Liverpool’s Squad Is Not As Big As People Make It Seem – Arne Slot

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has changed his assessment of the squad at his disposal. Recall that Slot bizarrely claimed that Liverpool lacked depth despite spending more than any English club in the Premier League in the last transfer window.

According to him, LFC’s squad is not as big as many people make it seem, and everyone is just focusing on the huge amounts spent during the summer.

Slot added that Liverpool has a squad of 20 players at the moment, and 5 of them are currently injured.

His words, “Everybody can have [their] opinion about it but with the squad we have – maybe 15, 16 first-team players available – this is the choice I’ve made. It’s not of Liverpool’s standards to lose five out of six, or six out of seven. Last time we played Southampton here in the League Cup, Giovanni Leoni got injured, and we don’t have such a big squad as people might tell, because there was so much focus on the amount of money we spent [in the summer].

People all of a sudden think we have 25 players available, but we mainly have 20 players then we have four injuries. I only have one right full-back, Conor Bradley, as an example, and every time I had to play him twice in three days or three times in seven days [last season], it led to him… that I had to take him off with a hamstring injury or something else. Are you willing to take that risk with such a big week coming up? Last time I played a player that wasn’t fully prepared – we thought he was prepared but it was the first time – Alexander Isak, he got injured.”

On a potential sack, “[I feel supported] not only in this period but also when things go well. I’m a firm believer all the squads I had were 20-21 players that can play because if you have too many it’s already a struggle to make a squad. But then you have to keep them fit.”

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.