Former captain Steven Gerrard gives his opinion as Liverpool lose to Brighton in the Premier League and domestic football continues to struggle in Arne Slott’s second year as manager.
Steven Gerrard shares his thoughts on Liverpool’s struggles (Image: TNT Sports)
Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard believes Arne Slott currently lacks the depth to compete in both the Champions League and Premier League following the Reds’ loss to Brighton. The Reds currently sit fifth in the division in the race for a Champions League spot and have lost 10 games in a season for the first time in 10 years.
Brighton star Danny Welbeck scored on either side of Milos Kerkes’ shot, before a Liverpool defender nipped in after a mistake by Lewis Dunk. And with Hugo Ekitike forced off the field early in the game due to injury, the Reds were unable to find a way to grab a point.
Despite the club spending lavishly in pre-season, spending more than £400m on the likes of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Ekitike, Gerrard believes the slot lacks options off the bench to rotate effectively. The Dutchman is currently without Mohamed Salah and Isak and feels he is being forced to make a change.
“I’ve seen them put in a lot of effort this season and have shown great performances on the Champions League stage many times this season,” Gerrard told TNT Sports.
“And all the emotion, all the energy, the intensity that you have to put into a game to win and get a result, it really affected them this weekend.
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“They don’t have the options in the team or on the bench to make a lot of changes to bring that energy and quality into the team and perform at the same level as midweek.
“Today he had to play a lot with the same players. He made some changes that were forced on him. But the coach wants to keep the changes instead of making them for energy, and that backfired today.”
Slott himself admits he is under pressure despite leading Liverpool to the league title last season. “At Liverpool there’s always pressure on me and the players, and that’s completely normal,” he said after the defeat to Brighton.
Milos Kerkes scores Liverpool’s equalizer against Brighton (Image: Getty Images)
“We have qualified for the FA Cup and the Champions League quarter-finals and we definitely need to qualify in the league as well.
“We hated to lose today, but Brighton away games are always difficult games and if they keep bringing in quality players they will continue to be difficult games.
“We have other games to play. Last week against Tottenham we were leading 1-0 in the closing stages and couldn’t win, but we should see a club like Liverpool get a result away against Brighton.”
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