Arne Slott believes Liverpool ending the season with three successive wins will not silence the criticism that has come their way as the Reds endured a disappointing season that will end without a trophy.
After he won Premier League In his first season in charge, there has been high expectations surrounding Slot’s Liverpool side this season after the club spent £446m to strengthen the squad.
Liverpool brought in Alexander Isak for a British record £125m from Newcastle United after a protracted transfer saga, having also signed Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for £100m. Hugo Ekitiki, Liverpool’s most influential acquisition, has signed from Eintracht Frankfurt in a deal worth up to £82.4m.
But the changes have seen Liverpool take a step backwards this season, with the Reds failing to progress beyond the quarter-finals of any cup competition, exiting the FA Cup and Champions League at the quarter-finals, and putting in inconsistent performances in the Premier League that have left them off the pace of title contenders Arsenal and Manchester City.
Liverpool is in fourth place with three matches remaining and is still unsure of qualifying for the Champions League. The team is six points ahead of sixth-placed Bournemouth in the race for the top five and will secure its place if it beats Chelsea at Anfield on Saturday.
Liverpool coach admits three wins are not enough to stop scrutiny
Slot’s men face a difficult end to the season, with the match against Chelsea followed by a trip to fifth-placed Aston Villa in the Europa League before hosting another European rival in Brentford on the final day.
Liverpool will be hoping to finish with momentum by winning each of those games, but Slott is aware that scrutiny will still be there even if they achieve that feat.
“Three wins will not silence the criticism,” Slott said in a pre-match press conference.
“So we need a much longer run of results and performances. That’s not what we’re focusing on now, the focus is on three more games. Next season will also be different in terms of individuals.”
When asked if he expected next season to be another transitional year, Slott replied: “I’m just looking forward to it, so I’m not worried at all. Like I was looking forward to working with those players two years ago and one year ago, to look forward to the players I’m working with now.”
“As a coach, you never worry, you’re just looking to work with the players. There will probably be another small transfer but not as drastic as last summer. We have to change personnel due to players leaving. Maybe one player will be replaced by Kostas Tsimikas who returns from loan. I’m just looking forward to starting again next season.”
Isak returns to Liverpool training
One issue Slott has had to deal with throughout the season is the fitness of Isak, who missed much of his first season at Anfield with a broken leg and was unavailable for the 3-2 defeat to Manchester United last Sunday due to a thigh problem.
Mohamed Salah, who will leave the club at the end of the season, saw his farewell tour hampered by a hamstring injury, and his absence worsened the condition of Ekitiki, who was sidelined due to a ruptured Achilles tendon that will keep him out of action for several months and the France striker will miss the World Cup.
The Reds also suffer from the decline of third goalkeeper Freddie Woodman due to injuries to Alisson (muscle) and Georgi Mamardashvili (knee).
But there is optimism that Isak, who has scored just four goals for Liverpool since his move, will be available to face Chelsea.
“Alex trained with us again, just for the first time, yesterday,” Slott said. “So that’s positive, yesterday he did parts of it (training). Hopefully he can do parts or all of it today. Then we’ll see how much we can use him tomorrow.
“Alison hasn’t trained with us yet, but he’s very close. Mamardashvili will train with us today for the first time, so let’s see how he reacts.
“Mo also hasn’t trained with us yet, but he’s getting very close to training with us.”
Defender Ibrahima Konate and Wirtz missed some training this week, and Slott explained: “Eppo had a personal reason for not being there (training on Wednesday) but it was yesterday and today again and Florian was a bit sick but he trained with us yesterday as well.”
