Phil Jones tells Arne Slot he’s ‘clutching at straws’ after what he said about Liverpool’s form

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Phil Jones has slammed Arne Slot for saying that other teams are playing too “direct” when they face Liverpool.

Before Liverpool beat Aston Villa on Saturday, the Reds went four games without a win in the Premier League.

Some thought that this would be the beginning of the end for Slot’s reign as Liverpool manager, but fortunately, they clawed it back and managed to beat Aston Villa 2-0 on Saturday.

However, before the game at Anfield had even kicked off, former Manchester United man Jones tore into Slot’s claims and said that opposing teams would be “foolish” to open up when facing the Reds.

Phil Jones slams Arne Slot as Liverpool’s ‘vulnerability’ is exposed

The 2025-26 season has been anything but a walk in the park for Liverpool.

Slot’s men have been on the back foot in most of the games that they’ve played, with their early results coming due to plenty of luck.

Of course, there were times when the Anfield outfit deserved to win, but in their games against Newcastle and Atletico Madrid at the start of the campaign, they were rather fortunate.

Since then, however, teams have figured out how to cause panic among Liverpool’s defensive line, with Jones even going as far as saying that Slot is “clutching at straws” when asked about why his team were losing so many games.

“I’m all for managers defending themselves, absolutely. You’ve got to come out fighting and you’ve got to stick up for the lads in the dressing room,” he said on BBC Radio Five Live.

“But when you’re talking about teams playing direct, for me, he’s clutching at straws a little bit.

“Teams do it. Teams don’t go to Anfield and open up because they know what they’re up against, so they’d be foolish to do that.

“But I see a vulnerability defensively with Liverpool at the minute. Every time the ball goes in the box, it looks like a panic.”

Liverpool need to build on their 2-0 win against Aston Villa

Liverpool’s performance against Villa was arguably one of their best of the season.

Slot chose to take things back a step or two and line his team up with a similar starting XI to what won them the Premier League title last season.

Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, and Alexis Mac Allister formed the middle three, and although the Reds did sign Florian Wirtz in the summer, these should be the three who start games from now on.

The best version of Mohamed Salah was also put on display, with the Egyptian King looking like he was back to his usual self.

It’s still early in the season, and things could either end up getting better or even getting worse again, but if Liverpool build upon their win against Villa in their next few games, they should slowly start getting back to their former selves.