Arne Slot insists Liverpool have not become a bad team overnight as the defending champions look to get their stuttering campaign back on track
BRENTFORD, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 25: Liverpool manager Arne Slot during the Premier League match between Brentford and Liverpool at Gtech Community Stadium on October 25, 2025 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Mark Leech/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has come out fighting ahead of his side's return to Premier League action
View Image
Their Premier League title defence may have already been consigned to the dustbin by many. But Arne Slot is adamant appearances have been deceptive for Liverpool this season.
Dismal defeat at Manchester City a fortnight ago sent the champions tumbling to eighth place and a whopping eight points behind Arsenal, giving Slot much to ponder over the recent international break.
It represents Liverpool's lowest league position since April 2023 on the back of a run of five losses in six Premier League games, as many as they had lost in the previous 49 such matches.
The Reds resume at home to Nottingham Forest this afternoon with Slot facing a number of selection headaches with Conor Bradley and Florian Wirtz the latest to be sidelined by injury.
But after a £450million summer rebuild, Slot is convinced Liverpool are in a misleading position and believes they can still salvage an underwhelming campaign.
"We can improve as a team and we will improve definitely as individuals because players will be adapted to the league much better," said the Reds boss.
"We have to make sure we are still challenging for the things we want to challenge for. We therefore need wins but I am 100% convinced that where we are now is not as bad people say.
"Because we made so many changes in the summer, the team performance and individual performance has a lot of room for improvement. That was my main message to the players this time.
"Players like Milos Kerkez for example need to get used to three games every week and we have to get used to each other. If that happens and we are going to do some basic things a little bit better than we are doing now, then there is a lot to expect for us in the upcoming months."
Slot added: "The last international break I looked at it in a little bit more detail and came to certain conclusions about playing styles we face or things we have to improve.
"We have lost six out of 15 (this season) and sometimes it feels like we lost 15 out of 15. I exclude the Crystal Palace home game in the League Cup (when Slot picked an effective reserve team).
"Now I have emphasised more about the last six games - excluding Palace in the League Cup - we won three and lost three, and the three we lost we had a negative set-piece balance. That's one thing.
"The second thing is I think this team can and will play much better if you give them a little bit more time.
"The City game in particular, yes we lost it, yes in the first half they were better than us, but in the second half we had a decent performance and their goals were not the biggest chances we gave away."
Much was made during the defeat against City of Mohamed Salah's defensive contribution, having previously been targeted by a number of opposing teams as a potential weak point.
But Slot has instead focused on wanting more form Salah - who could make his 300th Premier League appearance for Liverpool today - at the other end of the pitch, having contributed only five goals and three assists in 16 games so far this season compared to 10 of each at this stage of the previous campaign.
"I know my conversation with him and how they have been throughout one-and-a-half years working together," said Slot. "I expect from him to do the things we want him to do like any other individual so it's not different for him than any other one.
"The amount of goals and assists he had in the first half of last season was probably not something you can expect maybe every single time, but if you talk about Mo Salah you prefer to talk about his attacking stats and how he can help the team.
"Defensively there are a few moments in the game because, apart from the City and Chelsea games which were more even games, the rest were when we had the ball a lot then it's more important what he brings with the ball than what he brings off the ball.
"Against City it's not fair only to focus on Mo. As a team, they did better than us. We struggled but not only in that position, we struggled in more positions in the first half, which didn't lead to big chances but they were the better team.
"In the second half we adjusted a little bit and I think nobody noticed it but in the second half we were the better team on the pitch."