Liverpool changing approach under Arne Slot and impact of one player is proof

Liverpool changing approach under Arne Slot and impact of one player is proof

Liverpool are growing increasingly reliant on the impact of players from the bench under Arne Slot this season

Harvey Elliott of Liverpool replaces team-mate Alexis Mac Allister during the Premier League match against Leicester City at Anfield on December 26 2024 (Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images )

Long gone are the days when football was an 11-a-side match. During Liverpool's first extended glory era in the 1960s, such was the desire for continuity in selection that Bill Shankly would respond to enquiries about his next line-up by declaring it was "the same as last week".

The concept of substitutes was very much in its infancy during that decade in England, with multiple changes permitted only in European competition until the mid-1980s.

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Now, of course, as many as nine players can be sat on the bench for Liverpool's domestic fixtures this season with several more allowed for Champions League matches.

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It serves to underline the value of squad strength with all leading clubs reliant on rotation to keep their players as fresh as possible given the increasing demand in both the intensity and number of games.

And when matters aren't going according to plan, they also provide managers with an opportunity to change the game, whether that be to help see out a victory or swing an outcome in their favour.

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Certainly, Liverpool have been benefitting from the depth of their personnel in recent weeks, with Harvey Elliott's deflected second-half winner in the 2-1 Champions League triumph at home to Lille on Tuesday meaning six of the Reds' last seven goals were scored by substitutes.

Darwin Nunez emerged from the bench to net twice during additional time in the 2-0 win at Brentford last week, while three days earlier Kostas Tsimikas and Diogo Jota were introduced shortly past the hour at Nottingham Forest with the former then putting a corner on the head of the latter with their respective first touches to earn a 1-1 draw.

And the previous weekend, both Jayden Danns and Federico Chiesa had contributed goals as substitutes to copper-bottom a 4-0 FA Cup third round win at home to Accrington Stanley.

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Given the hectic January schedule and the inevitable toll on several first-team regulars, that replacements are making an immediate impact under Arne Slot has been particularly timely. Not least given during the opening months of the season they weren't necessarily required.

Indeed, not until Jota netted a late equaliser in the 2-2 draw at home to Fulham in mid-December had a substitute scored a Premier League goal for Liverpool this term. Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo had previously bagged from the bench in the League Cup and Champions League respectively.

It's the same story in terms of substitutes providing assists. The first came from Curtis Jones teeing up Salah for the winner at home to Brighton in early November, while Trent Alexander-Arnold created two goals for the Egyptian at Newcastle United and Nunez laid on Jota's strike against Fulham. And in the last few weeks, Trey Nyoni, Tsimikas and Elliott have each assisted.

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The return from injury of the likes of Elliott, Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley and - at least for a period - Jota has given Slot more scope to be creative from the bench. It's telling that in Liverpool's last 10 games, he has used all five available substitutions on seven occasions, compared to eight in the first 23 matches of the campaign.

Intriguing, though, is that no team has used fewer players in the Premier League this season than Liverpool, whose total of 23 is matched by Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest. At the other end of the scale are Southampton with 31, while both Brighton and Ipswich Town have used 30.

"It's so nice for me, for us as a team, that I have players that can impact the game on the bench as well," said Slot after the win at Brentford last Saturday. "This happened at Forest with Jota and Kostas and today with Harvey and with Darwin.

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"That's why they have to stay available, they have to stay fit, because one of the strengths of the team is players that can impact the game from the bench."

With Liverpool still challenging on four fronts, every player is going to be needed. The last few weeks have proven that.

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