Arne Slot, the manager of Liverpool Football Club, expressed his concerns following a disappointing 3-2 defeat to Brentford at the weekend. The lengthy absence should serve as a reminder of a part-Liverpool trend. They’ve equalized their total amount of Premier League losses this season with the entire amount amassed during last year’s campaign. Slot admitted that even in this new utopia his side have yet mastered a way to beat opponents adopting long-ball, low-block tactics. Each of these strategies factored heavily into Brentford’s upset win.
Liverpool had a difficult opening period to the game. Brentford did not waste any time, going up 1-0 just five minutes in on an impressively delivered long throw-in from Kayode. This early blow changed the complexion of the game and immediately put Liverpool wed to their heels and foraging right out of the gate.
Defensive Struggles Highlighted
In his post-match analysis, Slot lamented the team’s defensive performance, stating, “Today, I don’t think we did the basics right.” He emphasized the importance of duel wins and getting on second balls. Yet as he recounted, these essential components of the sport were absent. “You cannot compete, which we don’t do at the moment, because we concede too many goals,” he added. Slot admitted that this is not only a defense issue, but the entire team as a collective has to take responsibility, especially all 11 players on the field.
Brentford’s second goal, scored by Kevin Schade just before halftime, further compounded Liverpool’s woes. Slot admitted that going down a goal so early in the match is deflating for his squad. It shatters their strategic game plan.
“Going 1-0 down does not help after five minutes. We are still, even today, when we don’t play well, able to score two goals.” – Arne Slot
Even through that poor run, Liverpool’s attacking threat has been the one shining light. Slot said that simply being able to score won’t cut it without consistent defensive plays to back it up.
Training Focus on Counter-Strategies
Slot described ahead of the match against Brentford how the team dedicated their entire Friday training session to dealing with set-pieces. They even trained individually on dealing with Brentford’s long throw-ins. His worry regarding their counter-attacking threat was clear too, as he set his squad up to be ready for any and every scenario they could find themselves in.
Without a doubt it’s that teams come out with a specific approach to play us, which is an excellent approach to play. We’re still trying to figure that one out,” he said, underscoring the continued tactical hurdles his team has encountered.
Slot’s summer re-make of the squad has made them a more multifaceted attacking threat. He added that making numerous changes during the summer is a significant part of what makes this atmosphere so poisonous. Didn’t seem to think that would turn into four straight defeats. That’s a signal on their end of the acknowledgement that it takes time and patience to mold many new faces into a winning unit.
A Call for Improvement
Looking forward, Slot is committed to continuing to fight these deficiencies. Most importantly, he seems to have a clear understanding of what needs improving and how within his squad. He wanted to see more of a collective effort and awareness of what to do in a tactical sense to properly move on from these mistakes.
The moral of the story today is what must be done for Liverpool to recover from this dank period. A string of four straight defeats suddenly feels like a lifetime ago. Fans, pundits and most importantly players are hopeful that Slot can turn around the season fast enough to get performances on the pitch back up to par.
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