I get why people are looking at the transfer strategy and shrugging. But if you take a step back, the plan itself isn’t mad. What’s bothering me more is how disjointed it all looks on the pitch, and how long it’s taking Arne Slot to find the connections.

The signings make sense on paper

If Slot wants proper width and speed from full-backs, then the idea of bringing in quick, aggressive options like Kerkez and Frimpong follows a clear line. It’s not complicated: stretch teams, get up the outside, and stop everything funnelling into the same crowded central lanes.

Same with the No.10 profile. A more creative 10 is the sort of signing you make when you’re tired of seeing possession turn into a U-shape around the box. Wirtz, on paper, is meant to tilt games that way. So far it hasn’t clicked and he’s not looked like the headline act you’d dream of, but writing him off early feels unfair. New league, new demands, and the weight of expectation is real.

And up top, the thinking is obvious too. If last season was full of moments where we did the hard bit then didn’t finish, you can see why you’d want strikers who punish teams. Ekitike, and the idea of a fully fit Isak, is basically that argument in human form.

The missing piece: someone to knit it all together

Where it starts to wobble is the midfield balance, especially now Trent has gone. When teams press, it feels like Virgil and Gravenberch end up taking heat with not enough help around them. Without that deep-lying playmaker type, the one who shows, receives, turns, and keeps everyone calm, the new attacking options can look like separate little projects rather than one team.

That’s why the “Zubimendi-type” point lands. Not because it had to be that exact player, but because the role matters. If you don’t have someone to connect the thirds, you end up with runners ahead of the ball and not enough clean entries into dangerous areas. Then you’re left saying the same thing every week: “We’re not creating enough.”

Slot has to find solutions, even with the excuses

Should Slot be getting more out of the group? Yes. That’s the job. And it’s hard to ignore that he doesn’t look as if he’s got his best ideas to hand at the minute.

He hasn’t been helped by injuries, and you can sense one or two new lads being a bit overawed by the step up. But great sides adapt, and great managers find a way through the mess. Last season there were smart tweaks: using Gravenberch as a 6, asking Trent to be a proper right-back, making big calls like dropping Quansah, and even trying Diaz as a false nine. Those felt like proactive moves.

This season has felt more like waiting for it to improve on its own. Has Slot lost a bit of confidence in himself? It’s crossed my mind. I hope it’s wrong, because the football he wants to play is the football we all want to watch. It just needs a clearer route from idea to execution.

One small thing I’d like to see

If we’re lacking a natural “knitter” in midfield, the workaround often has to be structural rather than personnel. That can mean shorter distances between the lines, a braver first pass out from the back, and clearer angles for the No.6 and No.8s so we’re not always receiving with a man on our back.

Written by Monstersouness: 15 January 2026

Tags: transfers tactics