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September 16, 2024

Arne Slot Faces Initial Liverpool Pressure After Early Success Phase – EPL

Arne Slot began his challenging journey of taking over from Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool with a calm demeanor, but a 1-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest has abruptly ended the Dutchman’s initial grace period.

Credit to English Premier League Image Gallery

Arne Slot began his challenging role of succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool with a calm approach. However, a 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest abruptly marked the end of the Dutchman’s initial grace period and revealed vulnerabilities within the team. Liverpool now has little time to recover as they prepare for an upcoming match against AC Milan on Tuesday, which will mark their return to the Champions League after a year-long absence from Europe’s top club competition. Under Klopp’s leadership, Liverpool regained their stature at the forefront of European football.

The English powerhouses reached three Champions League finals within five seasons from 2018 to 2022, securing the European Cup for the sixth time in the club’s illustrious history.

Slot now steps into this legacy, and the former Feyenoord manager has not been granted an easy draw under the new Champions League format.

Liverpool is set to encounter the two most successful clubs in the competition’s history: AC Milan and Real Madrid.

Xabi Alonso, the frontrunner to succeed Klopp, will return to Anfield in November with German champions Bayer Leverkusen. Slot will then head back to the Netherlands to take on Dutch titleholders PSV Eindhoven.

They will also encounter additional challenges from Italian, Spanish, German, and French teams, including Bologna, Girona, Leipzig, and Lille.

However, Liverpool might embrace this challenge after finding it difficult to break through when Nottingham Forest packed their defense on Saturday, securing their first victory at Anfield in 55 years.

The home team held nearly 70 percent of the possession but needed to generate the creativity to convert it into goals.

“We lost the ball so many times in simple situations,” said a frustrated Slot. “We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three or four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough.”

The Anfield supporters’ sense of disappointment stood in stark contrast to the joy that followed their 3-0 victory against Manchester United just before the international break.

Even Klopp faced challenges in conquering Old Trafford during his nearly nine years at the helm, yet the initial indications of Slot’s tenure were encouraging.

Over-reliance on Salah?

Liverpool secured victories in their first three Premier League matches without allowing a single goal, as the Dutch coach introduced a greater sense of control and a touch more caution to the exhilarating style of heavy metal football that rapidly endeared itself to fans during Klopp’s tenure.

Slot now faces the challenge of establishing his style while ensuring the players and supporters remain engaged during this transitional phase.

“If I would change my way of preparation after a loss, that means I only do the best work I can after we lose,” added Slot on how he will change things up for the trip to Milan.

“I want to see the same attitude every single day: after a big win, after a small win, after a draw, after a loss.”

The international break mitigated Liverpool’s lackluster performance. Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister were substituted while the score was still 0-0 against Nottingham Forest, following their transatlantic commitments in South American World Cup qualifying.

However, their inability to perform on Mohamed Salah’s lackluster day highlighted a reliance on the 32-year-old to shoulder the goal-scoring responsibilities. Slot must find a solution for this, particularly as the Egyptian enters the final year of his contract.

“Everyone is coming back from different places and playing a different way but still I think even today when we were not at our best we created chances and it should have gone better,” said Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.

“We have to turn this around and make this a sort of reality check to be better for the rest of the season because if you want to achieve things this season the contrast between the games we played is too big.”