Liverpool manager Arne Slot has instructed his players to adapt to dealing with "long balls" as the Reds aim to end their dismal run of form in the 2025-26 campaign. The reigning champions have lost their last three Premier League games against Crystal Palace, Chelsea, and Manchester United, as they have dropped to third position in the league table.
Liverpool look to end Premier League slump after Eintracht win
Liverpool started their title defence campaign as they won seven matches in a row across all competitions, including five in the Premier League. However, their form suddenly took a dip by the end of September. The Reds went on to lose three back-to-back Premier League matches, including their latest loss 2-1 defeat to rivals Manchester United at Anfield, a feat the Red Devils achieved after nine years. In between, they had also lost to Galatasaray in the Champions League.
The English champions, though, have now finally ended their losing streak with a thumping 5-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League. Following the morale-boosting victory, Slot has now urged his players to try and learn to defend against "long balls" and end their misery in the league.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportSlot points out difference between this season the last
Speaking to reporters, the Dutchman said: "The main difference between this season and last season is the playing styles we face. I've looked when we had a few days off at how many long balls we already had to defend – 178 in seven games and then United came and we had to defend 59 long balls. That's different from the first half of last season. The way to unlock it is a moment of magic, which we had in the first half of last season a lot with Mo [Salah], or a set-piece, which we had at Frankfurt as well, because that again was a low block. But two set-pieces unlocked the game for us.
"So, this is what I try to explain to them [the players] and what I try to explain to the media. What I try to do after the game, it was actually more of a compliment for the other manager that he found the right answer to our playing style."
He added: "But at a certain moment, it's so clear, everybody does this. And even now I've heard that when we played Frankfurt, there were talks between their staff and Glasner and he explained to them their way of playing, which is normal that these things happen."
'We have to adjust'
Slot added: "We have to adjust, and that's what we've tried to do. That's also what I've told the players, and I can say this here as well. The last two times we faced a 5-4-1 against Palace and against United, we've created more chances than we did every single time we faced a 5-4-1 last season, with a low block. And the reason for that is that we've tried to adjust a few things in our playing style as well, and against Frankfurt we again faced a 5-4-1, where I adjusted maybe even more.
"But that's not to say that was the reason that we created so much, because we created already a lot against United and against Palace as well. So, yeah, we have to find answers to that, and we're not the first team that this happens. City experienced this for so many years. They are very, very good at playing in these tight spaces, and this is something we need to do even better than we already do."
Getty Images SportSlot had bizareely branded Man Utd a 'long-ball team'
Slot understandably frustrated after the loss at home against a struggling United side but instead of accepting his team's flaws, the Dutch coach bizarrely labelled the Red Devils as a 'long-ball team'. In a chat with BBC Match of the Day after the game at Anfield, Slot had said: "It is always difficult to play against a team that defends in a low block and mainly plays the long ball. It makes it even more difficult when you go one down after one minute when one of our players are on the floor. If you would have told me before the game that against the low block, against so many long balls, that we would have created as many chances as we did I would have not expected us to lose. But that is what we did. We had enough chances to score more than one goal, but on the other hand, again conceding two and one of the two was the set piece."
The champions will be back in action in the Premier League on Saturday as they take on Brentford away from home.