Arne Slot might have secret weapon that explains Liverpool transfer stance

Jurgen Klopp had seen it coming. When the Liverpool boss was quizzed on the purported "challenge" of presiding over a fully-fit squad ahead of February's trip to Arsenal, he was quick to remind the assembled media of the novelty of his situation.

"That’s not a challenge," he said. "It’s the one moment for the first time in the season when we have a luxury problem - more players than positions we can start." Klopp, it transpired, was not afforded that luxury for long.

Having become well-acquainted with Liverpool's injury misfortune during his time on Merseyside, the German's reluctance to lament his squad's relatively clean bill of health was astute as, less than a week after the Reds' defeat to the Gunners, it was a very different story.

"Two or three weeks ago we sat here and were talking about the luxury problem of lining up players," Klopp said ahead of Burnley's visit to Anfield the following weekend. "If anybody asks me that question against then I will kick them out of the room! We talk once about it, then a week later we have a completely different situation."

It was a stark reminder of how quickly the landscape can change in football - a sentiment that was hammered home in the closing months of Liverpool's season as their charge for an unprecedented quadruple spectacularly imploded. While Klopp's kids initially excelled in the absence of a number of injured first-team stars - helping the Reds topple Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final - the lethargy that underscored the majority of Liverpool's performances in the Spring was thanks in no small part to the lack of fitness of several key players.

In total, Liverpool had 21 different players miss a game due to injury in last term - a tally bested only by Tottenham Hotspur with 22. It was a similar story in the previous season when 23 Reds were sidelined with fitness issues.

Liverpool's player absences in 2023/24 accounted for a combined 156 Premier League games missed over the course of the campaign. Compare this with Manchester City and Arsenal, who cut themselves adrift from Liverpool last season as they took the title race to the final day.

Both teams recorded only 14 individual player injuries across the campaign, with Arsenal players missing a combined 108 league games and City players missing just 72. With Liverpool's recent injury record significantly more chequered than their two biggest rivals, it's little wonder that one of the reasons Richard Hughes and his team sought to bring in Arne Slot was his impressive track record for keeping players fit at his previous club.

Across Slot's three seasons at Feyenoord, player availability levels were above 90 per cent, rendering the club's medical and performance departments amongst the most revered in world football. It is for that reason Slot was so keen to have Ruben Peeters, his right-hand man in Rotterdam, installed as Liverpool's lead physical performance coach following the departure of the Reds' long-term head of fitness and conditioning, Andreas Kornmayer.

During Peeters' time at Feyenoord, he would provide Slot with an in-depth briefing on his squad's optimum training schedule - something the new Liverpool boss adhered to religiously. The Dutchman's backroom team are also understood to pay close attention to players' sleeping patterns, while Peeters has a particular interest in how gut health can help enhance performance.

With so many players, including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, and Dominik Szoboszlai, having suffered recurrences of the same injury last term, Slot's historic reliance on his medical team's data could pay dividends at Anfield as the Reds look to challenge on four fronts again this season.

That said, it would be unfair to lay the blame for Liverpool's injury woes squarely at the door of the previous regime. While Klopp's distinctive brand of 'heavy-metal football' often pushed players to the limit, some fitness issues - such as the contact injury Diogo Jota picked up at Brentford back in February - are impossible to legislate for, while some players are just prone to picking up knocks.

Thiago, for example, missed plenty of games for Bayern Munich before moving to Anfield while Ibrahima Konate was a regular in the treatment room at RB Leipzig. But, with Liverpool yet to dip into the transfer market to bolster their ranks this summer, the need to preserve as many of current personnel is paramount if the Reds hope to avoid their charge for silverware being scuppered by another injury crisis.

After all, as the old adage goes, the best ability is availability and Slot's talent for keeping players fit might just be the secret weapon the Reds need to propel them to success.