Profiling an Arne Slot Number 9

We are all well aware of the attacking talents that Liverpool possess, and also aware that the arrival of a new manager means a change in a system and a 'shuffling about' of players positions. We already saw the beginnings of this in Slot's first pre-season game against Betis, in which Curtis Jones and Endo played as a double pivot, with a double false nine system executed by Szoboslai and Elliot. Slot confirmed post-match that when all of the first team players have returned from their post-international tournament rest periods, he will look to use a more conventional 9 at the tip of his attack, but that he was forced to adapt slightly in this game due to the personnel available to him. 

Therefore, I think it's high time that someone attempted to predict who will start as the striker for Slot in GW1 versus Ipswich, who will be the main man for the new coach, who will be the star of this new team? With Jota, Gakpo and Nunez all deployed in that position at some point last season, these are the three players that I will be focusing on, although of course there is the possibility that Liverpool sign someone, or that another player within the squad of a different profile (ie. Elliot / Salah) ends up playing in that position. Who plays in this position will have massive implications not only for Liverpool but also for FPL, as all 3 of the options mentioned above are priced at just 7.5m, and could provide great value if they can nail down a starting spot...

A Slot Striker

In order to decide which of our 3 contenders is the best candidate, we must identify the qualities that are essential for a Slot striker to have. During the 23/24 and the 22/23 seasons, Santiago Gimenez was Slot's first choice striker at Feyenoord, having brought him into the club at the beginning of the 22/23 season. So, what is it about Gimenez that Slot finds so attractive?

Gimenez

Gimenez is a high volume shot taker, and a relatively low volume link up player, as we can see by his fbref profile and by his season heat map (below). He takes a relatively small number of touches per 90, which is interesting considering Slot's side averaged over 60% possession last season, and is also not heavily involved in build up, playing less than 2 progressive passes per 90. His heat map shows that he spends the majority of his time in the opposition box, and tends to drift ever so slightly to the right of the pitch.

So what are the other aspects of his game that make him the ideal striker for Slot? Well, the SpursScout described him as 'physically impressive, able to relentlessly run for his team for 90 minutes whilst also remaining as an effective outlet with his leap, strength with his back to goal, and his speed in behind.' So outside of a high volume shot taker, low volume touches and pass frequency, we're looking for a player who is physically strong, has lots of energy, and enough speed to make effective runs in behind.

Furthermore, while he does score goals, he is not necessarily the best finisher in terms of placement, often unable to find the corners of the net. Instead, it's his ability within the 18 yard box to get the ball in the net and be in the right place at the right time which is '70% of his transfer value'. A word that comes up alot in the SpursScout article is 'efficient', which I think summarises his finishing abilities well. Looking at the stats efficiency is the key word: his shot distance is superb (13.7y) and his goals per shot is out of this world (0.2) considering he is such a high volume shot taker.

So to summarise, a Slot striker is someone who takes a lot of shots, a short distance from goal, while remaining efficient (high goal per shot numbers), and is a physical specimen in terms of speed, height and leap. Technically they don't need to be the best player, remaining relatively absent from build up, with low touch and pass numbers. Let's take a look at the candidates.

The Candidates

As mentioned above, there are only really 3 players who would be able to fulfill this role for Liverpool in the upcoming season if Slot attempts to implement a similar system to that of Feyenoord. While I believe that Gakpo's future is on the left, I have included him in this article as many think that he could play that position. 

As we can see from the above graphic, each of these players offers something different from an attacking perspective. Jota is clinical, Gakpo is an aerial threat and Nunez is an xG monster. Of course these three offer things that aren't shown in this graphic, which we will come to, but let us first begin with the raw data.

High volume shot taker: While all 3 of the Liverpool players took over 3 shots/90 last season, it's Nunez who is the clear winner in this category, beating out Gimenez by taking 4.71 shots/90. Jota's career average is just over 3 shots per game, Nunez' is 3.7 and Gakpo's just under 3.

Low touches / passes: One could argue touch / pass frequency is based on system, rather than the player themselves, but I think a players willingness to make themselves available and to be open for a pass will be evident in the stats, regardless of the system. In this category, Jota and Gakpo take the most touches/90, while Nunez sits closer to Gimenez' 28/90, taking just over 34/90. In terms of passing, a similar trend appears, with Nunez sitting closer to Gimenez than the other two. Again, I'd like to stress that this is linked to system, and what the manager is asking individual players to do, rather than necessarily a player's preference / play style.

Efficiency: Here we're looking at goal : shot ratio, xG under/over performance and shot distance. Jota has the best goals/shot number, 0.24/90 last season, higher than Gimenez' 0.2. While Nunez is actually the least 'efficient', sitting at only 0.1 goal per shot. Jota is also the only player (out of the three) to over perform his xG last season, with Nunez massively under performing and Gakpo slightly under performing. Shot distance paints a similar picture, with Jota coming out on top at 12.3y, higher than Gimenez' 13.7. So in terms of efficiency Jota is by far the best.

Now lets look at their physical profiles. In terms of height, Jota (1.78) is the closest to Gimenez (1.82m), with Nunez (1.87) and Gakpo (1.93) much taller, and from a purely subjective point of view, I'd say that Nunez is the fastest, Jota second and Gakpo the slowest. The stats back this assessment up, with Nunez clocking in at over 35kmph, Jota second at 32.9kmph and Gakpo a close third at 32.8kmph (stats from the euros for Jota and Gakpo and from the prem for Nunez). But who's the best option?

Conclusion

Based on what I've read, and the data I've seen, it looks like Slot requires efficiency from his strikers, and that being a good link-up / build up player is not necessarily a priority. Based on this, Jota is the clear favourite, he is excellent in the air, can finish with both feet, is relatively quick and not too short, he's good with his back to goal and most importantly is very efficient, consistently over performing his xG, and taking shots very close to goal. 

Nunez, based on the stats, is the next best pick, ticking all of the physical and technical boxes apart from the efficiency part, which in my view is the most important. He is better than Jota at making runs in behind, but Slot's football is far less direct than Klopp's, so he'll be asked to do that much less. He is fine with his back to goal, but not excellent, and while he does take a high volume of shots, he struggles to finish them off. 

Gakpo is interesting, and for me just doesn't fit this role at all. I think he may be deployed on the left, and could fulfill a false 9 role for Slot if that was necessary in a specific game state or game scenario. He is not likely to be the starting forward for Slot in my opinion.

The final thing to take into account is that Slot will be attempting to implement a complex pressing system at Liverpool, which further increases the liklihood of Jota being the main striker (at least to begin with), as he adapted to Klopp's pressing much faster than Nunez was able to, and, in my opinion, is a far more intelligent footballer than his Uruguayan teammate. All things being considered, I think it's likely that in GW1, Jota will start up front for Liverpool, especially considering that he is already back and training with the team, whereas Nunez and Gakpo have not yet returned from their post-international tournament breaks. 

Let me know what you think! This is just my opinion so please leave a comment if you agree or disagree :)

Dylan