Arne Slott admitted Liverpool’s season has been defined by defensive fragility after Aston Villa ran riot at Villa Park on Friday night, winning 4-2 in a result that complicated the Reds’ hopes of finishing in the top five.
Morgan Rogers scored twice, Ollie Watkins added a third, and John McGinn secured a comfortable win after half-time, with a Van Dijk double scoring Liverpool’s consolation goals in a chaotic second half.
The damage was done in a devastating five-minute spell midway through the second half, which left Liverpool exposed after Dominik Szoboszlai’s slide in midfield gave Villa the platform to score their third goal.
Slott was very honest in his assessment of what went wrong.
“After the 2-1 score, before that I think we started well in the first 10 minutes of the second half, and then we controlled the game without creating chances – but this is not the first time this season.
“When the score was 1-1 we were close to going 2-1 up, then we conceded the goal 2-1, the way we conceded the goal is something we haven’t faced this season yet. We’ve conceded a lot of goals this season that are hard to believe unless you live them and that’s what we did today. Villa were the better team after that and the game went away from us.”
“Too many losses”
Slott also addressed Liverpool’s miserable away record, which has been one of the most damaging features of their campaign. They have now lost nine Premier League games on the road this season.
“In general, teams have more difficulty away from home, but for a big team like us, the losses and points dropped are too many. This has a lot to do with the way we concede – it’s generally very easy.
“We have chances but we haven’t been as decisive in finishing them this season as we were last season. What doesn’t help us is that (Alexander) Isak rarely played for us or that Hugo (Ikitiki) was unavailable. That’s the way it is. Next week, Brentford is where our focus is.”
The Liverpool manager was sympathetic to Szoboszlai, whose slide led directly to Villa’s third goal, while refusing to criticize him.
“It’s not about me or how frustrated I am – it’s frustrating for everyone involved, the players, the staff, and certainly the fans. Frustrating for the players who are back and in football it can falter, but it’s very unfortunate. This is probably something that is part of our season. We know what we have to do next week.”
The future of gambling under the microscope
Slott also addressed his own position, which has been the subject of increasing speculation in recent days.
“It’s not about me, it’s about our disappointment with the result. I spoke about that yesterday and that’s enough. Our focus is on the Brentford game and making sure we get the support of the fans by starting the match strong and well. Crowning the support of the fans and a good performance will lead us to what we want to achieve, which is qualifying for the Champions League.”
Liverpool must beat Brentford at Anfield on the final day to secure fifth place, unless Bournemouth drop below them.
