Liverpool did not lift the Community Shield after 90 minutes and penalties against Crystal Palace, but Arne Slot will see the positives along with areas to improve.Liverpool 2-2 Crystal Palace (2-3 pens)Community Shield | WembleyAugust 10, 2025Goals: Ekitike 4′, Frimpong 21′; Mateta pen 17′, Sarr 77′1. A glorified friendly, then…Supporters’ attitudes to the Community Shield tend to differ depending on the outcome: to the losers it is a glorified friendly, to the winners a springboard to a successful season.But the very fact that there is debate over the competition’s importance should signal that this is not a defeat that Liverpool should linger on for too long.So many times teams have looked slightly short of sharpness in this game and then gone on to dominate, and ultimately the Reds were only beaten on penalties either way.And if you are looking for further comfort, consider that only one Community Shield winner in the last 15 years has gone on to lift the title.Perhaps defeat could be a blessing! 2. A big day for EkitikeYou feel for Hugo Ekitike given that, almost as soon as he signed for Liverpool, talk about a potential replacement in the starting XI arriving in Alexander Isak heated up.But the Frenchman proved at Wembley that he is a brilliant player, and will earn plenty of minutes for a team that – it is seemingly forgotten – used three different central strikers rather than just one last season.The touch and finish to open the scoring were truly world class but, most excitingly, they were followed by several delicious touches to bring others into play and a work ethic that was summed up by dispossessing Chris Richards in the first half before winning a throw-in.Yes, Isak will take up plenty of minutes should he arrive, but Ekitike also has a big role to play as well in a side that hopes to challenge for everything. 3. Wirtz lights up WembleyAnyone who has watched Liverpool during pre-season knew this Florian Wirtz performance was coming, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable.The German is an utter magician, and took just four minutes to show that in twice playing a key role in Ekitike’s goal, the final pass being particularly impressive given the amount of information placed on it.Further to that, Wirtz created more chances than any other player on the pitch (four), and produced some simply outrageous moments to get the Reds into better areas so that they could threaten.The only blot on his copybook was a bad miss in the second half but, if the 22-year-old is simply getting his eye in on that front, then the Premier League has been warned. 4. Frimpong is markedly different to TrentJeremie Frimpong earned a moment to savour as he put Liverpool back in front with a slightly fortuitous finish.But the most interesting aspect of the Dutchman’s performance was the ways in which he showed himself to be so different to his predecessor Trent Alexander-Arnold.For starters, we might need to get used to his threat coming through pacy runs on the outside rather than sitting in deep picking out wonderful passes.And for all that speed is part of his game, Frimpong proved in those moments that he is also a capable footballer, if not quite Alexander-Arnold in terms of comfort in possession.However, it was the 24-year-old’s defending that was most eye-catching – or rather the commitment to that aspect throughout the game.Like Alexander-Arnold, Frimpong is not a perfect defender, but unlike his fellow right-back you already feel that a lack of effort won’t ever be cited in criticisms of that part of his game.He stuck to his task manfully, and that quality allied to his pace will help Liverpool and the player out of plenty of difficult situations in the coming season. 5. Defence a major concernIt is interesting that, in the embargoed section of his press conference previewing this game, Arne Slot responded to a question about his attacking options by expressing concerns over Liverpool’s defensive performances in pre-season.He said: “I think this pre-season has shown until now that we’re able to score a lot of goals.“What we need to improve is to concede less, so not only conceding goals but also chances, because against the Japanese team we only conceded one, but they had, in my opinion, too many chances as well.”How prophetic his words seem after the Reds continued to look porous in conceding two goals, 14 shots, four chances and 2.08 expected goals.Clearly, the Community Shield cannot be read into too much, and you would not expect Virgil van Dijk to make the errors he did at Wembley when the real stuff starts.But Slot cannot gamble on that and will be hammering into his players that they need to improve at the back before they begin the defence of their Premier League title.