Liverpool travel to Paris on Wednesday with head coach Arne Slot needing to find answers to a multitude of issues to keep their disappointing season alive.
lot’s side face a dauting Champions League quarter-final with Paris Saint-Germain, almost 12 months on from being dumped out of the competition on penalties at the last-16 stage by the Parisians, who went on to be crowned European champions for the first time.
A lot has changed in the intervening period for the Reds, who were on the verge of being crowned Premier League champions this time last year in what was Slot’s debut campaign in charge at Anfield.
I missed [not just] the fighting spirit but just the willingness to win your duel, to be there first, to make it difficult for either a pass or a cross or a finish. That is something we definitely have to do better on Wednesday.
Exactly a year ago, in fact, Liverpool had just seen their 26-match unbeaten league run come to an end at Fulham, only the club’s second top-flight loss to that point of the campaign, eight fewer than they have suffered in their dismal title defence so far this season.
Saturday’s meek capitulation in the FA Cup quarter-finals at Man City was the club’s 15th defeat in all competitions this season, the most they have suffered in a single campaign since 2014/15, when they lost 18 times under Brendan Rodgers.
Saturday 11th April 5:00pm
Kick off 5:30pm
That now leaves the Champions League as Liverpool’s only chance of salvaging their season, although the under-pressure Slot must fix these recurring problems for his side to have any chance of eliminating the holders:
Where have Klopp’s Mentality Monsters gone?
There have been far too many occasions this season on which players’ heads have dropped at the slightest hint of adversity, like we saw at the Etihad on Saturday lunchtime when – after a bright opening half an hour – the visitors found themselves 4-0 down just 12 minutes into the second half.
Worryingly, captain Virgil van Dijk admitted his team-mates “gave up” against City, while Slot said after the game: “I missed the fighting spirit definitely in the first 10 minutes after half-time.
“But in that 10 to 15 minutes of time I missed [not just] the fighting spirit but just the willingness to win your duel, to be there first, to make it difficult for either a pass or a cross or a finish.
The Sunday Supplement panel discuss Liverpool’s exit from the FA Cup after a big 4-0 loss to Manchester City and what the future holds for Arne Slot if the Reds continue to struggle.
“That is something we definitely have to do better on Wednesday.”
Dominik Szoboszlai agreed: “You have to fight, work hard, be there for each other and that’s what we are missing sometimes.”
If last season’s clash in Paris, or even Chelsea’s recent visit to the French capital when they conceded twice late on, are anything to go by, then Slot and his players are sure to face a number of challenging moments on Wednesday night.
How they react to, say, an early goal in the cauldron of the Parc des Princes will be vital to their overall chances as heads cannot collectively drop in the same way they did at the weekend.
Van Dijk must stand up
One thing we know for sure is Liverpool simply cannot defend how they did at Man City if they are to avoid a similar drubbing on Wednesday evening.
Slot will almost certainly go with the same back four in Paris as he did in Manchester, with the only possible change being Jeremie Frimpong starting in place of Joe Gomez at right back.
It is not so much the personnel, though, more that those players the Dutchman does pick – and in fairness he is hardly flush with options at the back – need to do their jobs better, starting with Van Dijk.
Virgil van Dijk [right] endured a torrid afternoon in Liverpool’s 4-0 defeat at Man City on Saturday
The skipper, who will be 35 in July, has for the first time in his Anfield career faced scrutiny this season, never more so than after an error-strewn display at City where the centre back’s clumsy concession of a penalty was the catalyst for shipping four goals in little more than 15 minutes either side of half-time.
Van Dijk then failed to track Antoine Semenyo’s run for the hosts’ third goal at the start of the second half, while he was not close enough to Erling Haaland to prevent the Norway striker’s hat-trick strike.
“We have to defend so much better,” was Slot’s analysis at full-time on Saturday, and he will hope his back line have learned their lessons ahead of what is sure to be a similar test this week.
Be more clinical in front of goal
Liverpool have no chance at all of causing an upset on Wednesday if their forwards continue to misfire in front of goal as they have for much of this campaign.
Saturday’s result may not have been any different, but the Reds spurned a number of presentable openings with the score still goalless – especially Mohamed Salah, who also went on to miss a second-half penalty when the game was already over.
That is the forward’s second failure from the spot in a row after he saw his penalty saved against Galatasaray, symptomatic of both his and the team’s attacking struggles all season.
Mohamed Salah reacts after failing to score from the penalty spot against Manchester City
“It would be nice if we then can score a goal once in a while as well from the chances we create,” lamented Slot on Saturday.
“I think that’s the second [penalty] he’s missed and Dominik Szoboszlai also missed. It’s not only that we miss big chances, this season we have also missed a few penalties.
“In the first half, there was also a very good chance for Mo when we played a fast counterattack. Unfortunately that ball doesn’t go in and that’s what football is about, you have to score goals if you want the chance to win.”
In stark contrast, while Slot’s strikers have been fluffing their lines for the majority of the campaign, it seems the opposition need only arrive in his team’s box to score, often with their first attempt at goal.
“Again, we faced a team that was outperforming their xG by a mile and that’s what happens constantly and we every time are under that,” added an exasperated Reds boss.
Salah has to play in Paris, but is that the right call?
As mentioned, Salah endured another difficult afternoon at the Etihad in what was the Egyptian’s first game after announcing he would be leaving the club at the end of the campaign.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot heaps further praise on Mohamed Salah, who has confirmed he will leave the club at the end of the season.
That decision, however, has put Slot in a bind, with Liverpool’s run-in now threatening to become Salah’s farewell tour, which by definition the Reds legend must be part of.
Were Salah not leaving this summer, then there is every chance Slot would use him from the bench for the away leg in the French capital and start Frimpong in his place, with the 33-year-old returning for the second leg at Anfield a week on Tuesday.
Take a look at some of the ridiculous stats from Mohamed Salah’s time at Liverpool you might not be aware of.
That scenario is highly unlikely to happen, though, meaning whoever starts at right-back on Wednesday will have to contend with the dual threat of Nuno Mendes and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia with little, if any, protection offered by Salah.
Do Liverpool have the legs to cope with the European champions?
Slot and his players know exactly what they will face under the Parisian lights on Wednesday having undertaken the very same challenge this time last year when, thanks to Alisson Becker’s remarkable display, they somehow left with a 1-0 first-leg win.
Arne Slot responds to tough questions after Liverpool’s 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup.
Luis Enrique’s energetic and technically accomplished outfit tore into their opponents right from the kick-off that night, as is their trademark at home in Europe, keeping the ball for large swathes of the game and tiring their opponents out in the process.
They are exactly the type of team that has caused Liverpool so many issues this season, as we saw in large parts of the second half at the Etihad on Saturday, which will be a big worry for Slot and his coaching staff as they prepare for their return trip to the French capital.
FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Brighton’s match against Liverpool in the Premier League.
The visitors will need legs in midfield while their pressing game must also be perfect, unlike at City, where Sky Sports’ Adam Bate noted: “There were times when the forwards would push high while the defence would drop off, opening spaces that this Liverpool do not have the legs to cope with.
“The sight of Dominik Szoboszlai chasing shadows on his own has been a feature of the campaign.”
Liverpool and Slot will hope they are not chasing too many on Wednesday.
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