Liverpool already have an Alexander Isak problem ...Middle East

It seems a long time since Arsene Wenger was relevant. Yet his maxim that three additions was the optimum intake in any window has always seemed to stand the test of the time.

Anything more, he said, could be disruptive to the changing-room dynamic, and to playing patterns and rhythm.

With the addition of Alexander Isak, plus Mark Guehi in the Liverpool queue, the Kirkby training complex is giving off first-week-at-school vibes.

Any more and Arne Slot might have to issue name tags to avoid any embarrassment.   

The signing of Isak for an English-record fee, following the capture of Florian Wirtz, hitherto a record, is window gold, especially for fans – the most emphatic measure of Liverpool’s rampant ascendency.

Six points clear of Manchester City after three games, Arsenal beaten on Sunday, Isak in: it’s all gravy on the Kop.

Or is it? Not if Wenger’s maxim still has purchase. Part of Slot’s route to the loot in his debut season was simplicity – there were no significant additions to assimilate.

The squad was already enhanced by Jurgen Klopp’s final gift: the signings of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch, a three-ball in accord with the Wenger maxim, and one which bore significant fruit to take Liverpool to their 20th league title.

Slot also benefited, of course, from the commensurate downturn at Manchester City, the critical loss of Rodri and the waning influence of Kevin De Bruyne denying Pep Guardiola’s ship its twin rudders.

City are still to recover their equilibrium, though it would be foolish to dismiss them on the evidence of three games, one of which they won with ease on the road at Wolves, and another they were controlling at Brighton before succumbing to a 2-1 defeat. Only the Spurs ambush at home was a cause for concern.

Be that as it may, Slot now has to deal with a dynamic that was not in play a year ago: squad renewal.

Not only is he required to incorporate the new, he has to manage the impact on the old, to assess the subtle shift in the power relation between the players.

All coaches would love the problem of accommodating Isak. His presence was a delight to Eddie Howe until it wasn’t.

Slot is obviously not dealing with a player desperate to leave, but he might have to talk down an established figure or bench an ambitious colt to give Isak the day.

Three into Isak, Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike doesn’t go. Slot is going to have to sit one down per game. And it won’t be Salah.

Gakpo, the bearer of a new multi-year contract, has arguably been Liverpool’s most effective attacker in the left-hand role formerly occupied by Luis Diaz, and Ekitike has looked seriously impressive.

You imagine the latter will make way to accommodate the quick feet and lethal disposition of Isak.

Ekitike is young and accepting, but he won’t be patient for long, and knitting Isak into the fabric of the system may not be straightforward given the bedding difficulties experienced by Wirtz, who after a promising hour in the Community Shield has struggled for rhythm alongside Klopp’s aforementioned midfield three.

Another to win the title in his first year at the Liverpool helm, Joe Fagan, did so using just 15 outfield players in 1983-84, and that in a league season of 42 matches.

Fagan was, of course, promoted from the Boot Room, and had intimate knowledge of the squad, but the principle remained the same. Minimal tinkering.

Fiver players – goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, Alan Hansen, Alan Kennedy, Mark Lawrenson and Sammy Lee – were ever-present, and a further two, Ian Rush and Phil Neal, missed only one game each.

Eight players racked up more than 60 appearances across all competitions that season – remarkable by any standards.

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In his second and final season in charge, Fagan brought in three players, Jan Molby, Kevin MacDonald and Paul Walsh, but without Graeme Souness, the Reds were eclipsed by Everton in the league and Manchester United in the FA Cup.

It was also the season of the European Cup final in Heysel, which ended in tragedy and effectively closed Fagan’s 27-year association with the club.

Europe is a more demanding landscape these days with eight ‘league’ fixtures before the knockout stages. A big, well stocked squad is a necessity.

Nevertheless, no elite player takes kindly to the bench. Slot has got his handful keeping this lot happy, albeit a problem all his rivals would love to have.  

Back to Wenger’s maxim. Changing up to accommodate talent can have consequences for the delicate balance of forces.

Slot’s inherited group forged an understanding through core power hubs: Alisson, Andrew Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Diaz and the remarkable, irreplaceable Salah.

Already this term, Salah has appeared a quieter, more subdued presence. The cosmic link between the group has been disturbed by the inclusion of Wirtz.

Trusted, semi-automatic patterns that ripped through opponents last term are having to adjust to the Wirtz dimension. Players learn to read the trigger points of team-mates through repetition.

"No one is really going to remember that" Do players have too much power in the transfer market? #DeadlineDay pic.twitter.com/eesJpH06AY

Slot knows what he’s doing, but has a different dynamic to manage. Too much can be as disruptive as too little.

If Ruben Amorim has been flailing trying to knock his players into a definable shape at Manchester United, Slot has the opposite problem, trying to maintain that beautiful Liverpool machine with different parts in the chain, albeit world-class parts. At least Isak is world class-plus.

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