Since Arne Slot arrived at Liverpool, the way that he wants his team to play soccer has become clearer. We know how he wants his number six to operate and Ryan Gravenberch is excelling at that. We can also see how he has built the team around Mohamed Salah.
With only Federico Chiesa brought in so far in the transfer market, though, and with Giorgi Mamardashvili not arriving until the summer, there are still question marks over certain elements of the squad. What exactly, for instance, does Slot want from his number nine?
Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, and Darwin Nunez have all played the position at times this season, and it is clearly working to enough of an extent that Liverpool leads the way in both the Premier League and in Europe. In an ideal world, though, given a blank canvas, we are yet to see what Slot actually wants from his striker.
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Does he want a pure goalscorer like Erling Haaland? Or does he prefer a Roberto Firmino-like link player who can tie everything together? The Dutchman was asked a question to that effect in his press conference today.
"I will be happy if that player becomes both," Slot replied. "'Facilitator', nice word, I didn't know that one yet, and scoring goals himself — that is, again, what we want to achieve in the end.
"But I also saw the penalty from Cody [Gakpo against Bournemouth] where Lucho [Luis Diaz] as a nine played a part without even touching the ball. He dragged the center-back out, which led to the fact that Cody was in a one-vs-one, and he made a deep run and got tripped. In the end, you want attackers [and] midfielders to score; we've spoken about our attacking midfielder as well."
It sounds very much like Slot wants a bit of both — a prime Firmino, for example. But none of his current Liverpool options guarantee that.
Diaz has looked much more potent in front of goal this season but playing as a number nine in the Premier League, he has only three goals in nine appearances and none in his last five.
Jota offers a guaranteed goal threat and is probably closest to what Slot wants in terms of combining high-quality clinical instincts with link-up play, but his injury history is checkered. Nunez is inconsistent too, but in finishing rather than fitness.
"We need to get goals from many positions, including them [and] including center-backs that can score from set-pieces also," Slot said. "So, that's what I just said, we are trying to work on the training ground.
"With the feedback we give them after the game, we make the team better and better and better. In the end, the number nine should be a facilitator, like a winger, but a winger and a number nine should also score goals."
Come the summer, the number nine position should be a priority for Liverpool to sort out. That was the case beforehand, but Slot's comments only make it even more striking.
If, say, Nunez can be moved on and an improvement can be found, Slot would then be able to task his recruitment staff with finding a player who best suits what he wants. The current options are working for him at the moment, but an upgrade who does everything is more than possible.
