Image Credits: Imago Images
The Dutchman has provided insight into what has led him to make so many changes to his Liverpool starting line-up.
Liverpool underwent a significant reshuffle this summer, breaking several records as they looked to defend the Premier League crown.
However, so many changes all at once led to a lack of synergy within the team, and despite a strong start to the campaign, performances dropped off as Slot attempted to change too much too quickly.
The Reds have acquired world class talent with the likes of Florian Wirtz and Alexnder Isak joining the team, but Arne Slot has to ease them in slowly to give them the best chance of gelling with their new teammates.
That seems to have happened in the last two games, as Liverpool have massively improved their performances, resulting in wins against Aston Villa and Real Madrid.
As well as a multitude of new signings, Arne Slot has also had to contest with a number of injuries to the squad so far this season, giving him now choice but to consistently tinker with the starting lineup.
This inconsistency also led to a loss in form, as six defeats in seven games ramped the pressure up on to Arne Slot to turn things around.
Ahead of a huge clash against Manchester City on Sunday, Arne Slot said: “I’m known as being a manager who prefers not to change but I couldn’t do anything different to what I did.”
“Ryan Gravenberch missed the first two games of the season, Mac Allister was out the whole pre-season, Conor Bradley wasn’t able to play, Jeremie Frimpong wasn’t able to play many games.”
“Alexander Isak came in and had to do pre-season inside the season. You could say ‘why do you play him?’, but then he wouldn’t be fit until the end of the season.”
“We knew this before when we signed him that it was going to take three to six months until he’s up to his usual level. But if I never play him, I can’t bring him to that level.”
“There have been obvious reasons why we’ve had to change more than I would like. Mac Alisster as an example, if you miss out on pre-season then you’re not ready to play three games in seven days.”
“If you do, you will get injuries, and I can show multiple examples to you, where Alex, by the way, is one, but also from other clubs, which I will not do because then journalists will go to the club and say, ‘Arne Slot said something about your players…!”
“But it’s so obvious for me, and I’m a bit more, you can maybe feel it, a bit like ‘Jesus, why don’t you see those things? Why are you talking about me changing?’ when it’s so obvious why.”
“Ibou and Virgil I haven’t changed because they play in a position where it’s easier to play so many games.”
Read more: Florian Wirtz shares what his teammates said ahead of Etihad visit
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