Liverpool hero Nicol not convinced by Arne Slot's strong pre-season campaign

Liverpool have begun the Arne Slot era in positive pre-season form, winning all three games of their US tour against Real Betis, Arsenal and Manchester United. 

Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho have been among the stars of the pre-season campaign, which concludes this weekend with the visit of Sevilla to Anfield on Sunday. 

Some key changes in the Slot system have been hinted at with a double pivot being evident in midfield and things are looking fresh even without some key players who didn’t feature Stateside due to their involvements in international tournaments. 

Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez and Cody Gakpo are yet to play a single minute under Slot following Euro 2024 and the Copa America. 

It is shaping up to be a positive campaign with Slot’s squad looking settled considering the new transfer team of Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards have yet to sign a player. 

Following the departure of Jurgen Klopp, it is expected that there will be a period of transition once the competitive action starts with Liverpool in action on the opening Premier League weekend against Ipswich Town. 

Nicol skeptical of Arne Slot

One Liverpool legend remains skeptical that Slot’s Reds will get off to a flying start with Steve Nicol predicting ‘teething problems’ as the squad adjusts to the new head coach’s demands. 

“I still think the first part of the season is going to be a learning phase,” Nicol told ESPN FC. 

“From what I've seen so far, there doesn't seem to be too much of a difference between the way Slot plays and the way Liverpool [under Klopp] play which I think is a positive. 

“But at the same  time there are always little foibles that every coach has that they want players to do in certain positions and those little teething problems is probably, for me, what will happen at the start of the season.”

Nicol, 62, represented Liverpool for 13 years, winning four league titles, three FA Cups and a European Cup among other honours and is widely considered one of the club’s greatest-ever defenders.