Liverpool aim to copy Sir Alex Ferguson's Man Utd success whilst embracing major overhaul

So, here’s a quiz question… which was the last team to win the Premier League title while in transition?

It is probably up for debate but Manchester United in 1996 - you can’t win anything with kids - might be the only answer. After shipping out Andrei Kanchelskis, Paul Ince and Mark Hughes, they brought in academy graduates David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and the like to be first team regulars.

It was one hell of a shift - and gamble - by Sir Alex Ferguson to go from older, experienced and proven players to, er, kids who then won and carried on winning.

Liverpool are slightly different in that they are already champions - and they are trying to transition towards a new team while being at the top. However, it is still no less of a gamble on Arne Slot’s part to shift away from the team which won the title last season to a completely different look.

Two new full backs, new forwards and even a new playmaker. They have also spent £400m in building that new team. Some was enforced because Luis Diaz wanted to leave and Trent Alexander-Arnold joined Real Madrid and, for all those that said Liverpool would cope without him, it is clear they are missing the England right back.

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Let’s be clear here… it was also a traumatic summer when players suffered a collective tragedy in losing Diogo Jota who was so loved by all. Any dressing room would feel that sort of blow. The club handled it as well as they possibly could but it was another challenge for Slot and the whole dressing room.

What is remarkable is the way that Liverpool stormed into this season. Jeremie Frimpong came in, Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz all started the season. Hugo Ekitike was also new in attack while Alexander Isak joined later. That is one hell of a shift in dynamic and playing style.

Suddenly, last season’s midfield of Ryan Gravenberch with Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai was ripped up to accommodate Wirtz who is a beautiful, creative and artistic player. But so very different to what had gone before and ideally Liverpool would have to set up differently to accommodate him as a No10.

To start as well as they did - five straight wins in the Premier League and also a good win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League - is a tribute to Slot’s man-management and also their incredible team spirit which saw them snatch late goals.

Now we are perhaps seeing a more realistic outlook. A team needs time to gel. They were my choice to be champions - and I still think they are favourites.

But the way they lost at Crystal Palace and now Chelsea shows that the team needs work. It needs to gel. Ibrahima Konate is struggling. The right back slot looks an issue. Where does Wirtz play? Isak looks undercooked.

The ideal for any team is to strengthen when you are on top. But Liverpool did not actually have that luxury. They had to buy two new full backs, midfield needed strengthening anyway and the forward line needed reinforcing. They had lost players. So, rather than trying to strengthen, Liverpool had to rebuild and that was a major gamble for Slot but one actually he did not really have a choice on.

It was obvious that Jurgen Klopp’s old team needed major surgery. Slot put it off for a year - and is now having to do it. Only time will tell whether they can come through the ultimate test. Slot was incredible in his first year - but now is a much bigger test and will really show his calibre as a manager.

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