2 months ago
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Photo by Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images
The boss had his say on what went wrong on Saturday.
Liverpool suffered their first loss under Arne Slot on Saturday as Nottingham Forest managed to squeak past a 1-nil win at Anfield. The Reds were stymied for most of the match, despite having an outsized portion of the possession.
The entire attack looked disjointed from the off, with mistimed or under hit passes in the final third being a recurring theme. It’s also worth noting that the most memorable chance - Luis Díaz’s shot off of the post came after a solo effort from Lucho to win back a misplayed ball that a Forest defender was content to let wander out of bounds.
All told, it was a frustrating day for the offense specifically and Slot’s press conference after the match did identify the attack as a source of break down on the day.
“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three [or] four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession. If you play so much in their half, we need to do much better. We lost the ball so many times in simple situations. That is, I think, the main story from the game: ball possession not good enough.”
It may seem simple - though, given the clarity and forthright nature of Slot, it also may just be his calling card - but it also rings true. Liverpool’s defense didn’t concede much on the day. And if you’re gonna get beat by a rocket from outside of the box, I guess there are far worse ways to get pipped.
But the offense truly struggled today, with the runners being out of sync with the creators; a common visual would be a throughball played into space with the runner having either pulled up or gone too early. Mohamed Salah, in particular, might come in for some criticism (though, in fairness, everyone across the attacking group shares significant blame) given the number of times his square balls into the box were under hit.
In the end, though, it is as Slot assessed: the Reds simply did not create enough. And I think most Reds would have felt it was a bit of a let-off if the scoreline were to be reversed.
Liverpool won’t have much time to dwell on this result as a trip to the San Siro waits on Tuesday as Liverpool kick-off their Champions League campaign against AC Milan. Here’s hoping Slot and Co. can sort it all out in time for the club’s first major test in this young season.
