Arne Slot has defended Liverpool’s recent performances, reaffirming his commitment to attacking football ahead of Thursday’s trip to Arsenal.
The head coach insists the dip in output in the final third is due to a lack of attacking personnel rather than a change in philosophy.
Liverpool are unbeaten in eight Premier League games but have drawn four of those, including fixtures against Leeds United, Sunderland and Fulham.
After a difficult spell earlier in the season, Slot tightened things up defensively following heavy defeats to Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and PSV.
Despite criticism that Liverpool have become “boring,” Arne Slot insists his side remain determined to play with intensity and aggression, even as they head to the Emirates without Alexander Isak, Mohamed Salah and possibly Hugo Ekitike.
“Packing the team with midfielders is not something I am doing by choice,” the Reds boss said.
“I am doing it because certain players are not available and that is something that needs to be really clear because I am a manager now for six or seven years and I have always played with wingers and I have always changed my wingers with new wingers coming in.
“So I always have it 4-3-3 with real wingers and never 5-4-1 or 4-4-2 and I have adjusted it maybe four or five times in my career to bring in a midfielder as a winger because I thought the other team – when I was at different clubs to Liverpool – would have more quality than us so I wanted to make it more solid.
“But if I am known for one thing then it is attacking football, playing a lot of attackers and bringing a lot of attackers in when we are a goal down. So I find it hard to hear that we play boring football let alone that I am not playing attackers.”
Slot added: “I agree that [steadying the ship] was the first thing that needed to happen but I didn’t do that to try and play defensive football. I think that is the misconception. We always pressed the other team as high as we could up the pitch, all over the pitch. And when we have the ball, we try to create as many chances as we can.
“That doesn’t really work, that I can see as well, that for all the ball possession we have we don’t create enough chances. Everyone can see that as well but I haven’t gone to a style of football where I started to play with five at the back or we started to go all defending our own box.
“Not at all. We didn’t change anything and you cannot have so much ball possession if you don’t go and press the opposition high up the pitch.
“I did not change our style but teams have changed their style against us. Our style is not steady the ship, go back and defend your own box for 90 minutes. Not at all.
“Every single game we press them as high as we can but it’s no use pressing the goalkeeper if he kicks every ball long. A lot has been said about the difference between how teams play against us and other teams.
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