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Arne Slot has come in for criticism due to Liverpool’s form this season but John Barnes has pleaded for patience.
Liverpool literally took two steps forward and one back in the seven days before the international break.
Arne Slot knew that he and his team weren’t out the woods with good wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid. What would have upset him though, is how he got things wrong tactically against Man City and how the players themselves performed on the day too. Compared to the performance at Anfield against the La Liga giants, there couldn’t have been a bigger contrast.
John Barnes backs Arne Slot to come good for Liverpool
After a painful losing streak, it was never going to an instant or quick fix. Excitement was high after the Champions League display though and, speaking to Sports Casting, Liverpool legend John Barnes believes that the positives over the last three games, rather than the negatives of the whole season, should give cause for optimism: “So as much as we changed the way we played when Arne first came, it was still Jürgen's 11, 12, 13 players, but we changed the way we played. You have to give him credit for that, because we didn't play the way Jürgen played, and we won the league comfortably.
“Now, everyone just automatically assumed with all the new players coming in that it's going to be even better because we're going to use attacking players. The balance between attack and defence has always been important.
“And at this moment in time, we haven't got that right, which is why he probably reverted back to the midfield three without Wirtz being one of them. And he tried to find a home frame in one of the front three, which worked against Real Madrid. And I think will work long-term. It's just unfortunate against Man City, a very, very good performance by Man City didn't actually work.”
Barnes on what Slot should do with Florian Wirtz
Barnes addressed the conundrum that is Florian Wirtz and where the Germany playmaker should be deployed as the 22-year old continues to face criticism for his lack of goals and assists in the Premier League. On Slot reverting to the midfield of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch, he said: “But I think long-term, I haven't got any issue about those midfield three and Wirtz not necessarily playing on the left, playing on the left from a defensive point of view when you have to get back to watch the right-back coming forward. But I don't think he's going to play on the left the way Cody Gakpo plays on the left.
“He'll move around a little bit more.
“It's just a question as to whether that is given time to develop. But I have no worries about Liverpool moving forward from here on out.” Barnes has taken a step back and shown the sort of clarity that has been missing in some quarters this season. Slot has found a formula that works against Aston Villa and Real Madrid, but now he needs to find one that works every other week too.
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