In a passionate plea to the Liverpool fans Arne Slot has urged supporters to unite behind the team as they prepare to face Bournemouth.
However, Slot acknowledges that his team must give fans a reason to create a vibrant atmosphere.
In their second home game of the season, the Reds struggled to find their rhythm.
Liverpool suffered a setback against Nottingham Forest, who capitalized on the Reds’ sluggish return after the international break.
Despite a record crowd of 60,344 – a new league high for the club – discussions focused on the disappointing atmosphere.
Ahead of Saturday’s clash against Bournemouth, Slot addressed the atmosphere in his pre-match press conference, emphasizing the need for both fans and players to find their groove.
“I think we as a team, and as players, have to be aware of the fact that fans need something to get behind the team, and I don’t think we did this enough,” Slot said.
“The only thing I can ask the fans is if we don’t show up enough, maybe they can help us and say, ‘ok, it looks like it’s not their day, let’s help them by singing, cheering’, or whatever they can come up with.
“But I like to look at ourselves, we have to do better, and if we do better, I think the fans will enjoy what they see, and then they will be behind the team.
“It starts with us doing better tomorrow [vs. Bournemouth], but if we don’t, which I’m not expecting or hoping for, maybe the fans can give us an extra push by showing what it needs for us to win the game.”
On what he expects from Bournemouth, Arne Slot added: “They started off quite well with a win against our neighbours. That caught the eye the most of course because they were 2-0 down so late in the game.
“I think [Andoni] Iraola has done a tremendous job over there.
“[He] plays some nice football to watch, develops players, has a nice playing style, so all credit for him but hopefully we can manage to do better against Bournemouth tomorrow than we did against Nottingham Forest last week.
“They were aggressive last season [at Anfield]. I saw this because I saw parts of the game yesterday.
“They were really aggressive, [had a] high press and made it really difficult for Liverpool to get the ball forward to the forwards as well.
“[They] scored a goal by a high press, I think they took the ball off Trent [Alexander-Arnold] and scored.
“That’s the style they usually play so it’s also what we expect from them tomorrow.
“They have a lot of individual quality as well because I think Andoni did a great job over there but I think the sporting director [Richard Hughes] that worked there for so many years did a very good job as well.
“Maybe because of that Liverpool tried to take him from them because he brought in some really good and talented players.
“Marcos and Luis are two examples but I can tell you more if you want me to.”
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