Liverpool head coach Arne Slot during the UEFA Champions League match at Girona on December 10 2024
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot during the UEFA Champions League match at Girona on December 10 2024
For most managers, watching their team effectively secure a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League would be cause for celebration. Arne Slot, though, was not happy.
Within minutes of the final whistle being blown on Liverpool’s narrow 1-0 triumph against Girona at the Estadi Montilivi on Tuesday evening, the Reds boss was swift to air his grievances after a sixth successive win in the competition.
“I am really pleased with all the results,” came his first answer in the post-match press conference. “But I'm far from pleased about the performance tonight."
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The relentless positivity garnered by Slot’s unprecedented start to his tenure in the Anfield hotseat has ensured such grumbles have been few and far between this season. But it was telling the Liverpool head coach chose the occasion of another notable victory to deliver a cold-shower dose of realism for his squad.
It was not unwarranted, the Reds having lacked intensity in the first half in particular when returning goalkeeper Alisson Becker was forced into a string of important saves.
This was, though, perhaps an example of Liverpool still grappling with the best way to control games in the manner demanded by Slot while also negotiating an increasingly hectic schedule.
While legs and minds weren’t quite as tired as they otherwise would have been had the Goodison derby not been postponed last Saturday, the Reds are going to have to pick and choose their moments to ramp up the tempo and pressing in order to navigate the festive and New Year period, particularly given the lengthy absentee list that saw seven players miss out in Spain. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson in particular must dig deep over the next month or so.
Liverpool’s strong start in the Champions League - they now stand clear at the summit - has meant games in the competition haven’t been as must-win as those in the Premier League, and perhaps the lack of urgency was reflected in the performance against Girona.
And while Slot’s disgruntlement at the display was a reminder of the high standards he expects even in victory, it was maybe also preparing his team for what will come. A dip in form is inevitable at some point this season, and the Liverpool boss evidently wants the impact of that to be absorbed by his team continuing to do the basic tenets he requires.
They didn't on Tuesday. Slot made a point of bemoaning the lack of aggressiveness to his team's play regards their pressing and counter-pressing, which was a complaint way back on the opening weekend of the season at promoted Ipswich Town.
A half-time reminder saw the Reds run out comfortable 2-0 winners that afternoon, and while the improvement in the second half in Girona was sufficient to earn a victory it wasn't enough to satisfy Slot.
"It was quite poor from us," he said. "If you lack five to 10%, which we lacked today, then it's going to be more of a problem for you. Our intensity was quite low."
That 20 of Liverpool's last 23 goals have come in the second half of games will also not have passed unnoticed, either a reflection of the Reds wearing down opponents or, as at Newcastle United last midweek, forced to respond strongly after a poor first half. And Slot will be aware that, away from Anfield, his team haven't really hit their stride for some time.
There will, though, be encouragement from a fourth successive Champions League clean sheet which, more pertinently, ended a run of conceding at least two goals in each of their previous four away games having leaked just twice in their first six.
With Premier League trips to Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United, along with a League Cup quarter-final at Southampton, to come before the end of the year, it was a timely show of defensive resolve on the road.
Slot has overseen a remarkable 19 wins and two draws from his first 22 games as Liverpool boss, the home defeat to Nottingham Forest back in September the only blemish. And having long silenced any lingering doubts over the quality of the teams they have beaten, the issue now for the Reds will be how to best cope with the quantity of opponents on the horizon.