Keep serenity. This proved to be the tranquil advice offered by Virgil van Dijk and the academy graduate recently as the Merseyside club reflected on consecutive setbacks for the second instance under their head coach.
Slot remained unfazed and optimistic on Friday, including multiple voluntary reminders that the side he was supporting from infrequent scrutiny are at the summit of the the league. Anew. Yet beneath the soothing words and positive league table, there are indisputable issues with Liverpool's displays that, according to the manager personally, run deeper than the opening ten fixtures of the season.
We felt extremely pleased winning the league,” remarked the head coach. “However we didn’t shut our eyes for the final stages of the campaign to the frequency with which we required a set piece [to win].”
Last season's title winners have not been struggling to create chances from open play or to transform extended periods with the ball into convincing victories in recent months, their boss insisted. Liverpool were facing difficulties to do the two from the second half of last season, once rivals adapted their game plans to contain them, and are have not discovered answers.
Numerical Evidence
Data support the manager. Over the opening nineteen fixtures of his maiden term, Liverpool notched forty-seven strikes with forty (eighty-five point one percent) coming from open play. In the concluding nineteen fixtures, the Reds achieved thirty-nine strikes, of which 27 (just over two-thirds) were from live action. The decline has been improved this season, over a small sample size, with 10 of their 12 league goals originating from general play (eighty-three point three percent).
- Initial nineteen matches: the majority of goals from open play
- Last nineteen matches: under seventy percent of goals from open play
- Current season: 83.3% of goals from open play
However the team's performances in the current campaign, especially the defeats at Palace and Galatasaray in the period of a few days, cannot be blamed on a drop in set-piece prowess alone. Moreover, their seven-game winning streak ahead of traveling to Crystal Palace was often paired with the qualification that Liverpool secured victory late and/or in spite of an uneven performance.
Line-up Issues
The German playmaker is taking time to settle to the intensity of the the top flight and is a £100m talent that the manager is still trying to fit in to maximum effect. Their new full-backs, the Dutch defender and his defensive partner, were strongly supported by their head coach prior to the setback in Istanbul but are not currently at the performance of the the previous incumbents.
The forward is not match sharp having spent the break on strike at his former club, and the French defender's performances has deserted him. The issues goes on. Solely the young forward, the leader, the Brazilian shot-stopper, who will miss the weekend fixture to Chelsea with a hamstring injury, the Hungarian midfielder and the engine-room player have delivered consistently well this term.
Vital Absence
Liverpool are in dire need of the creative force to recover complete health and his contribution over their tempo, calmness and forward impetus. The midfielder was omitted of the final two games of last season to start his recovery from a nagging groin injury and be ready fit for the build-up. At least, that was the aim. Mac Allister's recovery process was lengthier than foreseen, pre-season was frequently interrupted as a outcome, and a key component in the manager's setup has not completed a full match for his team after the single-goal success at Leicester on the spring date.
“You say he is behind,” Slot commented. “Where I'm from we say he is not in rhythm.” They will be a different proposition as soon as he is directing midfield next to the other midfielder once more.
Looking Ahead
Slot has extolled the advantages of flexibility in his revamped team, with the summer arrivals Wirtz, the Frenchman, Isak and the defender equipped to play in a variety of positions, but a side undergoing change could do with more consistency in selection to hasten the process.
“I don’t think we alter our methods but I notice opponents doing a lot of tactics unlike before against us,” he said. “The previous manager gave me a lot of benefits but one of the gifts he provided was concluding in third place the year before and outside the top four the year before that.”
The Merseysiders have enough elite players to correct their inconsistent performances, as Curtis Jones stated recently, but the coach admits the answer is trickier than waiting for Wirtz and the striker to reach their peak. the upcoming venue might prove a good place to commence, nevertheless.
“It’s a combination,” Slot stated. “How do we locate our wide players? Do we find them frequently and in threatening areas {like we did|as we managed|similar
