Boos, no intensity and no identity - what is Slot's Liverpool?
Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from BBC or go back to LFC Live.
If Arne Slot has not realised already, then he needs to realise very quickly that the Anfield crowd demands energy and a certain intensity from its side.Far too often at home this season, Liverpool have lacked a spark - something that the crowd can feed off - and kill the opposition off when they take the lead.When they went in front early against a Chelsea side that had lost their last six Premier League games, Slot's side should have used that as the moment to dominate the match and secure an important win.Instead, they allowed Calum McFarlane's out-of-form side a way back into the game."The adjustment we made at half-time helped us be the more dominant team in the second half. If it did look like that, it was never the intention," he added.Enzo Fernandez's equaliser for Chelsea means Liverpool have now dropped nine points from winning positions in Premier League home games this season, their most at Anfield since 2015-16, when Jurgen Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers as the manager."Our identity is intensity" was the phrase coined by Pep Lijnders when he was Liverpool's assistant manager under Klopp.Slot's brief was always to do things his own way and never to be like Klopp but his side has lacked any identity this season and have next to no intensity."I thought Liverpool actually started quite well, got the goal, and then from there Chelsea were the better team.
"It completely makes sense people are disappointed if Liverpool don't win."Midfielder Ryan Gravenberch added: "To be honest, we need them behind us. OK we didn't win, but I don't really think we deserved this [reaction].
Hopefully they wouldn't do it again in the next two games."Asked later in his post-match press conference how the boos felt, Slot struggled to find the right words in English but said: "I would love to show them [the fans] something else but at this moment we are not able to."We are able to be a dominant team and have more of the ball and I want to give them much more to be positive about and happy about and I am 100% sure the team wants the same."The boos in the 67th minute when Slot took off Rio Ngumoha - who offered Liverpool's biggest threat - were arguably louder than the jeers at full-time but Slot clarified later that the 17-year-old had cramp."It [the boos] makes complete sense if you take a player off that is playing well, that assisted. It will be a summer where further change is necessary and the Liverpool hierarchy will know that integral to any transition will be ensuring the side can start playing a brand of football that the fans can enjoy."I am 100% convinced we will be a different team next season if we can have the summer we want," insisted Slot.Words spoken with the confidence of a man who believes that he will still be the Liverpool manager in August.