Arne Slot dey believe say e go still be Liverpool head coach next season, even after home fans bin boo di team for di dull draw against Chelsea for Anfield last Saturday. Di Dutchman talk say e know wetin dey wrong and how to fix am, as e dey plan to make di team play like champions again.
“I know wetin we need to get dat done,” Slot talk after di match, wen journalist ask am about di fans wey dey vex. E add say: “I am 100 per cent convinced we go be different team next season if we fit have di summer we want – different in terms of results, different in how things look.”
Even though supporters dey unhappy and fans’ favourite Xabi Alonso dey wait for di chance to take over, Slot dey confident say Fenway Sports Group, di club owners, no get any plan to sack am. But di coach, wey get one year left for im contract, must prove say e get answers to di many problems wey don make im side produce weak title defence.
Di champions dey 24 points worse off dan dis stage last season, don suffer 11 league defeats and 18 for all competitions – di most since 2014-15. Many fans dey ask where things don go wrong and wetin fit make di Reds challenge again.
Liverpool regression dis season fit trace back to defeat for Crystal Palace for September, wey end a five-game winning start to di title defence. Eddie Nketiah 97th-minute winner come after di Reds fail to deal with a long throw into dia box, di second time dem concede from set play dat afternoon. E show how Slot and im coaching staff dey slow to adjust to di physical nature of di Premier League dis season.
Set-piece coach Aaron Briggs bin lose im job for December, but even after Slot take more hands-on role, Chelsea equaliser for weekend be di 18th time im side don concede from set play dis campaign – di joint second-worst record for di league. Roy Keane bin highlight dis for Liverpool 3-2 loss for Man Utd, wen e say: “I think di worst insult for a team na wen people say you dey easy to play against. Liverpool are, certainly, dis year.”
Di boos wey accompany full-time whistle for Anfield on Saturday go don hurt Slot, but dem be result of another lacklustre performance wey don leave many fans bored. Chelsea match be dia lowest xG since edging Arsenal for August, and you go back more dan five years for di previous time dem create so little for Anfield.
Dis dey stark contrast to di fast-paced, heavy-metal football under Jurgen Klopp, wey no dey do Slot any favour. Slot say e don dey “hard to hear” fans call di Reds dull and boring, and e “completely disagree” with dat view, instead blaming di strikers for attacking struggles. But according to Adam Bate analysis, di team dey seventh for Premier League for xG scored dis season – dia worst rank for a decade – so di chances no dey created for di forwards.
Liverpool vision last summer na to spend big on high-quality technical attackers to help dem with low blocks wey dem struggle to navigate for second half of dia title-winning campaign. Dem bring Hugo Ekitike for £79m, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak for combined £241m. But Isak fitness issues after missing preseason and Ekitike Achilles problem mean di trio don play together for only 119 minutes for all competitions dis campaign, including 37 minutes for di league, and combine for just seven goals.
Slot go rightly expect injury misfortune no go strike again next season. Di Reds also lose summer signing Giovanni Leoni to season-ending ACL for September, and right-back Conor Bradley campaign bin curtailed by damaged knee for January. Jeremie Frimpong and Alisson Becker don miss large chunks with muscle issues.
Even wen Slot fit field dat trio again, e fit no be dis year as Ekitike set to be sidelined for at least six months after injury against Galatasaray for March. Jamie Carragher don claim say di two Liverpool No.9s cannot play together up front, and if Slot no fit solve dat attacking conundrum, im days for Anfit fit dey numbered.
Despite biggest transfer outlay for club history last summer, dis campaign on-pitch struggles show Liverpool go need to strengthen again next season to regain title. Slot agree, recently claim say di Reds dey set to go through another transitional period dis summer. Gary Neville don talk say dem go need to do “a little bit of a rebuild,” especially with departures of experienced stars like Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson, and question marks over futures of Alisson and Joe Gomez.
Carragher don identify three areas sporting director Richard Hughes and Slot must strengthen: “Replace Salah with a right winger, a right back and a central midfielder, then di players you bought last summer like Ekitike, Isak, Wirtz become better players.” West Ham United Jarrod Bowen, 29, reportedly be one of di forwards Liverpool dey look at to replace Salah.
Finally, e dey vital Liverpool get di three points dem need for dia final two games, starting at fifth-placed Aston Villa for Friday Night Football, to be mathematically sure of Champions League football next season – both to fund dis summer rebuild and end di campaign on high. Despite many highs under Klopp, di Reds don endure similar struggles for 2020-21 and 2022-23, even failing to qualify for Europe premier club competition for di latter. However, impressive finishes for both years help lay foundations and instilled confidence for Quadruple tilts di following seasons.
As Carragher warn: “My worry with Slot and Liverpool na, we go dey in situation like Ten Hag wey get great first season? He win di league – dat be different level – but di second season bin poor. Den dem keep di manager on di back of wetin e do for im first season, and e carry on poorly, and den you dey October or November and you think you gotta change di manager. I think dat be a little bit of a fear with Liverpool supporters.”
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