Head coach says team must improve to defend trophy
‘Most wins were only by one goal and we had to fight’
Arne Slot has said Liverpool should not fall into the trap of romanticising last season’s title triumph as a convincing stroll, when the reality was a hard slog that required a change in style.
The Liverpool head coach insists he had to modify his team’s approach this season to implement the improvements necessary to defend the Premier League title. Liverpool won the league with four matches to spare and a 10-point cushion over Sunday’s opponents, Arsenal, but Slot has warned his players not to forget how difficult it was to break clear. The additions of Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitiké – and quite possibly Alexander Isak before the transfer deadline – were designed to make Liverpool a more dominant force.
“I tell this to the players as well – not every game last season was Tottenham away [6-3] or West Ham away [5-0],” said Slot. “ Always if you win something, everybody only looks back at some great attacks or some great wins, but the amount of times we struggled last season in a game was a lot. To romanticise last season as much as we do – and sometimes we make this mistake inside the building as well; I mean the players – is incorrect. Last season was, every single time, a struggle. Most wins were only by one goal and we had to fight really hard for it.
