Liverpool: Community Shield loss to Crystal Palace demonstrates Arne Slot must balance offense and defense – Liverpool won the Premier League last season because to Arne Slot’s expert adjustments to Jurgen Klopp’s squad. Based on their Community Shield showing, his new side may need some additional adjustments to replicate that achievement. With the offensive prowess of summer acquisitions Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, and Hugo Ekitike, Liverpool dominated possession at Wembley, creating a spectacle as they advanced up the field.
However, their defense was weak, and they let Crystal Palace score twice to cancel out their strong offensive performance, ultimately leading to a shootout defeat. There was still time for Palace to score; Alisson made a great save from Eberechi Eze, and Alexis Mac Allister was lucky to keep a late penalty out of the net.
The rebuilt setup for his team needed “maybe a little bit of adjustment defensively,” according to Slot’s post-match assessment.
That won’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows Liverpool or their preseason campaign. The reigning Premier League winners have established a trend in recent weeks of playing better with the ball but worse when they let it go.
That won’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows Liverpool or their preseason campaign. The reigning Premier League winners have established a trend in recent weeks of playing better with the ball but worse when they let it go.
That won’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows Liverpool or their preseason campaign. The reigning Premier League winners have established a trend in recent weeks of playing better with the ball but worse when they let it go.
The wingers Kerkez and Frimpong provide a boost, but their daring runs forward might expose the holding midfielder and center backs during a turnover.
Slot believes he can find the perfect combination with the return of Ryan Gravenberch from Sunday’s game missed due to the birth of his child and the expected improvement of Virgil van Dijk, who was off-kilter and gave away a penalty, following his recent recovery from illness.
In Sunday’s match, Liverpool had two good opportunities and Palace had three. Liverpool was outshot by Palace as well. Despite his disapproval of the goals against total, Slot downplayed the number of excellent opportunities that Liverpool were letting in. Liverpool: Community Shield loss to Crystal Palace demonstrates Arne Slot must balance offense and defense
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, and Caoimhin Kelleher were among the four players that left Liverpool as part of a £265 million summer makeover, according to Slot.
Either you need to adjust your attacking strategy or your defensive tactics, and both will take time. Even in our 3-2 victory over Athletic Club, we didn’t let in a single scoring opportunity. Perhaps one, I am uncertain. Two of our goals came from set pieces, which are common in football but do not originate from open play.
Again, we let up two goals since their first good opportunity ended in a penalty, but I don’t think we gave up too many today. Even though I may have missed a couple opportunities, I thought they had their second good chance of the game in the 78th minute. However, going to a low block meant that chances were few.
“We don’t concede a lot of chances, but we do concede goals at the moment.”
Last year, Liverpool led the Premier League in scoring and was second in defensive efficiency.
It would seem that they still possess the firepower, or maybe even more. If Slot and Liverpool want to win the title again, they’ll need to figure out how to counter that with great defense. Liverpool: Community Shield loss to Crystal Palace demonstrates Arne Slot must balance offense and defense
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