The Reds Will Not Abandon Attacking Style Amid Current Struggles, Says Slot
The Dutch manager has revealed that the Anfield decision-makers share his views regarding the poor performance streak and he has no intention of discarding their offensive approach in quest for a turnaround. The head coach acknowledged that six defeats in seven matches was below standard ahead of Aston Villa's visit.
Growing Expectations During Tough Spell
Liverpool's coach recognized the pressure was on before his altered lineup suffered Carabao Cup elimination against the London club. However, he emphasized that this need to reverse the decline is not coming from the Anfield hierarchy or executive leadership following a summer transfer outlay of approximately £450 million.
"Our views align," remarked Slot, whose side will meet Los Blancos in the continental tournament and play against Manchester City in the domestic competition.
Team Strength Remains Unquestioned
The coach is convinced his team "have an unbelievable squad if they are fully healthy and fully prepared for the programme we are facing". He said that the recent signings in players such as the German international and the forward, who is expected to be sidelined again against Villa through injury, had left the club "in a strong situation for the near future and the years to come".
Team Cohesion Issues
When questioned about why his team were struggling to integrate, he answered: "That's not particularly helpful. 'What are the reasons?' I provide reasons and people say I'm coming up with excuses. I can come up with several explanations why we are struggling for victories or suffering defeats as we do but, as I always emphasize, there are inadequate reasons to have a performance streak as we had now."
- No matter if I could list numerous reasons
- When you are Liverpool you must avoid losses
- Unfortunately six out of seven
Defensive Statistics
Only the Lancashire club (twenty-one) have conceded more clear opportunities from normal situations this season than Liverpool (19). The first-place team, Arsenal, have conceded only two. Yet Liverpool's coach rejects the team has been overly exposed and asserts there is no justification to abandon offensive philosophy for a more pragmatic style after ten fixtures without a clean sheet.
"I don't see us allowing many opportunities so I see no justification to modify our philosophy totally but we must improve in keeping clean sheets," he stated.
Recent Examples
"Versus the Red Devils, how many opportunities did we allow? Versus the German side when we were 3-1 up, we scarcely gave up a shot on target. In each fixture we have competed in we haven't allowed a numerous openings. Definitely not. We do concede a slightly more than the previous campaign but that is related to us being trailing by a goal so you play more openly. But overall I don't feel that our problem is that we give up too many openings. Our issue is we don't score the openings we produce."