Liverpool need to stop obsessing over PL win, says Slot as his side prepare for huge early-season clash vs Arsenal.
Liverpool must change and not romanticise title win, insists Arne Slot.
According to Arne Slot, Liverpool should avoid romanticising their title victory from the previous season as a smooth ride, as the reality was a difficult one that called for a change of approach.
The head coach of Liverpool maintains that in order to make the adjustments required to defend the Premier League championship, he had to change his team’s strategy this season. Slot has cautioned his players not to forget how hard it was to get through, even though Liverpool won the title with four games remaining and a 10-point lead over their opponents, Arsenal, on Sunday. Hugo Ekitiké, Florian Wirtz, and potentially Alexander Isak were added prior to the transfer deadline in an attempt to strengthen Liverpool’s position as a dominant force.
Slot’s Statement
“I tell this to the players as well – not every game last season was Tottenham away [6-3] or West Ham away [5-0],” said Slot. “ Always if you win something, everybody only looks back at some great attacks or some great wins, but the amount of times we struggled last season in a game was a lot. To romanticise last season as much as we do – and sometimes we make this mistake inside the building as well; I mean the players – is incorrect. Last season was, every single time, a struggle. Most wins were only by one goal and we had to fight really hard for it.
“We didn’t win the league as [Manchester] City did for so many years with every single game being 4-0 up at half-time. We had to fight really hard for it. We need to improve but we had to improve compared to last season and we need to improve because the competition has improved.”
Slot’s Isak stance
Slot once more declined to comment on Liverpool’s pursuit of Isak, despite the fact that Newcastle’s £70 million acquisition of Nick Woltemade has raised the possibility of a British record deal for the striker.
“I said after Monday’s game that I could again make a substitution that affected the game,” said the coach, referencing Rio Ngumoha’s winner at Newcastle and Federico Chiesa’s late winner against Bournemouth. “There is no reason after two games to complain or think we need more but if we can strengthen the squad we will always try if it’s the right player and the right price. Let’s see if we do something.”