Slot might also be part of the decision or agreement not to sign a CB in this window, we’ll see.
The natural dynamic is that fans always want more signings/transfer activity overall than clubs.
Both when it makes sense and when it doesn’t.
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6…maybe 7…
6-7 …
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We’re at sixes and sevens 
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So, Slot flatly stated that his preferred system is 4-3-3 with real wingers, which raises the question of how he’s planning to play it with Ekitike and Isak. Shifting either one to the side would be a waste and in Isak’s case not very applicable. Unless he’s thinking about rotating them at No. 9, but they are too good not to be regular starters.
You do have to wonder what the thinking was behind the decision to acquire both of them.
It’s pretty simple really. Klopp played 4-3-3 and we had Firmino/Jota or Jota/Nunez for the middle of the three. Sometimes we’d have to play Gakpo there too.
Slot also wants to play with one central striker. When he had Jota and Nunez we ended up with Diaz there a bunch of times. We now have just Isak and Ekitike with Gakpo in a pinch. Both will play plenty.
The entire conversation above this is debating the depth of the squad and now you’re worried that we’ve got two really good options for one position and questioning the decision to buy them both.
4-3-1 might explain our poor results and performances 
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Under Klopp, we played more with forwards inside.
Under Slot, he prefers those players or wingers to play wider.
In the mean time, of course we can use someone like Wirtz off the sides to create the double #10 box shape midfield structure.
Since Slot took over, we’ve flipped the main midfield structure from a 4-3-3 one to the double-pivot 4-2-3-1. It means that sometimes, especially when losing or chasing the result, there will be room for both Ekitike and Isak. Is that the most often scenario though? No (at least you hope not!).
We all agree we should have two players per position and if we talk about the striker position, being one through the spine, we need two quality options.
However, you don’t get that balance in any way. It’s one thing having a starter like Firmino and then getting someone like Jota (who could cover anywhere in attack). It’s another when you get two brand new players Ekitike and Isak in the same window, but play with 1 striker.
Under Klopp, we had clarity and with time as we progressed, better competition. Now, you can say that we have more of that competition, but not enough clarity how it should work.
Not that fees or market value should dictate who starts, but…
We’re the only club that has it’s 2 strikers among the 7 (Ekitike is joint with Martinez) most valuable ones on the market.
Among the most 25 most valuable ones, Inter has Martinez and Thuram (but they play with 2 up top), United has Sesko and Cunha (but they compliment each other and don’t battle for the same spot, at least for now), Arsenal has Gyokeres and Havertz (different players), Bayern has Kane and Jackson (who joined on loan knowing he’d be a clear backup) and City has Haaland and Marmoush (clear who is first choice and who is backup).
Should I moan if we have Ekitike and Isak in the building? In a way, no.
But is it normal to have that situation if we don’t play with 2 strikers and how sustainable is it long term? Not really and who knows.
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Perhaps we view it as a more short-term audition?
When Jota unfortunately passed away, maybe our next targets on the market weren’t convincing and we said, f*ck bringing someone cheap and of suspicious quality, get two quality options and let them battle it out. In some game situations, we’ll use both.
That said, Isak was more proven and of more reputation than Ekitike. I believe it’s Isak who was our first choice since the first months of 2025 and we signed Ekitike as a reaction to the combination of losing Jota and the Isak deal dragging on, with the danger of not happening.
To have a quality audition, obviously you need to be lucky that they’re fit and in normal condition to go up against each other.
With Isak’s circumstance (no football or team training for 4 months, that is a lot), unfortunately that will not be a battle on equal terms until next summer or the start of next season. It’s a great opportunity for Ekitike. But he also knows Isak will get his chance at some point, because he’s proved in this league that he’s a serious player if he’s fit.
If it’s an “Alvarez” situation down the line, in terms of having two successful options (our ones would have to prove it first, which isn’t the case yet), but something that will not be sustainable to have both and keep both happy enough for long enough… then you wonder what the re-sale value might be in either cases. In that case, Ekitike could be more valuable than Isak.
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Ha ha, It’s not like I was expecting an apology or anything but are you really doubling down on this?
