Slot has ditched Liverpool’s control and turned up Klopp’s heavy metal

Arne 2.0

Arne Slot was perspiring, pacing his technical area, about to implode with fury. St James’ Park was bouncing, having just exploded with joy. The night billed as a battle over Alexander Isak had been hijacked by a new young king of the Gallowgate. William Osula gambled on a flick-on and it arrived off Ibrahima Konaté’s back into the path of the grateful 22-year-old, whose guided finish past Alisson sparked wild scenes in the stadium. The script had been perfectly written – until it was torn up minutes later by another young attacking star. Rio Ngumoha, days short of his 17th birthday, powered home a 100th-minute winner in the manner of Federico Macheda, to steal the headlines for himself. Alexander who?

It was the second time in as many weeks that Liverpool had been pegged back to 2-2 having flattered to deceive. On neither occasion, against Bournemouth or Newcastle, would their opponents have been fortunate to draw. On Monday night the 10 men in black and white were, by every measure, the superior outfit. Liverpool may have found a way to win once more but this is surely unsustainable. You cannot bank on an 88th-minute volley from Federico Chiesa to bail you out every week (it was his first Premier League goal), nor is Ngumoha – talented as he may be – always going to conjure the proverbial rabbit from the hat in stoppage time. Slot will have woken up realising this, for all his gripes about the Magpies’ ultra-physicality, and has a problem to solve with Arsenal lurking at the weekend.

Football Daily’s prevailing thought, however, after a rip-roaring night in the sweaty summer air on Tyneside, did not relate to Isak, nor Ngumoha, nor Liverpool’s title credentials. It was a feeling of pure relief that, for the second week in a row, a dreadfully dull weekend of Premier League soccerball had been saved by Slot’s fantastically flawed side. On the opening night they served up that ding-dong against Bournemouth, a brilliant contest marked by the emotional tributes to Diogo Jota and Antoine Semenyo’s robust reply to alleged racist abuse. But the rest of the TV games were abject: Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle offered nothing, Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace offered one disallowed goal (but otherwise nothing) and everyone tried to glean far too much from Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal.

The second weekend wasn’t much better, bar Tottenham’s Etihad ransacking. It all got FD a little concerned as, with our shortening attention span, we checked our phones mid-match for the 117th time. Maybe the cynics are right … has Pep Guardiola really ruined football? Is it all rigid structures and pointless pressing? Is this shiny billion-pound global product actually a bit boring?

If Slot brought a sense of quiet control to Jürgen Klopp’s heavy metal football upon arrival at Anfield, perhaps the Dutchman has decided to turn the volume back up this season. The team he picked at Newcastle had Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back, just one holding midfielder and four out-and-out attackers across the frontline. OK, Liverpool only mustered five shots in the game (their lowest tally of the Slot era) with a woeful xG of 0.7 but they were very watchable. So while Reds’ fans may be worrying about Virgil van Dijk’s capacity to keep a flimsy back four together, neutrals can tune into Liverpool and guarantee themselves a cracking night’s entertainment.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

We got Jobe Bellingham because we built a trusting relationship with the parents over years. Now the family came especially over from England for their son’s first Bundesliga game and wanted to meet Jobe after the match at the bus. Then they stood at the entrance to the locker room and also spoke emotionally with Sebastian, which isn’t a problem at all based on the relationship. Everything was cleared up already today” – Lars Ricken, Borussia Dortmund suit, on the kerfuffle that followed the younger Bellingham being subbed off at half-time and a tunnel row between dad Mark Bellingham and sporting director Sebastian Kehl. Nothing to see here apparently, though Kehl has also reiterated the tunnel area will be restricted for players, coaches and officials, not families or agents.

Following his England idols, Wayne Rooney and Paul Gascoigne, in wearing No 18 at Everton, will Jack Grealish become Jazza to Wazza and Gazza? And why no love for Gareth ‘Bazza’ Barry?” – Mike McNally.

View image in fullscreen Jazza at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Photograph: Peter Powell/Reuters

Last Friday’s [full email version] missive on player naming rights hit the spot. Who else but Sir Alex Ferguson, José Mourinho, Arsène Wenger and me would have recognised the strap line vineyard without much ado. Personally I prefer Chateau Margaux but when times are tight Chateau d’Angludet meets my needs at £30/£40 a bottle” – Alex Cameron.

As a big fan of the late, great Terry Pratchett I was pleased to see the appearance of footnotes in last week’s Football Daily. I’ve always found them entertaining when used as a device for the odd humorous aside. Oh” – David Bell.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Mike McNally. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

Max Rushden is joined by John Brewin, Lucy Ward and Jonathan Liew to cover all the fun/anguish (delete as applicable) from St James’ Park. Plus, a quick look at how the Premier League has started for Leeds, Spurs and Manchester United.

RECOMMENDED BOOKING

On Thursday 11 September, join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and Football Weekly all-stars Jonathan Wilson, Nicky Bandini and Jonathan Liew for an evening of dazzling punditry at Troxy in London. The pod will also be livestreamed globally. Book now.

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