Arne Slot has asked himself whether his Liverpool players should add one element to their game as they prepare to kick off their Premier League title defence at home to Bournemouth on Friday night.
Ryan Gravenberch will miss the opener due to a suspension incurred in the final match of last season, when his side were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace. The Dutch midfielder, who already had a booking for simulation, received a straight red card for a professional foul, resulting in a one-game ban where he will miss the opener.
Slot pointed to that red card and an incident involving new signing Florian Wirtz in the second half of Sunday’s Community Shield penalty shootout defeat to Palace as key moments where his players could have been more ‘streetwise’.
The Reds head coach urged his squad to adopt a more savvy approach during certain phases, highlighting incidents from recent matches as examples of where sharper decision-making could help.
Speaking in a press conference prior to the season opener against Bournemouth, Slot questioned his players for being ‘too honest’.
“There is one team in the league that, in my opinion, is by far the most honest team and when they play – and I sometimes blame them for this – they never try to make more of a foul, like Cody in the 2-2 game with Palace, we conceded and he got a push in the back he was too clean.
So if there is one team in the league that is very clean, never dives, never time delays, it is us.”
The Dutch coach reflected on and compared what he observed in European competition this week after watching his former club Feyenoord lose a Champions League qualifier against Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce. Slot noted that Mourinho’s players were notably shrewd.
“Maybe for me to use the right words in English, but you can never be too honest. But I saw this week Fenerbahce against Feyenoord and I saw a lot of moments where players were really smart. These kinds of things, should we use them more? I am not sure.”
Despite this, Slot expressed pride in how his Liverpool squad secured the Premier League title last season, winning by a 10-point margin without relying too heavily on gamesmanship, but again acknowledged how decisions from players can impact the officiating of a game.
“I am proud of who we are and we won the league by being who we were, so let us stay who we are. But sometimes, like against Palace – if I talk to a referee or fourth official, it is about this – but they hold Florian, clearly in midfield, and he is so fair that he didn’t fall over and the referee says: ‘If you don’t fall I don’t give a free-kick.’
That is a little bit weird. And then a few moments later they fell down and the referee sees they fell down so it is probably a foul.”
As Liverpool prepare to defend their crown, Slot’s message is clear — while there may be moments to be a little craftier, the club’s identity of fair, high-intensity football should remain at the heart of their approach. The challenge now is balancing that ethos with a sharper edge when it matters most.
