Arne Slot has given a worrying insight into Liverpool’s training regime ahead of Saturday’s clash with Brighton.
The Reds play away for a lunchtime kick-off on the South Coast only three days after facing Galatasaray in the Champions League.
In the build-up to another crucial match, Slot has admitted that in order to cope with such a tight schedule, only three Liverpool players actually trained after the midweek game. His revelation speaks to why the Reds have simply not been able to correct their poor form this season on the training pitch.
Arne Slot’s expected front three without Salah, what changes would you make? 🔄
No room for Rio again! Salah is ruled out vs Brighton and Frimpong is a doubt. Looks like Gakpo will return…
Only three players trained before Brighton
Of course, this is the stage of the season where big clubs want to be playing every three days. That means you have a chance to compete for trophies towards the end of the campaign.
In reality, though, the fixture schedule is packed for Liverpool all year long. It is rare that the Reds will get a full week between matches at any point of the season.
As a result – as Slot admitted in the lead-up to Saturday – caution has to be exercised with the work that can be done between games.
“Training wise, [we will do] close to nothing,” the Dutchman said. “The two things most important in recovery are sleep and food.”
READ MORE: Analysing Arne Slot’s five options to replace Mohamed Salah for Liverpool vs Brighton
“The ones that didn’t play had a proper session. That was five players, but Rio [Ngumoha] and Trey [Nyoni] were two of the five and we take care not to overload them. They only did a small part of that session. So only Curtis [Jones], Federico [Chiesa] and Cody [Gakpo] did a finishing drill and the two goalkeepers.
“We will probably be 15 to 20 minutes on the pitch [on Friday]. It could be set-piece work, but also those 15 to 20 minutes are not 11 v 11. It is not that we play on a full pitch and they start to run again.”
When Liverpool have not been playing well, the Dutchman has no doubt been longing to have more time with his players, but as his latest revelation aptly illustrates, that has just not been possible.
In those kinds of conditions, if you get on a run of poor performances, it must be especially hard to change things up and put things right.
Discuss: Arne Slot could win Liverpool fans back if he keeps showing passion on the touchline
There was much more energy vs Galatasaray, could that change things?
Slot needs to work out a better system
Although this lack of time at the AXA Training Centre has no doubt hampered Liverpool this season, it also is not a new phenomenon for them.
The Reds have been playing every three days for decades now, and they often deal with things well in that respect. It definitely is possible.
The difference, perhaps, is that if things are going well, then you do not need quite so much work on the training pitches. Things roll along happily, with wins breeding a positive atmosphere.
This season, that has obviously not been happening, and with so few players involved at all between matches, things can quickly become fragmented.
While this is understandable, Slot simply has to find a better way to deal with this in the future. Hopefully he can take the harsh lessons from this season and apply them to a better training system if things unravel once again. In the meantime, hopefully the lack of training will not impact on what is already a difficult looking trip to Brighton.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
