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Tom Carnduff's Notebook: Liverpool under Arne Slot and Chelsea's defensive woes
It's been a busy ol' week of pre-season football.
I make it 14 games involving first teams of Premier League clubs since the last edition of the Notebook - according to the spreadsheet calendar anyway. Unsurprisingly, a few talking points too.
Most of these are taking place abroad with kick-off times either late at night or early in the morning. A number are in the USA while Brighton and Tottenham are enjoying their own tours of Japan.
I'm trying to make this column a bit more frequent during this part of the year with fewer points to focus on, rather than overloading in longer formats which arrive once every seven days or so.
So, here's four that have caught my eye.
Our first look at Liverpool
We got a glimpse of what Liverpool could be like under Arne Slot as they beat Real Betis 1-0 over the weekend.
Dominik Szoboszlai scored the only goal of the game as he enjoyed playing in a more advanced role. We have a full focus on that switch from Sam McGuire so I won't say too much more on it.
It's clear that they still look to play vertically despite the managerial change. It was a direct approach that wasn't afraid to go through congested areas of the pitch if there was a good attacking opportunity.
The counter-pressing shape would be one of the reasons behind this. Players were allowed to lose the ball going for something positive as they were set-up in a way to try and win it back.
Liverpool lined up in a fluid-looking 4-2-4 formation but we have to take into account that this came out of necessity given those missing up front.
"I think during the season you will see us play with a real striker," Slot told a press conference afterwards.
"But at this moment we have no-one available and then with Dom (Szoboszlai) and Harvey (Elliott) we've got two number 10s, so we put them in the position they will play during the season as well."
Out of possession, it doesn't look like we'll see an overly-aggressive Liverpool side. They didn't commit too many players forward and looked to try and push Betis to wide positions before winning the ball back.
That did leave them exposed if the opposition beat it though, with the above example showing that they do push numbers across, Betis getting a chance one-on-one as they managed to get past.
Overall though, a positive early showing. The clash with Arsenal in Philadelphia in the early hours of Thursday morning will give us further indication of where they're at.
Hello, Barco
I spoke about Brighton in the last edition of the Notebook and Fabian Hürzeler's side finished their pre-season tour of Japan with a 4-2 win over Tokyo Verdy.
I'm always on the lookout for cheap FPL options and Valentín Barco may be one of them. The left-back is priced up at £4.0m on the game with his 6.4% ownership figure at the time of writing suggesting others are taking notice too.
Not only has the left-back been starting but he's been taking their corners too. With Pervis Estupiñán missing the start of the season, there's every chance we see Barco involved.
While not a flying wing-back, Barco has been allowed the freedom to get into advanced positions when Brighton are attacking.
Not only then could attacking returns come from set-piece situations but he may also contribute in open play given the advanced role.
With Everton, Ipswich and Nottingham Forest coming in their first five games of the season, I'll also be looking at Barco's price to score or assist when the markets are available.
Wolves' future star?
This is one for the longer term list.
Rodrigo Gomes joined Wolves is a transfer that went under the radar, with his £12.7million move from Portuguese outfit Braga announced just before the Euros began.
His loan spell at Estoril delivered seven goals and seven assists across 30 appearances in their top flight last season - that coming from both wings.
Gomes' appearance against West Ham in Florida over the weekend saw him net a brace despite only coming on as a second-half substitute.
Rodrigo gets his first in old gold 🫶 pic.twitter.com/DQHvJlVcGF
— Wolves (@Wolves) July 28, 2024
Both goals were taken very well. The first (which you can watch above) a nice finish after picking up the loose ball inside the box before his second (which you can watch below) a neatly placed header after a perfectly timed run.
The pitchside view of that Lima and Gomes link up 🔥 pic.twitter.com/aE5OpZr7fX
— Wolves (@Wolves) July 29, 2024
It's a cameo which has put him on my radar but comments from Gary O'Neil after the game suggests we may have to be a bit patient in terms of his involvement in the Premier League.
"To join a new team and get two goals in his first proper game was nice for him," he told the club website.
"Not getting carried away – there’s loads of stuff I still want to improve and help him with."
Still, if it gets to a stage where he's in that XI - particularly in the cup competitions - he may represent good value to score.
Chelsea's uninspiring performance
Results don't matter in pre-season, or so they say, as long as you see some encouraging signs in performances that suggest things will be ok.
Chelsea then, erm...
Enzo Maresca's side were hammered 4-1 by Celtic on Saturday in a concerning showing at this stage of the summer, particularly when a strong XI were involved for the Blues.
They look alright in attack at least and I'll be backing Christopher Nkunku for Premier League top goalscorer at 50/1 (some decent each-way value there) but it's the defensive side of things that catch the eye.
Their shape was a mess while the man-to-man marking system was so passive it was easy for a strong-looking Celtic side to play through. If this is what Chelsea will be about this season then... yikes.
They were also caught out attempting to play out from the back with Celtic committing players forward in a high press which made them look incredibly uncomfortable.
The body language of some suggests confidence may be low already, which certainly isn't a good sign in July.
You can currently get around 17/20 for Manchester City to win at Stamford Bridge on opening weekend. That looks terrific value based on this display.
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