Liverpool manager Arne Slot says his players must find 'extra edge' as Dutchman insists he didn't criticise Man Utd's 'long-ball, low-block' tactics

Liverpool face Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - and manager Arne Slot spoke to TNT Sports ahead of the game. He reflected on his side's 2-1 home defeat by Manchester United, a fourth consecutive loss in all competitions, and the Dutchman was at pains to explain that he was not being critical of Ruben Amorim's approach.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot clarified his comments on Manchester United's 'long-ball' approach in their recent 2-1 defeat, emphasising that he aimed to complement Ruben Amorim's effective game plan that frustrated the Premier League champions.

Harry Maguire's late header on Sunday afternoon sealed a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions. In three of those, Liverpool equalised but then conceded late on, with similar 2-1 losses to Crystal Palace and Chelsea in the past month.

Slot bemoaned the lapse in concentration from his players in the aftermath of the most recent setback, which came despite Cody Gakpo striking the post on three occasions, among other gilt-edged chances which went begging at Anfield.

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Ahead of Liverpool's UEFA Champions League encounter against Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday, live on TNT Sports and discovery+, Slot's preparation was dealt a further blow when the team's flight out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport was delayed, meaning his press conference on Tuesday was cancelled.

But in his only sit-down interview with TNT Sports before Matchday 3, Slot had the opportunity to clear up his assessment of the Man Utd defeat, stating that Amorim had been "smart" in making life difficult for his side.  

"We faced a team that had their game plan very well in order," he told TNT Sports reporter Jules Breach.

"There was a bit of a debate over what I said after the game, but it was meant to be a compliment... so, they had a low block and played a lot of long balls. I was asked why it was difficult, and that was the reason.

"It wasn't criticism, it was me trying to explain why the game was made difficult. If you win the ball back after they've played it long, there are 11 players behind the ball. I would add that, to a certain extent, I was positive that we created as many chances as we did.

"Against [Crystal] Palace, we were able to create a lot against a low block, the same against United, but not many games since I've been in charge have we been able to create many chances against a 5-4-1 low block. It wasn't meant as a criticism at all.

"It was a very smart game plan and certainly their last three signings - two of them for sure - had an impact on the game, in [Matheus] Cunha and [Bryan] Mbeumo."

No problem with pundits, insists Slot

Slot has never previously lost four games in a row in all competitions since becoming a manager, but the 47-year-old didn't give off the impression of someone feeling the pressure as he looks ahead to another stiff challenge in Germany.

When his new unwanted record was put to him, Slot responded with a smile: "The good thing is that as a player, I certainly did! I didn't play at the same level as Liverpool, but I try to be as much the same as I always am, and that's what I want from my players.

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"We need to find this extra edge, and that's what I try to bring to the team to see where we can improve.

"When you're a Dutch manager in Holland, you watch all the programmes when you get home so you know what's being said.

"Here when I go home, I watch the Eredivisie or the Dutch programmes so I don't follow everything that's being said post-match, but when you come back into training, you are made aware of what people are talking about.

"This is part of the world we live in, and it's a good thing that pundits give their opinion. It's usually backed by videos and data, which is something that I like. It's usually well-thought-out, and nine times out of 10, they are right."

Having set the bar so high in his first season, having arrived as Jurgen Klopp's successor, Slot is experiencing his hardest period of scrutiny at Anfield.

A trip to Germany has come with its own complications, with the team's flight delay meaning the pre-match press conference was cancelled.

Highlights: Osimhen penalty hands Galatasaray victory over Liverpool

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Liverpool will be without Ryan Gravenberch after the midfielder twisted his ankle in the second half against Manchester United, meaning Slot must come up with a solution to avoid a fifth straight defeat in all competitions - something that hasn't happened since September 1953.

"[The scrutiny] is totally normal, losing four times in a row after we have won the league," Slot continued. "We started the season well in terms of results, not always in terms of performances.

"The funny thing is, you can maybe argue that the wins we had we didn't play as well as we did in the second halves against Palace and Chelsea, nor for the entire game against United - but it's a results-driven world we live in, and I accept that.

"When we were winning in the first set of games, I wasn't that positive, and I wasn't telling everyone how great we were. Even in the second half of last season, I've said many times that the margins were small and we were sometimes on the lucky side. We needed set pieces at that part of the season to bring wins over the line.

