‘Maybe the answer is less ball possession’ – Slot ponders Liverpool’s problems ahead of PSV | OneFootball

Arne Slot suggested his Liverpool players are being let down by a lack of concentration.

The Reds are on a woeful run of form which has seen them lose six of the last seven Premier League games, the latest of which came in a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

But ahead of the game against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League, Slot insists his side have not lost the desire to “fight”.

“No, we haven’t,” he replied when asked.

“But in moments of games we have lost too many duels.

“I think in the last game we played, we had 75% ball possession, which means you only have to defend 25% of the time.

“I think in and around our box, we only had to defend four times, but the first one was a set-piece which led to a goal and the second one was a goal that, for me, was incorrectly disallowed. I didn’t see the handball but maybe I didn’t see the right angle.

“And the third time it was the 2-0. It’s not that over 90 minutes, we’re not ready or not defending well enough. We only have to defend a few times but I’ve had this in the past, not six defeats from seven but it’s not the first time I experienced that a team that has so much ball possession and for half an hour you are waiting and waiting for us to score a goal and you have to defend only one time.”

Slot claimed one of the causes of his side’s problems could be a lack of concentration, and pondered whether having less of the ball could be a solution.

“Maybe, I don’t know, but I’ve said this many times in Holland as well that if I have to defend for half an hour, I’m in the defend mode and throwing myself in front of every ball,” he continued.

“Our defenders and our 11 players maybe also including the goalkeeper are only thinking about ball possession.

“In the moment they have to defend, they are not and we are not as switched on as we should be. Maybe the answer is less ball possession because that’s what we had against Real Madrid and that’s what we had against Villa and both of the games we won.

“I don’t think it’s a general thing, otherwise you cannot control or dominate the game like we do if you don’t win enough duels but in moments we have to defend better because Man City was the same, even though they were the better team in the first half, they didn’t create that much, but the few times they did create, we were lacking intensity in our duels.”