Liverpool saw off the challenge of West Ham on Sunday to stand two wins away from a Premier League title.
The Reds were once again a little below their best at Anfield, but a late header from Virgil van Dijk ensured they took another step closer to becoming champions.
In essence, the win showcased Liverpool in a microcosm this season. They have been incredibly consistent and have usually found a way to win no matter how they play.
But there has also been clear room for improvement. Just as they did at Fulham last week, Liverpool lacked ideas going forward and looked shaky defensively.
For all of their failings, though, Liverpool are going to win the Premier League. Once that small matter is done and dusted, Arne Slot is likely to start shaping the team in his image.
Slot admitted as much when speaking after Sunday’s win. And in revealing his objectives from the Liverpool owners upon taking the job in 2024, Slot should have excited every single Reds supporter.
Liverpool just getting started under Arne Slot
There may be a lot of rewriting history over the next few weeks as pundits and fans declare that they always knew Liverpool would excel under Slot.
But make no mistake; no one saw this coming. Liverpool were not supposed to dominate the Premier League this season.
Interestingly, Slot chose the immediate aftermath of the West Ham win to reveal that not even those who hired him at Anfield were expecting such success so early on.
According to the Liverpool head coach, his remit was simply to assess the squad and qualify for the Champions League, before fully launching his project in seasons two and three.
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“The main aim in what they [Liverpool] told me is look at the players, give your opinion about it so we can go into this project in the second and the third year, but do qualify for the Champions League,” Slot told reporters after the game.
“We all know that even the team who is in 16th at the moment has very good players, but the top eight all have incredible players.”
Liverpool set to full launch project Slot
Journalist David Ornstein has predicted a busy summer for Liverpool and judging from Slot’s words, that is exactly what the Dutchman is expecting as well.
The Reds drew criticism from supporters for their inactivity during last summer’s transfer market as well as the January edition. But it now sounds like that was always part of the plan.
Winning the title at the first attempt is clearly an enormous unexpected bonus, but Liverpool obviously did not see it coming.
What is especially exciting is that if Slot can secure an historic success while simply assessing the players at his disposal, how high can he and his team reach when he is fully confident in a Liverpool squad cherry-picked to play in his system?
Of course, making signings is not an exact science and there’s a chance that Liverpool do not identify and buy players who are better than what they have now. But given their history of many more hits than misses, there should be an expectation Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes can deliver in the market.
And judging by the coaching chops Slot has displayed up to this point, there’s good reason to believe he can get the best out of those brought in. Buckle up Reds, there are even better days ahead.