Arn Slott claimed Liverpool’s team played better than they did in the heavy defeat to West Ham, but they still lost and insisted the players are preparing for a big end to the season.
Kodi Gakpo scores and Jeremy Frimpong pushes home an own goal for Liverpool as they beat West Ham (Image: Getty Images)
Arne Slott still looks like a manager under pressure, given his side have a favorite chance of reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, are doing well in the FA Cup and have momentum in the Premier League. And while that seems a little harsh considering his team won the Premier League last season, there is no doubt that Slott will need to get through the final three months of the campaign.
Kodi Gakpo thinks it could be more than a good thing. “Step by step, we are trying to become a better team. There have been some difficult times during the season, but I hope these last few games are the start of something beautiful,” he said.
Including the FA Cup victory over Brighton, Liverpool have won their last four games, scoring 10 and conceding just two. But even with a few goals against a self-destructive West Ham side, it wasn’t pretty.
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The dismantling of Nuno Espirito Santo’s side included two goals that were largely due to deflections (Hugo Ekitike’s opener and Gakpo’s fourth), one own goal (Liverpool’s fifth from Axel Disasi) and two corner kick conversions (the second and third goals by Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister). The scoreboard was beautiful, but the performance was not.
But it was very effective. The only surprise was that Liverpool conceded quite a few chances and converted some of them, with Tomas Soucek and Tati Castellanos both reducing their arrears to two in the second half.
Arne Slott has helped his side win their last three Premier League games (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
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Despite leading by three points before half-time, Anfield weren’t exactly in good form, but Jeremy Frimpong, who tucked in his own goal, and 17-year-old Rio Ngmoha, who made cameos in the closing stages, certainly scored some goals. The buzz returned.
Liverpool’s next three games could be the defining fixtures of the season. They travel to Wolves for a Premier League match, then an FA Cup fifth round match, before heading to Istanbul for the first leg of a Champions League match against Galatasary.
Alexis Mac Allister and Hugo Ekitike were among Liverpool’s scorers in the 5-2 win over West Ham (Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
And Mac Allister believes this is an important moment for Slott’s team to step up a new gear.
“We know how important it is for the club and as a team to qualify for the Champions League. That is the goal and we will do everything we can to qualify and get closer to the top teams.”
It is clear that set pieces will be very important if we are to get closer to the top teams. And Liverpool seem to have finally cracked that side of the game. Seven of Liverpool’s last nine goals have come from set pieces, five from corner kicks, one from a direct free kick and one from a throw-in.
Virgil van Dijk has scored his third goal in his last six Premier League games (Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“I was very happy, first of all because that’s why we won. Second of all, people said we played well. In my opinion, we were better when we lost and we were better when we conceded goals from set pieces,” Slott said.
“In the first half of the season, almost all of the goals we conceded were from set-pieces. Now we’re starting to score from set-pieces and things are starting to look brighter and better than when we weren’t playing set-pieces.” Indeed. You could even say that things might start to look beautiful again.
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