Liverpool manager Arne Slot has insisted he simply does not have the resources needed to alter his preferred tactical setup.
A run of five straight wins to start the defence of their Premier League title has turned into a nightmare slump, with six defeats from their last seven league games heaping enormous pressure on Slot during a period in which the Reds have also been eliminated from the Carabao Cup and fallen to a 4–1 home defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.
Having conceded a whopping 37 goals across 20 games this season—Liverpool have only scored 34—Slot has faced increasing pressure on his position. The Dutch boss insists he still retains the faith of the board, but club legend Jamie Carragher believes Slot may have just one week to save his job, starting with Sunday’s meeting with West Ham United.
Among the questions asked of Slot has been his reluctance to alter his system. The 4-3-3 formation which proved so effective last season has been woefully porous this time around, but the manager insisted he will not be making any significant changes.
“Is the question: ‘Should I change dramatically?’” Slot told his pre-match press conference. “I don’t know what is in your head but if, for example, you want another system with five defenders ... that could be an issue. I don’t even have five defenders.
“The system we are playing now suits the players best. They have played this system probably throughout their whole career and there is hardly any training time for us. So it is almost impossible to change our complete idea about football if we play every two days. I think we have played a lot of different lineups for reasons I prefer not to do because everyone was not available. We have used our whole squad constantly.”
Arne Slot, Nuno Espírito Santo
Nuno Espírito Santo (right) knows all about the pressure. / Molly Darlington/Copa/Getty Images
With Slot fighting to win back the Liverpool fans, he will take his Reds side to London Stadium to face West Ham United and a manager who knows about the perils of being a Premier League boss, Nuno Espírito Santo.
Nuno is gearing up for his eighth game as West Ham manager, having been sacked by Nottingham Forest earlier this season. The circumstances of his departure from Forest, just three games after overseeing the club’s best season in recent memory, came as a shock to most and he was asked whether Slot could become the next successful boss to lose his job with defeat on Sunday.
“There are always questions about every manager in the Premier League and around the world, raised by the press,” Nuno responded. “It’s part of the industry.
“I will salute Arne before the game as normal. But my focus is on myself, my team and on us getting the result we want.”
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