The Merseyside club Will Not Abandon Attacking Style In the Face of Poor Run of Form, Insists Slot
The Dutch manager has stated that the Anfield decision-makers are aligned with his perspective regarding the team's slump and he refuses to compromise their offensive approach in quest for a solution. The head coach admitted that six defeats in seven outings was not good enough ahead of Saturday's match against Aston Villa.
Increasing Scrutiny During Challenging Phase
Slot accepted the pressure was on before his altered lineup exited the Carabao Cup against Crystal Palace. However, he insisted that this need to reverse the decline is not coming from the club's ownership or management structure following a summer transfer outlay of nearly £450 million.
"They say similar things," commented the Liverpool boss, whose team next week face the Spanish giants in the Champions League and visit Manchester City in the Premier League.
Squad Quality Stays Unchallenged
The coach is convinced his team "possess an exceptional group if they are all fit and completely set for the programme we are facing". He said that the transfer window acquisitions in players such as the German international and Alexander Isak, who is expected to be sidelined again against Villa through injury, had left the club "in an excellent position for the near future and the years to come".
Integration Challenges
When asked why his team were having difficulty blending, he responded: "You don't really help me. 'What are the reasons?' I provide reasons and people say I'm coming up with excuses. I can list five or six reasons why we are struggling for victories or losing as much as we do but, as I always emphasize, there are insufficient justifications to have a run of form as we had now."
- Even if I could identify numerous reasons
- Leading this club you cannot lose
- In truth six out of seven
Defensive Numbers
Only the Clarets (21) have conceded more clear opportunities from regular play this season than Liverpool (nineteen). The first-place team, the North London club, have conceded only two. Yet Slot denies the defense has been too vulnerable and claims there is no justification to abandon offensive philosophy for a cautious system after 10 games without a goalless performance.
"In my view we're not conceding a lot of chances so I see no justification to modify our philosophy completely but we need to do better in not conceding goals," he said.
Particular Cases
"Versus the Red Devils, how many openings did we give up? Versus the German side when we were ahead by two goals, we scarcely gave up a effort at our net. In all the games we have played so far we haven't conceded a lot of chances. Absolutely not. We do concede a slightly more than last season but that is related to us being 1-0 down so you play more openly. But in general I don't believe that our problem is that we allow too many opportunities. Our issue is we fail to convert the chances we create."
