Wrong players, wrong time: how Slot set Liverpool up to fail

Not a single player can hold their head up high after yesterday's embarrassing 0-3 loss at Anfield, but Arne Slot let them down with the starting eleven.

Best player of the season? Stick him in defence

Once upon a time, Arne Slot was praised for his tactical ingenuity and savvy team selection, but it could not be more different this season. Why on earth does he keep persevering with Szoboszlai at right-back?

The Hungarian is, without a doubt, our player of the season so far, but he is absolutely wasted in defence. This isn't to say that he played badly; Szoboszlai created the most chances out of anyone on the pitch, won three ground duels and was not dribbled past a single time. But you cannot confine a player that good to the back-line.

Szoboszlai was at the heart of our impressive wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid, covering a huge amount of ground and redistributing possession with efficiency and pace. The fact that Slot deployed Wirtz on the left to accomodate the Hungarian in midfield shows how important he is in the middle of the park.

The gaffer claims that he was forced into playing Szoboszlai as a full-back because Gomez was not ready to start. That is fair enough, but why didn't he utilise Ramsay, who was one of the only bright sparks in our league cup humiliation? Or even Jones, who he eventually moved to the back-line in the second-half when we were already behind?

There are so many questions about Slot's tactics, and this is only one position!

The wrong time to pick Kerkez

The 22 year-old will come good eventually - remember how long it took for Robertson to depose Alberto Moreno as first-choice left-back? - but now is not the time to take risks, not least in the Premier League.

This has as much to do with possession as it does with defence, because despite the scoreline, Kerkez was not too vulnerable at the back. He won both ground duels that he contested, as well as making a brilliant sliding tackle and two clearances.

On the ball, however, he looks so lost at times. He is erratic and hesitant when passing lanes open up, and he lacks chemistry with his team-mates down the wing.

He doesn't know when to give and go, and when he does bomb forward on the overlap, Gakpo refuses to play him in, a maddening trope which crops up several times per match.

It also doesn't help that Liverpool are playing a different kind of football to the counter-attacking transitional strategy that Iraiola deploys at Bournemouth.

Regardless, Slot needs to go back to basics and trust in Robertson, who has a good relationship on the pitch with every player around him, especially Gakpo, Van Dijk and Mac Allister.

With confidence at an all-time low, the squad needs familiarity and leadership, and Robertson provides both in abundance.

Isak stranded

Speaking of inopportune times to utilise new signings, it beggars belief how Slot thought that yesterday was a good time to throw Isak in the deep end.

The last time that the Swede appeared in a Liverpool shirt was during our 1-5 rout of Frankfurt in the Champions League, one month ago! For a player lacking in match fitness and sharpness, a gruelling Premier League fixture against a low-block doesn't provide favorable conditions to start finding the back of the net.

Numbers can't tell the whole story, but they don't make for pretty viewing. Isak made five passes yesterday, and only registered two touches in the opposition penalty box. Furthermore, out of the four ground duels and three aerial duels that he contested, he won zero.

You could understand Slot's decision if there no alternatives; Isak is an elite striker, he needs minutes to get back up to speed, and Nottingham Forest were (until yesterday) sitting in the relegation zone. But that would ignore the phenomenon that is Hugo Ekitike.

Arguably our most impressive attacker this season, the Frenchman has registered the joint-second most goal contributions in the squad. He looks confident, creative and brave on the ball, and he has already started to develop a good understanding with Gakpo and Salah.

The team sorely missed a centre-forward that was willing to drop in and make things happen themselves yesterday, and Slot elected to keep the solution on the bench until the 55th minute.

The gaffer has the tactical intelligence and the personnel to turn this season around, but if he keeps making glaringly obvious mistakes in his team selection, you really do have to start wondering whether he is the right man for the job.