Liverpool last faced PSV Eindhoven in January. The loss in the Netherlands was seen as a minor problem for a team that was by far the most dominant team both domestically and in Europe. However, less than 10 months later, things have changed dramatically and another loss to the same opponents would greatly increase the pressure on embattled coach Arne Slott. Their sixth loss in seven Premier League games and eighth in 11 in all competitions came on Saturday night when they suffered a miserable 3-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest.
This has led to increased scrutiny of Slots, and there are whispers that a change in management may be necessary. Nevertheless, the Liverpool board, which took the bold decision to appoint the Dutchman as the successor to manager Jurgen Klopp, who won the Premier League title in his first season, is far from considering such a drastic step. But Fenway Sports Group could not have expected to see the Reds languishing in the bottom half behind local rivals Everton, nearly a third of the way into the season, after approving nearly £450m in summer spending.
In a way, this loss to a weakened team in the Netherlands at the start of the year marked the end of Liverpool’s honeymoon period under Slott. It was just his third defeat in his 35th game in charge, but in the end it was no big deal considering the Reds still finished top of the revamped Champions League in their opening game, much like their League Cup semi-final first leg against Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the month.
This questionable performance saw the team draw in the round of 16, losing on penalties to eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain, just five days before losing to Newcastle United in the League Cup final. Prior to that, the heavily rotated side had suffered an embarrassing exit in the FA Cup at the hands of Plymouth Argyle, who then dropped into League One.
Before PSV’s defeat, Liverpool had secured 27 wins in 34 games under Slott. Since that setback, the record stands at 41 games and 21 wins. However, the manager is focused on immediate concerns rather than bigger developments as he prepares to face his former club PSV this evening.
The Dutch side comfortably sit top of the Eredivisie, defending their title, but have won just one of their four Champions League games. When asked if he needed a major overhaul of his tactics and team selection to rebuild his struggling team, Slott gave a mixed answer.
“No, yes,” he said. “No, because I don’t think we need to do anything completely different. It’s not the right thing for us or for the players. But I think it’s a little bit, because if you’re a fan of the Premier League, it’s going in a different direction and you see a different way of playing.”
“It probably means we have to change some details in the way we play. We need a certain physicality, especially height-wise. But that’s no excuse for us not being very tall and conceding so many goals from dead-ball moments.”
“But we have to help ourselves a little bit more defensively. I’m not talking about the last line, I’m talking about the whole team. Then people will probably see on the ball that we haven’t changed that much from last season, but the amount of goals conceded is the big difference between this season and last season.”
Liverpool have conceded just four goals in four Champions League games, while they have conceded 20 goals in 12 Premier League games, their worst defensive record in any campaign since 1992.
Slott admits set-pieces remain a major issue, but they have proven beneficial in European competitions, scoring the winning goals against Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid at Anfield, and contributing to the comfortable victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
“So far last season we had conceded zero goals from set pieces, but now we have conceded nine goals,” he said. “The number of goals we conceded and the number of goals we scored from set-pieces is almost ridiculous for a club like us.
“Of course there are probably more details that are different, but the biggest difference is the goals we conceded, because we were able to create enough chances from open play to get results.”
