Have Liverpool lost the ‘chaotic’ edge that made them so fearsome?

But Liverpool were not as lucky this season with regards to injuries as was the case last season. They also consistently struggled to watch matches.

After a 1-1 draw with Burnley in January, Virgil van Dijk said: “After 60 minutes, we started to become sloppy and that’s not the first time. We have to address that.”

Although the changes Slott made were positive in his first season, there is a possibility that they were so effective because they were stacked on the physical base that Klopp had built through an approach that might be considered too taxing in itself.

For a team to succeed, tactics and team skills must be considered together. Simply put, a team’s style must suit its players.

Liverpool’s squad overhaul in the summer was supposed to improve on last season’s success. In fact, it now appears that some of the players Liverpool lost had the attributes to take Slott’s ideas to the next level.

Choosing specific moments to press is not an inherently bad tactic but requires aggression and coordination throughout the team.

There is no doubt that the tragic loss of Diogo Jota will affect Liverpool’s ability to complete an optimal pre-season.

Besides the sale of Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz, Liverpool lack a striker three who can press well, and often win the ball high, even if they don’t get involved as often under Slott, as they did under Klopp.

Liverpool’s attacking line this season has been unable to minimize the potential drawbacks of slot pressing – it is often slower to press, fails to cut off easy passing lanes and does not press back to tackle opposition midfielders.

Florian Wirtz’s pressure rate of 86.7 per 90 minutes this season is similar to the numbers Jota (104.1) and Nunez (93.6) boasted last season, but the likes of Hugo Equitiki (73.3), Alexander Isak (70.0) and an aging Mohamed Salah are different types of players.