The Reds Refuses to Change Attacking Style Despite Recent Slump, Declares Slot
Arne Slot has stated that the team leadership are aligned with his perspective regarding the poor performance streak and he will not abandon their forward-thinking philosophy in quest for a turnaround. The tactician admitted that six unsuccessful results in seven games was below standard ahead of the weekend fixture with Villa.
Growing Expectations During Challenging Phase
Slot accepted the scrutiny was intense before his rotated squad exited the Carabao Cup against the London club. However, he maintained that this need to reverse the decline is not coming from the club's ownership or management structure following a substantial investment of almost £450m.
"We share common perspectives," stated the Liverpool boss, whose team next week face Real Madrid in the Champions League and visit Pep Guardiola's side in the English top flight.
Player Depth Remains Unquestioned
Liverpool's manager thinks his team "boast a remarkable roster if they are all fit and all ready for the schedule ahead". He said that the recent signings in players such as the German international and the Swedish striker, who is probably unavailable again against Villa through physical problems, had left the club "in such a good place for the short-term future and the long-term future".
Team Cohesion Issues
When asked why his team were taking so long to gel, he replied: "That's not particularly helpful. 'Why, why, why?' I give an explanation and people say I'm making justifications. I can list five or six reasons why we are underperforming or suffering defeats as we do but, as I consistently state, there are never enough excuses to have a run of form as we had now."
- Even if I could identify numerous reasons
- When you are Liverpool you should not suffer defeats
- The reality is six out of seven
Backline Performance
Only Burnley (21) have faced more big chances from normal situations this season than Slot's team (19). The first-place team, the North London club, have allowed just two. Yet Slot denies the champions have been too open and asserts there is no basis to sacrifice his attacking principles for a defensive approach after ten matches without a shutout.
"In my view we're not conceding a lot of chances so I don't see a reason to alter our approach totally but we need to do better in not conceding goals," he declared.
Recent Examples
"When facing United, how many openings did we give up? When playing Frankfurt when we were 3-1 up, we hardly conceded a shot on target. In every match we played until now we haven't conceded a lot of chances. Definitely not. We do concede a bit more than the previous campaign but that has to do with us being 1-0 down so you take a bit more risk. But in general I don't believe that our problem is that we concede too many chances. Our challenge is we don't score the opportunities we generate."