"That told me something, and as a result of that, we thought we had to improve [the squad] in the window and make changes. But when you change, it's quite common that you have to adapt to a new situation, and things can go a little bit like this [his hand moving up and down].

Ryan Gravenberch has not travelled to Germany

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"It's not only going upwards; things can go down a bit as well. A very wise man told me this week that the important thing is that we grow together, and that's what we need to do.

"It's not easy when you lose four games, but that's why I have to tell the players what we did wrong and why we lost. In the three or four moments where we had to defend, we were not at it enough, and we missed too many chances."

Slot: Outside world may not see the positives

Part of the criticism that has come Slot's way over the past couple of days has been around his squad selection, with question marks over whether he knows his best team only grows with each passing setback.

Milos Kerkez has struggled at left-back, while Jeremie Frimpong arrived as Trent Alexander-Arnold's replacement, but has looked lost whenever he has had to deputise in place of Conor Bradley in a defensive role.

Florian Wirtz has just one assist in 11 appearances for Liverpool and is awaiting his first goal since joining for £116m from Bayer Leverkusen. His signature has upset the midfield balance, while Alexander Isak is yet to score in the Premier League.

When asked about his challenge of moulding new relationships, Slot said: "You're looking for what is the best system or the best way for them to play together. But because we play so many games, you cannot play 11 players for 60 games.

"There's a balance you need to find when you bring new players in, letting them play together, but the ones that maybe don't start so often need to play as well.

Liverpool have struggled to convert chances in their dismal run

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"Now with Ryan Gravenberch being injured, if I hadn't played any other midfielder at all and now just had to come in from scratch, that wouldn't work either.

"With the schedule, it's not about having 11 players anymore, it's about having 14-15, maybe more, to share playing time. At the moment, because we aren't winning, people are focused on line-ups. When you lose, the question is then always whether we should change.

"We were changing the line-up last season and this season in the seven wins in a row that we had, and that's because we've always had three games in seven days."

Slot is likely to make more changes on Wednesday night against Eintracht Frankfurt in a bid to find answers to the current malaise, with one eye on the trip to face Brentford at the weekend in the Premier League.

The 1-0 defeat away at Galatasaray came at the cost of losing goalkeeper Alisson to injury, but Slot believes having the right mindset - not the changes in personnel - has been the main contributory factor in his side's run of defeats.

"We have to take the positives that are definitely there, which at the moment the outside world possibly doesn't see, which is normal when you simply look at the results.

"I've always been balanced when we've won, and I try to be when we lose as well. I don't shut my eyes to the fact that we've been short in moments where we have to be better.

Harry Maguire was the match-winner at Anfield

Image credit: Getty Images

"In the games where we have got it back to 1-1, everyone has been thinking, 'now let's go and win,' but we've forgotten the need to defend the set-pieces. We have to focus on defending those moments properly before we can attack again.

"I said after the Palace game how some players were thinking too offensively after we head the ball away, and something similar happened against United.

"Harry Maguire headed it in, but if he hadn't, Matthijs de Ligt or Patrick Dorgu would have headed it in [behind him]. They had three players completely open at the second post.

"That tells you that we have a team that is offensively-minded, which I like, but there is a time and a place where you have to recognise that you have to defend, three minutes before the end."

Slot's optimism in the current situation comes through as he points out how Isak is now through his period of integration after missing a full pre-season as a result of the protracted negotiations over his British-record transfer from Newcastle.

He is in no doubt that the quality his squad possesses will allow his side to go on a run of winning games to make this autumnal blip a thing of the past.

Slot knows he needs more from summer signing Florian Wirtz

Image credit: SID

Despite the increasing level of scrutiny on the issues derailing the Reds' pursuit on multiple fronts, Slot insists confidence remains high in the camp, and the consecutive defeats haven't made players question themselves.

"Time will tell, but until now it hasn't," he insisted. "If confidence is a problem, then you can't create more chances than the other team, although you can argue that confidence plays a role in finishing off those chances as well.

"While I've not played at this level myself, I know it's always nicer to get a chance when you're 2-0 up than if you are 2-1 down. There's more stress on a chance like this, so I know we need to continue doing certain things the same, but improve in moments.

"Apart from the first half against Palace, where we were very poor and conceded a lot of chances, we've controlled the other games to a certain extent, and were able to create more than we conceded."

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