TFollowing a 100% away record in the Premier League and an equally perfect return in the Champions League, Liverpool's players will have daily meetings with Arne Slott ahead of Saturday's trip to Crystal Palace. He must have been satisfied when he participated in the event. But they were soon reminded that there is no comfort zone under their new head coach, as he pinpointed the improvements they needed to make and maintain to close the gap on Manchester City. .
Liverpool picked up 48 points at Anfield last season, better than any team in the division at home. City and Arsenal both have 47 points. However, away from home, Josep Guardiola's side finished nine points clear of Jurgen Klopp's rebuilding side, clinching a record-breaking fourth successive league title, with Liverpool now on 34 points to City's 44. Obtained. The latest report on slots directly mentioned the point of their harmful point loss.
“If you look purely from a data point of view, there was a 10-point difference between City's away games and our away games last season. [final] The difference was nine,” Slott said. “If you look at the home form of both teams, it's the same. The $10 million question is, why is that happening? I think there are areas that need to be improved, so we're looking at both home games as well as away games. It's very important to control every game. In away games you have to be dominant, so I wasn't too happy with the first 20 minutes at Wolves.
That aside, Slott will have no complaints about Liverpool's performance on the road under him, defeating Ipswich, Manchester United, Milan and Wolves by a combined score of 10-2. The Anfield club have also won eight and drawn one of their last nine visits to Selhurst Park, with the last time Liverpool won their opening four away league games of the season in 2019-20. That season, he continued to win titles.
Slott believes that the away atmosphere gives the home team more belief and confidence, and that this was one of the reasons for Liverpool's disparity in results last season. It's not like the away game was particularly bad. “I think Liverpool's home and away games were pretty similar, but it's generally more difficult to play away because if the team gets a chance the home fans cheer very hard and the players “That’s where the confidence comes from,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important.” [to quieten the crowd]. Just don't lose the ball, don't give them corner kicks, don't put in crosses, don't give them something to cheer for. ”
Slot's more possession-based style gives Liverpool a platform to control games as well as volume. It starts with defense. Liverpool players have regularly said this season that there is little difference between Slott's and Klopp's approaches. However, Virgil van Dijk admits he has been given more responsibility on the ball by his fellow Dutchman. “He's asked a lot of me and I like it,” the Liverpool captain explained. “He knows I'm very comfortable with the ball at the back. I've got a variety of weapons. I can play passes 60-70 yards, but I'm also comfortable breaking lines. And when you have players like we have who can put themselves in the right positions, it speeds things up and helps.
“I certainly have that responsibility. It all starts with me, Ali.[sson] And Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] Hopefully we can create a good offense. That was a big change for me, because for many years we played a certain way under Jurgen and were very successful. You stick to it and stick to its principles. Things have changed in that I now have more responsibility to launch attacks and I am enjoying it. It's another string to my bow. ”
But slots don't want to own for the sake of owning. It will be to inflict damage on their opponents and, in the case of a Palace team without a win in the Premier League this season, to take advantage of the uncertainty at Selhurst Park. “It's important to control the game,” Slott stressed. “Creating chances is also important. There are ways to quiet the crowd. It's by creating chances yourself or by putting so much pressure and forcing mistakes. That's what the crowd doesn't want to see.
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“Another way is for us to hold the ball for a longer period of time, because then they can't create anything. But just holding the ball doesn't start anything. We have to. Maybe if we play a team in a lower league and they have the ball, the fans will start booing. But if Liverpool come and we have the ball, they will. says, “No problem, we're still going to support the team.'' A further challenge for top clubs is to keep their opponents' fans rooting for them longer than they would when playing teams in lower leagues.
“Everyone has been looking forward to Liverpool coming all week. The players are working hard and that's why it's tough to play against a team that has been preparing all week, especially after the Champions League game. But the good thing is that usually Liverpool, or one or two other clubs, have great talent at their disposal.
