The Reds Will Not Change Attacking Style Amid Poor Run of Form, Insists Head Coach Slot
Arne Slot has revealed that the club's hierarchy agree with his assessment regarding the recent downturn and he has no intention of discarding their forward-thinking philosophy in pursuit of a turnaround. The tactician conceded that six defeats in seven games was below standard ahead of the weekend fixture with Villa.
Pressure Mounting Throughout Difficult Period
The manager acknowledged the scrutiny was intense before his altered lineup exited the Carabao Cup against Crystal Palace. However, he maintained that this pressure to arrest the slide is not coming from the team's proprietors or football administration following a significant spending of almost £450m.
"We share common perspectives," commented the Liverpool boss, whose team next week face the Spanish giants in the continental tournament and visit the Citizens in the Premier League.
Squad Quality Continues Undoubted
The coach is convinced his team "have an unbelievable squad if they are completely available and fully prepared for the schedule ahead". He said that the transfer window acquisitions in footballers like the German international and Alexander Isak, who is likely to miss out again against the Birmingham club through physical problems, had left the club "in an excellent position for the immediate prospects and the distant prospects".
Team Cohesion Issues
When questioned about why his team were having difficulty blending, he replied: "That question isn't constructive. 'Why, why, why?' I give an explanation and people say I'm offering alibis. I can list several explanations why we are struggling for victories or suffering defeats as we do but, as I say every time, there are insufficient justifications to have a run of form as we had now."
- Even if I could come up with 200 excuses
- When you are Liverpool you should not suffer defeats
- Unfortunately six defeats in seven games
Defensive Numbers
Only Burnley (21) have conceded more clear opportunities from open play this season than Slot's team (19). The first-place team, Arsenal, have allowed just two. Yet Liverpool's coach rejects the team has been overly exposed and asserts there is no justification to sacrifice his attacking principles for a cautious system after ten matches without a shutout.
"From my perspective we don't giving up numerous openings so I see no justification to alter our approach completely but we need to do better in preventing goals," he stated.
Specific Instances
"Versus the Red Devils, how many openings did we give up? Versus the German side when we were 3-1 up, we barely allowed a attempt on goal. In all the games we have played so far we haven't given up a numerous openings. Definitely not. We do concede a somewhat more than last season but that stems from us being trailing by a goal so you play more openly. But overall I don't think that our problem is that we concede too many chances. Our issue is we don't score the openings we produce."