Liverpool’s issues run far and wide this season, and Arne Slot’s second season is falling from a concern to a calamity. Nottingham Forest pitched up at Anfield on Saturday and won 3-0. That’s six defeats from seven Premier League matches for the champions.
The fact that Liverpool produced a confident and front-footed performance for the first half-hour, before Murillo pounced after a corner, is immaterial. Even the residue of the fluent and coherent and tenacious spine has deserted Slot’s side.
Things can change quickly in football, but on the basis of the current evidence, Liverpool will struggle to secure a place in next season’s Champions League, let alone challenge high-flying Arsenal for the title.
Change is needed, a strange thing to say given the Reds’ record-breaking summer of spending. But with such glaring tactical problems, it feels likely that FSG will authorise a signing or two this winter.
Liverpool search for winter signings
With Ibrahima Konate so horribly out of sorts and free to talk to overseas suitors in January, out of contract at the end of the season, there is an understandable anxiety about Liverpool’s defensive depth, let alone the stability of the backline.
This club’s reputation as masterful strategists has disintegrated over the past few months. The squeals of delight from rival fans are loud, and it goes without saying that it’s crucial that sporting director Richard Hughes gets it right if dipping back into the market come January.
Liverpool need a centre-back, sure, but that’s not the extent of their issues, with Slot actually hinting in the past week that his club’s transfer arm may extend in a different direction.
Well, according to Spanish sources, Liverpool are preparing to launch a statement bid for Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise, who has been earmarked as an alternative to Antoine Semenyo, admired by FSG and with a £65m release clause that becomes active in January.
Liverpool might have broken the British transfer record on Alexander Isak this summer, but they are now looking to smash that once again with a deal for the French winger, who is valued at €200m (about £177m).
Change is needed at Anfield, and with Olise added to the fold, the intensity and sparkle that have been so sorely lacking may be rekindled.
What Olise would bring to Liverpool
Liverpool have been lacking something out wide this season, and a large part of that has been the failure to effectively replace Luis Diaz.
Diaz, sold to Bayern Munich this summer, was so dynamic and dangerous, and in his new teammate Olise, Liverpool could restore that style of wide forward to their set-up.
Olise has been described as “easily a top-five right winger in the world” by analyst Ben Mattinson, and with the need for a Mohamed Salah replacement intensifying, this could be the perfect move to go for, the Les Bleus star only continuing to go from strength to strength.
Whether Liverpool opt for the cheaper route in signing Semenyo remains to be seen, but this would be a statement, and Olise has proven his capacity to succeed in different systems and different areas.
Of course, there is a big difference between playing for Bournemouth and starring for Bayern Munich. The Cherries are an attractive and impressive outfit, but they lack the offensive freedom of Die Roten at the peak of the Bundesliga.
Goals scored
0.63
0.55
Assists
0.63
0.27
Shots taken
4.62
1.91
Shot-creating actions
6.82
3.28
Touches (att pen)
7.55
3.64
Pass completion (%)
81.6
69.4
Progressive passes
6.40
3.55
Progressive carries
5.45
3.19
Successful take-ons
2.31
1.91
Ball recoveries
4.72
5.28
Tackles + interceptions
1.36
1.82
Olise would be able to transfer his elite-level experience back over to the Premier League, where he has played so spectacularly before, and provide Slot’s side with creative and physical upgrades, echoing Semenyo’s skills in that regard.
But he would also give Liverpool the Diaz-like presence they have missed since the summer. The Colombian’s energy and core strength made him a fearsome Premier League winger, and with 17 goals and eight assists across all competitions last term, he was instrumental in propping up Slot’s reputation.
Podcast host Ryan Dilks said five years ago that Olise was a “superstar in waiting”, destined for the top, and now that has been put into practice, with the 23-year-old in his second season at Bayern and currently boasting nine goals and ten assists across 18 matches in all competitions this season.
It cannot be understated how much of a detrimental effect Diaz’s sale has had on Liverpool’s form and fluency this season. Olise would fix that. As per Sofascore, he has won 4.4 duels per game in the Bundesliga this season. His final season in the Premier League with Palace? Olise averaged 5.7 duels per match.
Liverpool are crying out for this kind of winger, and while Semenyo would add qualities that the club need, Olise is equally tenacious and physical, and he’s far superior from a technical standpoint and proven as one of the game’s most prolific wide forwards around.
Liverpool have slipped and slid into a morass of their own making. There are many circumstances surrounding this current crisis, but Slot is making many questionable tactical decisions and the players themselves have lost every shred of confidence and work-rate, two fixed points of the Dutch coach’s successful first season in charge.
It’s clear that there isn’t enough width and energy down the flanks, and so Olise could be the perfect Semenyo alternative to replace Salah by handing back to Merseyside a bit of Diaz-esque flair.
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