Arne Slot speaking to preview Liverpool’s upcoming game against Sunderland
Arne Slot admits this season has been his toughest as a manager – and that his Liverpool have not performed to the standards expected. After winning the league last season and spending more than £400m on new recruits during the summer, optimism on the red half of Merseyside was high heading into the campaign.
However, after 25 Premier League games, Liverpool’s title defence is over, and they are now in a battle to secure a place in next season’s Champions League. The Reds are currently five points behind fourth-placed Manchester United and four points behind Chelsea, who sit a place above them in fifth.
However, Slot has had to deal with issues on and off the pitch, and he admits as a result he considers this season the most difficult of his managerial career so far.
“That is fair to say [this is the toughest season I have had] by a mile,” he said. “All of the other seasons I have managed there were only positives, I don’t think I have ever lost two games in a row.
“It’s an exception for me this season and it is for the players, they are not used to losing a lot or having a lot of draws. I am not used to that either.
“It’s always more of a challenge after you lose a game of football to get them going again and after a win, tell them that we are not as good as they might think they are, so this season has been more challenging for me as well.
“You also take nice things out of it, though that may sound weird. I also look at how much improvement we are making.
“As a manager we are always looking for results, but it is also important the players and the team improves because if that doesn’t happen, we would have an even bigger problem over here.
“But in my opinion everyone is now able, maybe not those who are injured, to play every three days at the intensity level that is needed at this club and in the Premier League as well.
“As a result, our performances are much, much, much better than they were at the start of the season. I don’t mean the first six games, but when we started playing a double programme [including midweek European and domestic cup games].
“The first six games we only had one double programme with Everton, that was a difficult win, and since we went into the double programme, we have started to drop so many points.”
Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester City was Liverpool’s eighth loss in the Premier League so far this season. And were the Reds to lose at Sunderland on Wednesday night, then they could slip as low as ninth.
“A draw feels like a loss at this club,” Slot said when asked how his side are dealing with setbacks this season.
“That’s definitely not easy for players as well because they know what the standards of Liverpool mean, and we are not performing to the standards of Liverpool at the moment and they feel that disappointment.
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“Mainly because we are so close every single game. Every game it feels as though we are going to win it, but it doesn’t happen.
“And that is probably more difficult than when you play a game and throughout the whole game you feel like the other team is better and you’re just not good enough.
“But that’s not what they feel. They feel, performance-wise, that they can compete with any other team in any league in the world. But (the) reality is that we don’t perform to Liverpool standards.”
