getting used to each other and their new coach’s methods.