It was going to happen eventually. Inevitably. There is no manager or head coach in history to have ever avoided defeat.
But perhaps Arne Slot’s first loss as Liverpool chief arrived sooner than expected. Certainly, after a 3-0 victory at Manchester United, a reverse at the hands of Nottingham Forest was not predicted. Yet Slot’s Reds record is now blemished. And in the thankless task of trying to compete with Manchester City in a Premier League title race, Liverpool have already given up ground.
Hindsight is a wonderful commodity – but perhaps when reflecting on the Forest loss, Slot would have changed some things. Granted, he wasn’t responsible for Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai persistently wasting possession, nor Diogo Jota failing to take a golden chance in the first half.
But after the international break, perhaps rotating his line-up may have been prudent. Slot was asked if he could tweak his team at his pre-match press conference and suggested he did not do so at Feyenoord. It was a hint that he’d stick to his mantra on Merseyside.
After the peerless performance against United, as well as triumphs over Ipswich and Brentford, it was understandable why Slot named an unchanged line-up. On reflection, it may have been incorrect. Seven players who started against Forest had played two games for their respective nations. The entire XI had featured in at least one full 90 minutes.
In contrast, on the bench for the Forest loss was Darwin Nunez – who is serving a five-match international ban so did not represent Uruguay – along with Joe Gomez and Curtis Jones. Nunez could well have spearheaded the attack rather than the ineffective Jota. Meanwhile, Jones may have been coming back from injury but knows Slot’s demands from pre-season and could have replaced the profligate Szoboszlai.
Pep Guardiola, on the other hand, made four changes for City’s 2-1 win over Brentford. They were scarcely at their scintillating best but got the job done to maintain their impeccable record this season.
And as Liverpool looked for a creative spark, Slot may have pondered if he should have included Federico Chiesa in his squad. The £10 million signing from Juventus spent the international break building match sharpness. But despite Harvey Elliott missing out with a fractured foot, Chiesa could not thrust his way onto the substitutes’ bench. Slot instead opted for four defenders in Gomez, Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley and Kostas Tsimikas.
Granted, Bradley and Tsimikas are both attack-minded full-backs. But there may not have been a necessity for both Gomez and Quansah. Were two centre-backs required?
Had Chiesa been available to come on in the final 15 minutes, he would have given Liverpool more attacking flair. The Italy international would have provided the crowd with enthusiasm and vim that had become increasingly irked by rudimentary errors. That naturally would have impacted the rest of Liverpool’s players.
Luckily for Slot, he has a quick turnaround as the Reds’ second of seven games in 22 games comes against AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday. Following the next hiatus of the campaign next month, however, it’ll be intriguing if the ex-AZ Alkmaar supremo changes his approach.
