‘If people knew…’ – Arne Slot comes out fighting as Liverpool boss admits defying club staff | OneFootball

Arne Slot has spoken out strongly about the challenges he’s faced in terms of managing players’ minutes at Liverpool this season.

A difficult campaign for the Reds hasn’t been helped by numerous first-team players succumbing to injury. Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley and Alexander Isak are all currently sidelined with long-term issues, with the latter two already ruled out for the rest of 2025/26.

Our defensive options will be stretched even further when we play Qarabag on Wednesday night, with the head coach today confirming that Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate won’t be involved due to injury and compassionate leave respectively.

Slot asks for understanding regarding squad rotation

Ahead of Liverpool’s eighth match in 28 days – with one more to follow against Newcastle on Saturday to close out January – Slot asked for the Reds’ critics to be more understanding of his need to manage players’ workloads with so many injuries affecting his squad.

The 47-year-old told the press this afternoon (via Liverpool Echo): “It’s not a worry that I have a small squad, but it’s a difficulty. It’s almost constantly the same players who have to play. When we lose, we get scrutinised and get criticism we deserve. They are constantly available apart from the three [long-term injuries].”

(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Slot also admitted to defying advice from medical staff about players’ minutes, citing one instance where his stance was ultimately vindicated.

He said: “It’s very hard to balance that, especially with the problems with long-term injuries… There has been a situation where a player was on the pitch and was involved in a goal at the end of the game when really he should have been taken off.

“If people knew the struggles we were coping with, they’d be more understandable of the decisions we have to make.”

Liverpool should still be doing better despite unrelenting schedule

Liverpool’s fixture calendar has been relentless throughout January, and Slot certainly hasn’t been helped by having to cope with so many injuries, especially in defence – Wataru Endo is set to deputise as an emergency centre-back against Qarabag on Wednesday night.

Nevertheless, the Dutchman would probably be getting far more sympathy from outside the club if his team’s results weren’t so underwhelming this season. Even when taking all the absences into account, the Reds have had strong enough line-ups to be doing a whole lot better than they are.

Aside from the back four, there may be rotation elsewhere for tomorrow’s match with one eye on the Newcastle game on Saturday, where LFC’s need for a win is more pressing due to their ailing Premier League form.

Slot openly admitted that his decisions to restrict Hugo Ekitike to a substitute role and withdraw Jeremie Frimpong after an hour against Bournemouth were both with minute management in mind, given the lack of respective positional alternatives due to the injuries to Isak and Bradley.

We must remember that footballers aren’t robots and will naturally accumulate fatigue if they’re playing 90-minute matches at an incredibly high intensity two to three times a week.

That said, any rhetoric about tiredness or injuries would ring hollow if Liverpool fail to beat Qarabag on Wednesday – and the head coach knows it.