Arne Slot highlighted Liverpool's unusually poor defending following their penalty shootout loss in the Community Shield and said the Premier League champions must significantly improve defensively going forward. The Reds raced into a fourth-minute lead at Wembley through Hugo Ekitike, before another new signing, Jeremie Frimpong, restored their advantage after Jean-Philippe Mateta had briefly levelled from the penalty spot.
Ismaila Sarr struck late to force the match to penalties, with Crystal Palace prevailing 3-2 in the shootout. Liverpool will begin defending their Premier League title on Friday evening when they host Bournemouth at Anfield. Whilst Liverpool's new attackers earned Slot's approval after the match, the Dutchman criticised his side's lax defending following their defeat on spot-kicks - with Palace captain Marc Guehi a target for the remainder of the window.
"I have mixed feelings," Slot told TNT Sports. "If you look at our attacking play it looks better than last season [against Crustal Palace]. On the other hand we conceded two goals, we need to be better defensively."
Liverpool are reduced to just three recognised senior centre-backs following the sale of Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen earlier this summer and have been linked with a move for a central defender before the deadline after bolstering other areas. Slot and the Reds' top brass will not have missed the fact that one of their summer targets, Guehi, was among the winners at Wembley.
The Palace centre-back has entered the final 12 months of his Selhurst Park deal and speculation linking him with a move to Anfield continues to persist.
Whether Liverpool will actually pursue the £45million-rated England international before September 1 remains unclear. Two of the Reds' fresh signings did impress on Sunday, however, with Ekitike and Frimpong both making their mark.
But whilst Slot commended Liverpool's goalscorers, he again highlighted the necessity to tighten up at the back. "The first one is a very good team goal and a good example of how creative we can be, that will only get better," he added.
"But I think if you want to compete to win the league, one of the main things is not conceding goals or chances and we have to improve on that."