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Didn't impact the game | AFP via Getty Images
Arne Slot has had an issue at right-back all season and after thinking he had solved the problem is back to square one.
Football has a habit of humbling even the biggest of superstars just as they think that they have the game sussed.
Arne Slot must have thought that the Premier League was easy after arriving from the Eredivisie and only signing Federico Chiesa, but still winning it at a canter. After spending over £400m in the summer ahead of this season, there will be a part of him somewhere that will have thought that his boat had come in. Instead, he has seen his position questioned on a number of occasions throughout the campaign and early exits from the FA Cup or Champions League might see his time at Anfield come to an end.
Problem position continues to cause Arne Slot sleepless nights
The reality is, Slot could yet walk away with two trophies and secure Champions League football which, given everything he has had to deal with, is no mean feat. If anything summed up his luck this season, it is the number of players who he has had to play at right-back, a number that has seen three midfielders also tasked with having to fill in as well as the four more natural players for that role.
It was thought that Jeremie Frimpong would be the first choice with Conor Bradley backing him up and Joe Gomez being emergency cover for both right-back and the middle of defence, that Calvin Ramsay has been on the bench most weeks says it all, as does the inclusion of Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and, more recently, Curtis Jones in an unfamiliar berth. The logic of playing a midfielder is sound given how the role has changed in recent years, but it is still a position that deserves respect positionally.
Carragher critical of Curtis Jones
Jones was humbled against Nottingham Forest. The 25-year old committed three errors that led to the relegation strugglers getting a shot away, more than any other in the Premier League this season. A far cry from his near perfect performance last time out when he was tasked with being an auxiliary defender. He has the skillset to succeed in the position, but he maybe isn’t going to find it quite as easy as he first thought.
One criticism was aimed at him from Jamie Carragher who, speaking on Sky Sports after the game claimed that: “Curtis Jones is always taking too many touches, he needs to be sharper. That's been an issue for his entire Liverpool career. He's always wanting too much time on the ball.” In midfield, mistakes can be covered, in defence, if Jones is to feature there more often, he will have realised that you fate is in the hands of the Gods.
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