Speaking ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League encounter with Nottingham Forest, Arne Slot has strangely admitted that his side was not as fit as it should have been.
When players’ fitness is dependent on their coaching staff helping them reach the required levels, it’s a bit strange to hear Slot admit that his squad was not at peak fitness levels for most of the season.
Under Jurgen Klopp, even when the Reds were in terrible form or simply below the standard required of Liverpool FC, there was no denying that the effort and stamina were there to contend with any team.
This season, Liverpool’s tactics have been beyond questionable, and now it’s a confirmed fact that they have been below the expected fitness level required of a top Premier League team.
With Fabrizio Romano reporting that the Liverpool board will meet at the end of the season to discuss Slot’s future, the former Feyenoord boss would do well to weigh his words carefully.
Arne Slot admits that fitness levels have negatively affected Liverpool’s pressing
When asked by a reporter about how Liverpool’s overall fitness has affected the ability to press and counter-press, Slot admitted that his side has not been at the level required until recently.
Slot has switched from Klopp’s lactate test to a 6 minute run test to maintain the player’s aerobic fitness ? pic.twitter.com/yL73y8BJEn
— Anfield Edition | æ (@AnfieldEdition) July 6, 2024
Slot said: “That has improved a lot and if that was not on the right level yet, then midfielders and defenders are more exposed, because they play through you, they can bring an extra player into the midfield.
“So the better we press in the first line, the less problems we have over there. But you cannot have the most ball possession in the league if everything was sh*t throughout the whole season.
“We were at a good level, we’ve been very unlucky, which I’ve said 120 times, but we are better now.”
Liverpool have been outrun and out-pressed all season
Until perhaps the last few games, Liverpool have really struggled to match the intensity and pace of their opposition – regardless of who they’ve played.
Against Manchester City, the Reds were reliant on a thunderbolt free-kick from Dominik Szoboszlai to have any chance of winning the game. Once Man City turned up the heat, however, they found it quite easy to find space in the Liverpool third.
Alexis Mac Allister, in particular, has appeared to be entirely unfit and unable to impact the game purely from an effort point of view.
My colleague, Henry Jackson, touched on this issue on X recently…
This really highlights what a problem Mac Allister has been.
Legs have just gone, hopefully only this season before returning to his best. https://t.co/W5Lj8qYIEP
— Henry Jackson (@HenryJackson87) February 10, 2026
But why are Liverpool so unfit? It’s perhaps something Slot would have been wise not to admit. In many cases, the Dutchman speaks a bit too much and gives his critics too much ammunition to use against him.
At the start of the season, Slot was frequently quoted as saying that, as a result of the summer saga, Alexander Isak was unfit and not ready to regularly play 90-minute games.
Months and months later, however, he is openly admitting that Liverpool have been below standard expected especially following the Klopp era.
Even when things are improving at Liverpool, I worry about the future of the club under Slot.