‘I’ll’ refers to me. If I was refering to you I’d have said ‘You’. It’s that simple. Completely changing the context of someone else’s post and then accusing them of threatening you is pretty strange.
I (that’s me, ‘jaffod’) have no desire to engage with you (that’s you,‘Lynch04’) on this matter anymore. Ta.
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Also where does Wirtz play in a 4-3-3 since he’s a 10 and not a real winger, midfield 3?
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I’m not sure about the highlighted to be honest. I haven’t seen much difference in the way Forest, Leeds, Fulham or Crystal Palace played against us, nor Arsenal or Cheaty. The change imo, has more to do with Slot misusing Salah’s qualities for instance, by telling him to stay on the right wing, and thus, too far from goal to have his usual effect. Or from allowing Diaz to leave the club last summer, and thus, to deprive us from a quality option on that side. There are many other rational reasons for our slump in performance, but I don’t think that many teams have spectacularly changed their style when playing us, compared with last season, when we were dispatching them on a regular basis.
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No idea, but there was obviously a plan for him as Wirtz was impressed when Slot explained it to him.
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Teams have different styles, change and adapt all the time.
This is certainly not a situation he was in at Feyenoord, where he was one of the dominant sides and probably had less variety to cope against, also the league not being as competitive.
It’s up to us to constantly find answers to new kind of problems.
The life of a big club and big team (that wants to remain so), and that’s not since yesterday.
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I’ve come around to the idea that not replacing Diaz like for like was a grave error. I still don’t get the Isak signing, though hindsight would suggest Hugo was not ready when clearly he has been one of bright sparks.
There is a team of players here who could easily walk the league and its why I do think he will be moved on in the summer regardless.
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I guess when he says 4-3-3, he does mean 4-2-3-1. It can happen with some people.
And Wirtz has played a little bit off the sides more on the inside, doesn’t mean he’s being asked to play like Salah, Gakpo, Chiesa or Ngumoha when he does.
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I think the club already viewed Ekitike as someone who can improve the team (or maintain the level) this season, not a young talent for the future.
The thing that bothers me is that we went £204m deep to get two strikers both for the present and future and left us with even more questions how it will work, with all the moves we made.
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Does anyone care if IT (i.e. if we were winning every game) was working out?
Slot has commented pretty openly that one of things he wanted to address with the squad building this summer was addressing how physically demanding the schedule is for Prem sides and having enough rotation options specifically for the players who were not used to those demands. He specifically called out Wirtz and Hugo, saying that if they were going to have to be everyday players they’d have to nearly double their minutes from last season. He also put Isak in that bracket because of his prior injury issues.
I think the pretty obvious take home is that while it might evolve over time into a best XI with all 3 of them playing, but that was not the vision we had in mind when signing them.
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The question about how both Isak and Ekitike work hasn’t been answered on the pitch, chiefly because they haven’t had much of a chance to both be fit and firing together yet. Unfortunately that won’t happen now this season, or if we get a glimpse, it will only be at the tail end.
Next season we will see! Will it be a 433 like one would usually imagine? If so, we need better wingers than the ones we have now. And at least one of them needs electric pace. Or will it be more of a 4231 with Wirtz in the 10 role, Ekitike playing from the left, but inside left, and Isak up top? Or will we have two elite/potentially elite options for a singular striker role, and end up with a Haaland/Alvarez situation as suggested above, where ultimately one will be sold?
There are so many open-ended questions about how we are supposed to function in the final third. The frustrating thing is we can’t get them on the pitch to sort it out!
Over and above all that is the question over the manager.
Is Slot going to do enough with the remainder of the season to continue in his job? If not, the questions over how our attacking players are going to work together will be answered by another manager, and without wanting to get ahead of myself, he would probably look at the attacking talent we have at Liverpool and relish the chance to harness it within a cohesive unit.
It’s up to Slot to show that he should be that man.
My mind is not made up due to the numerous factors at play this season. But I no longer see those who want a change as being unreasonable. I get it, and it’s a valid viewpoint, even if I wish we would hope for the best and back the sitting manager - no, the sitting Premier League winning manager - for the rest of the season while we find out. That’s what I’ll be doing.