Arne Slot tells Liverpool player to 'improve' and explains why his team has 'changed'

Last season, Liverpool clinched the title with ease, but manager Arne Slot saw room for improvement and initiated changes over the summer. As they gear up for their first major clash of this Premier League season against Arsenal, Slot emphasised that they cannot dwell on past glories.

Since lifting their 20th league title in May, Liverpool have made significant changes to their squad, some out of necessity, others by choice. They've already splashed out around £300m, with a further £150m potentially being spent on Alexander Isak and Marc Guehi before Monday evening. Their new additions include Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni.

However, they've also raked in £227m from player sales, highlighting the squad's transformation. This means that new recruits, like record signing Wirtz, who has taken over Dominik Szoboszlai's role as the No 10, with Szoboszlai moving deeper into midfield, need to adapt.

Szoboszlai even played at right back against Newcastle on Monday and could feature there again tomorrow. Wirtz is just one example of a player with a different profile needing to adapt to a new position, which also requires adjustment from his teammates.

"The change is, and I sometimes tell the players as well, that not every game last season was Tottenham away or West Ham away," Slot stated.

"Always if you win something, everybody's only looking back at some great attacks or some great wins, but the amount of times we struggled last season in a game of football were a lot. Wolves, we didn't even have a shot on target second half in a home game; away, we won it lucky, though the penalty was correctly given.

"I can go on and on and on - Crystal Palace away 1-0 when they had a big chance at the end."

"To romanticise last season as much as we do - and sometimes we make this mistake inside the building as well, I mean the players - is incorrect.

"Last season was, every single time, a struggle, most wins were only by one goal and we had to fight really hard for it.

"We said it last season 100 times, we didn't win the league as City did it for so many years with every single game being 4-0 up at half-time. We had to fight really hard for it.

Liverpool are clearly not the only ones splashing the cash. Tomorrow's opponents at Anfield are nearing a £300m spend themselves with much less going out the door. Both teams enter the match with a perfect record from their opening two games.

"We need to improve but we even had to improve compared to last season and we need to improve because the competition has improved," continued Slot.

One player who perhaps hasn't progressed for the Reds is defender Ibrahima Konate, which provides another justification for their pursuit of Guehi. The France centre-back bore responsibility for goals during victories against Bournemouth and Newcastle, though Slot points to the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold alongside him.

"I think he has things he can improve," he said. "But for him starting this season with a different full-back next to him probably is different as well. He and the team had Ryan [Gravenberch] in front of them for the first time against Newcastle, so I think it's partly also adjustment to each other. And partly, I think the biggest strength of Ibou is of course his defensive quality."