Liverpool won the Premier League last season, but has struggled to get close to the top of the table since the end of September. Arne Slot now believes a key weakness is the reason why they cannot win the title again.
Arne Slot Points at Liverpool Weakness for Premier League Fall Off
The Anfield side was among the favorites for the title at the start of the season, as they were the defending champions. They had also spent a whopping $614.38 million in the summer, but have not managed to challenge Arsenal at the top.
Speaking to the media ahead of the FA Cup clash, Slot has now pointed at the club’s weakness at set-pieces as the key reason for their failure. He claims that no side can win the title with such an imbalance, where they concede a lot more than they score from free-kicks and corners.
The Dutchman insists he does not see the importance of relying on set-pieces, but he came to understand the need for it after clubs around them started using them to win matches. He admitted that it was a mistake to say set-pieces were not key and said:
“My first thought is ‘no’ as I’ve said it is impossible to win a big game with a negative set-piece balance. And in the Premier League now, every game is a big game because of the strength of the league. But looking at where the league has gone to, I should probably not say ‘no’ and should probably say ‘yes’ as I cannot keep going on about the importance of set pieces. It is every single day so important.”
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Slot went on to point at the league table, saying that clubs have started using it more than last season. He claimed that the reliance on them has increased across the board, and they are playing catch-up.
“And that reflects in the league table as well. The current Premier League is so much more about set pieces than it was last year. Even though last season it was very important, but is has now gone through the roof in terms of importance. It is actually impossible to win the league with a balance like ours, you need to have a plus five, six, seven ten to even have a chance, even if you are playing well, to win the league.”
Liverpool fired their set-piece coach, Aaron Briggs, in December. They have scored 7 goals from set pieces, the second-lowest in the team, just above the bottom-placed Wolverhampton.
