Arne Slot has made it clear that while results haven’t gone our way lately, there’ll be no panicked shift in philosophy just yet.
Speaking ahead of our Premier League clash with Aston Villa at Anfield, Arne Slot was asked whether he’d consider moving to a more defensive approach after six defeats in seven games across all competitions.
“It does go against my beliefs,” the Dutchman said, when asked about changing his tactical outlook.
“But I’ve won games in the past [like this]. We were talking about City away, that maybe went against my beliefs [last season] but it was necessary to play it like that over there in the second half.
“So, I would be more than open to adapt in certain situations, but I don’t think the story is – at least in my opinion – we concede chance after chance after chance, or that we are too open.
“It is absolutely not like this.”
Slot defends team amid growing criticism
Slot continued by highlighting that, in his view, Liverpool’s defensive record isn’t as bad as results suggest.
“Every single game, maybe apart from Palace because in the first half we could have been two or three-nil down and maybe the Brentford game, in all the other games we deserved much more than we got,” he explained.
“We hardly conceded a chance, even this week with the team I put out, which played together for the first time – I think they only conceded three big chances, unfortunately all three went in.”
It’s the latest in a series of appearances where our head coach has been open about tactical matters, something which has sparked debate both in England and back home in the Netherlands.
Ruud Gullit previously questioned the wisdom of such candour, saying “you shouldn’t tell me that” when Slot explained Liverpool’s struggles post-Brentford defeat.
Meanwhile, Jason Burt of The Telegraph recently suggested the Dutchman was “not doing himself any favours” and risked “talking himself into trouble” by being too honest about Liverpool’s problems.
Slot: Liverpool “deserved much more” than results show
Slot’s latest words feel like an attempt to steady the ship ahead of a defining week which sees us host Villa, Real Madrid and Manchester City in the space of nine days.
Despite the defensive lapses and the poor run of results, he remains convinced that our playing style isn’t fundamentally broken.
“I don’t see us conceding a lot of chances, so I don’t see a reason to change our playing style completely,” the 47-year-old concluded. “But we need to do better in not conceding goals, that is for sure.”
His message to supporters is simple – improvement will come through refinement, not revolution.
You can watch Slot’s full pre-Aston Villa press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube:
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Klopp never betrayed his beliefs, and you couldn’t get more attacking football than what he played. High risk with the very high line, two very attacking full backs. The key to the success under this attacking pressing team was the defensive spine. Alisson, matip, van dijk, fabinho and two more midfielders that grafted without the ball. And the front three that pressed. I’ve got no problem with slot wanting to play attacking football but without the ball we have to be resilient and better organised. The balance this season hasn’t looked right. Nobody wants to see slot getting sacked, he’s a genuinely nice bloke and is so honest, but if we keep losing games he’s not going to manager for much longer.