Arne Slot just named Liverpool problem nobody saw coming — it must be addressed

Liverpool will be active in the transfer market in the summer, but the Reds also need to get more out of the players that Arne Slot already has — including fitness-wise

Arne Slot during a Liverpool press conference(Image: Michael Regan - UEFA via Getty Images)

When it comes to the summer, while wholesale changes to the extent that Liverpool went through a year ago should not be expected in the transfer market, there will need to be alterations.

Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson are leaving and Jeremy Jacquet and Kostas Tsimikas can be added to the group, but there will be more movement beyond that. Arne Slot's roster needs a fresh injection of pace and it must be deeper in a couple of key areas.

Away from transfers, though, there is also another major need that must be addressed: Slot admitted on Friday that some of his players are still unable to play two or three games per week, and that is a problem.

Even if the worst-case scenario unfolds in the next month or so and Liverpool misses out of qualifying for the Champions League, it will be in some form of European competition next term. As a result, it needs a squad that is capable.

The final six games of the season will see Liverpool play only once per week, but that is not the norm. Ideally, Slot's side would still be in Europe and have an FA Cup semi-final on the horizon.

With only the Premier League to focus on, there will be more time on the training ground, but Liverpool should not get used to that. Instead, the fitness of its roster needs to improve.

Slot will have one eye on next season(Image: Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

"I think we have seen this season a lot of good performances but also a lot of inconsistency in the performances," Slot said on Friday. "That is, in my opinion, mainly down to the amount of games we had to play with almost all the time the same players.

"If you look at the 15, 20, 25 players with the most minutes this season, a lot of them are from us. That tells you a lot and maybe that is one of the reasons why we have been a bit inconsistent and maybe why we have conceded so many late goals."

Jeremie Frimpong is one player that Liverpool has been unable to use three times a week this season, which is a surprise given he was rarely injured for Bayer Leverkusen. Joe Gomez is another who needs to be carefully managed.

For others, the issue is that they are not deemed good enough to play regularly. Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo, when fit, fall into that category — and they can only count as a full member of the squad if they are genuine contenders to start.

"The last game, I had to bring Joe in and then I had to bring him out," Slot said. "There were three players playing in the right full-back position again, as has happened so many times this season.

"It is definitely helpful that most of our players — except for the long-term injuries — are available and they only play once a week, because it has been shown that a large part of our group are ready to play every three days

"That's why so many are in the top 25 of the most minutes, but it has also shown not all of them are able to play 90 minutes every three days; either they are injured or their performance drops."

Improving the durability of those who are already at the club will help. Adding numbers in key areas will also ease the burden on those who need to be rotated more often.