Liverpool manager Arne Slot has said that it should be impossible for the Reds to be a top-four team with their poor record at set-pieces. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, scoring just three set-piece goals while conceding 11 in the league this season is very frustrating, and Liverpool has open chances creation to thank for its current position in the EPL.
Slot added that set-pieces will become more important as the league progresses, so the Reds must take advantage.
His words, “I know the importance of it, it gets more and more, and that’s why we are so annoyed by our current record.
It’s a big frustration we are where we are this season because when we were halfway through last season [when they won the league] we had not conceded one set-piece [goal].
It’s impossible to be top-four, top-five with our set-piece balance, let alone winning the league.
We are the only team in the top end of the table that has a negative set-piece balance [Manchester City are on minus-one according to official data supplier Opta] — not only are we negative, we are minus-eight and still on equal points with fourth.
But if we are minus-eight – Chelsea is I think plus-eight [actually plus-four] and Arsenal and United are very high [scoring 10 apiece] and if you look at that you could say how special it is we have as many points as we have if you have that set-piece balance.
We all know why because in open chances created we are number one in the league.
It is time for the players we do have available to do what they have done so many times and roll their sleeves up. Not only our players but our fans as well.
The players who are available need to give everything they have.”
WOW.
Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has played its home games at Anfield since its formation.
Domestically, the club has won 19 league titles, eight FA Cups, a record nine League Cups and 16 FA Community Shields. In international competitions, the club has won six European Cups, three UEFA Cups, four UEFA Super Cups—all English records—and one FIFA Club World Cup.
The club established itself as a major force in domestic and European football in the 1970s and 1980s, when Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish, led the club to a combined 11 League titles and four European Cups. Liverpool won two further European Cups in 2005 and 2019 under the management of Rafael Benítez and Jürgen Klopp, respectively; the latter led Liverpool to a 19th league title in 2020, the club’s first during the Premier League era.
Anfield was built in 1884 on land adjacent to Stanley Park. Situated 2 miles (3 km) from Liverpool city centre, it was originally used by Everton before the club moved to Goodison Park after a dispute over rent with Anfield owner John Houlding. Left with an empty ground, Houlding founded Liverpool in 1892 and the club has played at Anfield ever since. The capacity of the stadium at the time was 20,000, although only 100 spectators attended Liverpool’s first match at Anfield.
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