The former Reds captain weighs in on Liverpool’s key flaw under head coach Arne Slot
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has urged the club’s head coach Arne Slot for less talk and more action to solve their inconsistency issues. This comes after Slot has repeatedly referred to the problem of facing low blocks.
While the Anfield club are on commendable run of 13 games unbeaten in all competitions, this streak includes draws against Sunderland, Leeds (twice), Fulham, Arsenal and Burnley. What Gerrard wants to see is these draws becoming wins, rather than Slot highlighting the team’s struggles against low blocks.
“He needs to stop mentioning low blocks,” Gerrard said on TNT Sports.
“Low blocks have been happening at Liverpool since I played and many, many years before me. That’s just the way it is, teams are going to try and do everything they can to stop Liverpool.
“The key is finding solutions. You’ve got the players. Then you’ll turn the low-block games into wins rather than draws. It’s not going to change.”
Tactical solutions
For Gerrard, clearly, talk is cheap. He, along with other Liverpool fans and pundits, can see what the issues are and Slot highlighting them isn’t helping.
What those of a Red persuasion want to see is the Dutch manager find ways to deal with these low blocks which they can expect to face not infrequently. The inability to break down such a set-up has plagued Liverpool recently and contributed to their inconsistent results.
‘They’ll face a low block at times against Bournemouth at the weekend,’ added Gerrard.
‘They’ve got to be ruthless and the big players have got to step forward and score the goals to win games.’
Difficult challenge
Figuring out a plan for these situations is Slot’s job and will go a long way to determining the success of Liverpool’s season. However, the head coach has suggested that it is hard to prepare for these scenarios.
“I know so well why we are not consistent,’ Slot told TNT Sports after Liverpool’s 0-3 win at Marseille in the Champions League.
“That mainly has to do with when a game is more open, when players can play through the lines and tactics are involved and they show how good they are, that’s completely different than against a low block.
“You need a completely different quality against a low block. Against a low block, it doesn’t have much to do with what you prepare before the game. You just have the ball a lot, get in the final third, and something should happen.”
These comments may be concerning to Liverpool fans who will hope that Slot’s future preparations will include a plan or a number of options for opening up teams that choose to sit low against them.