Arne Slot’s blip with Liverpool continues, with their nightmare form looking set to continue.
The Reds hosted Manchester United at Anfield, but it was not a performance befitting of their home ground as the visitors won the game 2-1, thanks to Bryan Mbeumo’s clever run in behind and Harry Maguire’s header.
Liverpool’s only goal came from an assist by Federico Chiesa to Cody Gakpo, showing once again how integral the Italian is as an impact substitute for this side.
Now this loss has meant that Slot will have to make some tough decisions over his squad; however, he also has to accept that his team, for the fourth straight time, were simply not the better team in any department.
Before the game, some of the comments by Slot were not exactly what you would want to hear from a manager, with him mentioning in his pre-match comments about Ruben Amorim’s decision to change his starting XI.
Gabby Agbonlahor labels Arne Slot ‘bitter’ after Manchester United loss
While that initial statement was odd, it was his seeming complaints about the Red Devils’ tactics against his side that caught the attention of Gabby Agbonlahor.
The Dutch manager bemoaned the fact that Amorim’s team employed tactics of long balls rather than playing out from the back.
READ MORE: Steve Nicol urges Arne Slot to make ‘hard decision’ over Mohamed Salah at Liverpool
These were comments that seemed unfair, given that the 47-year-old was outdone by those tactics in whatever way people want to spin it.
Agbonlahor spoke about how his words showed the ‘bitterness’ he has about him during a talkSPORT show this morning.
He said: “I think they played some lovely stuff into Mbeumo, Cunha, and Mount. Fernandes was getting on the ball as well. And what do you expect any of them to do when they go into Anfield? They’re not going to be open and try and play risky balls. So very odd from Slot. He has got that in him Arne Slot. He has got a bit of bitterness when he loses.
“(Slot criticism) It’s deserved, I mean four losses in a row. (Luis) Diaz is in the form of his life at Bayern Munich, by the way, he was unbelievable against Dortmund. Then you look at that decision to let him go, and then you spend £115 million on Wirtz, it’s not working. That’s got to be questioned. And he has to be judged.
“The money he spent, and it’s not working 100%. Even going back to Mo Salah, I really do think he should be dropped because seven games without scoring a non-penalty in his career is like a record for Mo Salah. Never happened, he is fluffing chances. He’s snatching at chances, which you don’t expect from Mo Salah.”
Arne Slot needs to address his tactics
Once again, Liverpool were undone by long balls, set-pieces, and at times direct passing between the lines.
It is simply not good enough and not something that is expected of the team that won the Premier League.
This is something he clearly needs to address with his own tactics; he cannot just complain that teams are using it against him. Slot needs to identify exactly how they are getting caught out and adapt.
Where he should start is the defence, because it is the most glaring problem, especially when it comes to losing the second ball.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
