Arne Slot tactics ‘a sackable offence’ as ‘pathetic’ Liverpool suffer 72-year low

Liverpool were pathetic and Arne Slot’s tactics against Paris Saint-Germain are a sackable offence.

That is the explosive verdict of Sports Bar duo Jamie O’Hara and Jason Cundy, who eviscerated the Reds following their 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

AFP

Slot came into the Champions League quarter-final first-leg under huge pressure after Liverpool crashed out of the FA Cup on Saturday.

The Premier League champions, who were thumped 4-0 by Manchester City, came to France desperate to avoid another mauling.

Slot, who ruled out changing his system in November, instead chose the club’s most important match of the campaign to shake things up.

The Dutchman made the surprising decision to try to match PSG’s set-up with his formation, with a switch to a back three formation.

It was the first time Liverpool had used the formation in either a Champions League or Premier League game since a 5-1 away win over Brighton in December 2017, with fitness issues forcing Jurgen Klopp to play two midfielders alongside Dejan Lovren.

However, his successor failed to work a similar miracle as goals from Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put the visitors to the sword.

Liverpool labelled ‘pathetic’ after 72-year low

It is the third time Liverpool have lost three consecutive matches in all competitions this season – the first they’ve had three separate runs of three consecutive defeats in a campaign since 1953/54, when they were relegated from the top-flight.

The Merseysiders also failed to attempt a shot on target in a Champions League game for the first time since November 2020.

Cundy told the Sports Bar: “That was shameful, shameful football. Waiting to get beaten, that was absolutely pathetic.

“If I were a Liverpool fan watching that, right – they are European royalty. That was an absolute disgrace. I cannot believe what I’ve seen… if was a Liverpool fan, I’d be embarrassed of that.”

“We [Chelsea] got turned over beautifully by them,” Cundy continued, referencing his old side’s 8-2 aggregate defeat to PSG last month.

“They are a brilliant side, but at least we put in some sort of fight in that first game. That was shameful…

“And somehow, Liverpool have got out. They’re still alive. They should be dead and buried, and they’re not.”

“If I were Luis Enrique, I’d be furious. Slot’s lucky. If I’m Slot, I’m going home thinking, ‘wow, how have we got out of that one?'”

He’s ‘just waiting to get beat’

Liverpool’s resistance in Paris lasted just 11 minutes, with Mohamed Salah an unused substitute despite the visitors’ attacking issues.

After saying Slot playing five at the back was a ‘sackable offence’, O’Hara continued: “It’s embarrassing.

Getty

“You turn up and play five at the back, trying to nick a draw against PSG,” O’Hara added. “You go 1-0 down.

“You go, ‘You know what, half-time, let’s go back. Let’s go after these. Let’s try and have a go…’ he’s just waiting to get beat.

“You know what, you’re right in a way, Jason. He kind of gets lucky.”

Liverpool’s formation also raised eyebrows in the opposite dugout, with PSG boss Enrique claiming the visitors ‘played a great match.’

“I know Arne Slot is a great coach. It’s the first time they play with five at the back. But we are used to teams changing all the time… they played a great match.

“Physically, they are strong; they got a lot of quality players. It was a nice match, and it’s always nice playing against Arne Slot and his team because they try to play football in an offensive way, and it was nice to watch.”

Getty

Slot, meanwhile, attempted to explain his thought-process behind the new formation, saying: “They have pace everywhere all over the pitch. Incredible pace – Hakimi and Nuno Mendes have offensive threat… We played them with Jeremie Frimpong and with Milos Kerkez, that was the thought behind it.

“I thought we could try and press them really high and aggressive… every time we tried to press them high and aggressive, those were the moments we got ripped apart.

“It tells you how difficult it is to play this team. If you bring Joe [Gomez], you bring set-piece threat in.”

However, the Liverpool boss admitted that he and his players were fortunate to go into next Tuesday’s second leg just two goals down.

Slot said: “If you’re reflecting on the whole game we’re lucky we only lost the game 2-0. They had more chances than the goals they scored, although the first goal felt hard because we hadn’t given anything away and the deflected shot goes in.

“But after they had enough chances to score more. I think it’s very good for us that we stayed in the tie.

Getty

“We can now bring them to Anfield and we all know how much of a difference Anfield can make for us.”

On whether the formation was a one off, Slot added: “There seems to be a lot of focus on the system, but what is the difference if I would have played, for example, Rio [Ngumoha] or Cody Gakpo as a winger because Milos [Kerkez] had to play almost as a left winger facing Hakimi.

“Then there were four defenders left… if I could also explain it is a 4-3-3 with Florian [Wirtz] on the right, Hugo [Ekitike] in the middle, and Milos off the left. But because they are defensively minded, people see as a five… I would describe it as well.

“Just think about it, what if we played with real wingers today, what would that have looked like against Hakimi and Nuno Mendes?”