LONDON, Jan 7 : Hearing his Liverpool team branded as dull and boring is ‘hard to hear,’ says manager Arne Slot although the Dutchman says he cannot completely disagree with the criticism.
Liverpool are unbeaten in eight Premier League games but have looked unimpressive, drawing their last two games against Leeds United and Fulham and only narrowly beating bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
They have scored 16 fewer goals than they did at the same stage of last season and the reigning champions are 14 points behind leaders Arsenal who they face in London on Thursday.
“I find it really hard to hear (those words) but it’s not that I completely disagree,” Slot told reporters when asked for his reaction to the descriptions of his team.
“I would use different words, take certain things into account. I want to win as many trophies as I can but I think I’m also known for the fact that my teams always try to play attacking football and can only say we are trying to do so.”
Liverpool’s lack of goals comes despite a huge summer outlay in beefing up their attack and creativity.
They broke their transfer record twice, first to sign German playmaker Florian Wirtz and then striker Alexander Isak and also paid big money for Hugo Ekitike.
Top scorer Ekitike will miss the trip to Arsenal while Isak has struggled to justify his 125 million pounds ($168.58 million) price tag and is currently sidelined with a leg fracture. Wirtz has scored in two of his last three games but has also faced criticism.
“We are struggling to create a lot of chances. But as I’ve said many times, we are not the only team that struggles to create a lot of chances,” Slot said.
“I don’t think the number we create is that different to some other teams that are doing really well in the league.”
According to Opta, Liverpool rank seventh in the Premier League this season for ‘big chances’ created.
“We have to find a way against teams (who play) in not an attractive way, which is maybe even smart for them to do,” Slot said. “We are working every single day to improve that.”
($1 = 0.7415 pounds)
Source: CNA
