Premier League title race? Slott: This is the last thing to talk about now. Manchester City’s goals are personal ability + set pieces

November 10th: Liverpool defeated Manchester City 0-3 in this round of Premier League away game. Coach Slott discussed related topics in an interview after the game.

——About the result and Liverpool’s performance

The opponents performed better in every aspect of the first half. It's a similar situation to last season - I see a lot of similarities, but the key difference is this: last season we scored from a set-piece after struggling through the first 25 minutes and that changed the game.

Although they suppressed us for the entire 90 minutes, that goal really helped us regain energy and continue to defend. They didn't create so many opportunities last season, and today they had more opportunities. It wasn't a continuous offensive, but this time they seized the opportunities more efficiently.

In my opinion, the first goal is not an absolute chance, but more of a reflection of personal ability; the same is true for the third goal; the second goal is a set kick.

——On the atmosphere in the locker room after the game

Of course everyone was disappointed. We started the week very well, with wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid, but if you think you've faced strong opponents, then you have to go to the Etihad to challenge Manchester City - which is a serious test for any team, and we are no exception. They clearly dominated the first half.

—— Regarding the score of 1-0 when Van Dijk’s header was canceled by VAR

I would like to first emphasize that the score of 0-2 at halftime did fairly reflect the course of the game. But I have also experienced the opposite situation: when my team is obviously better than the opponent but only leads 1-0, if it fails to expand the advantage and is equalized by the opponent through a set piece, the situation of the game will change instantly. Things change rapidly on the football field.

Although I think the call to cancel the goal was not a clear and obvious error, I will not conclude that the defeat was caused by this - even if the score becomes 1-1, if Manchester City maintains its original style of play, we will still be in a hard fight in the second half.

But I always feel that if we could maintain the disadvantage at 0-1 at halftime, we could have made adjustments - this is obviously necessary, because we always lack one or two connecting points in the midfield, and Doku and Nico O'Reilly caused us huge trouble. Then the 1-1 score will become our most precious gift during the halftime break.

In my opinion, the second half could have been a different story, but the 0-2 and subsequent 0-3 endings do not truly reflect what might have happened if the score was 1-1.

——About Liverpool’s success rate in this confrontation

When the tactical system operates effectively, players are naturally more likely to win the confrontation-this has been verified in the games against Villa and Real Madrid. But in this game, we were extremely uncomfortable with their tactics of stacking a large number of players in the midfield, which made it difficult for some players to make correct decisions. So the problem is not that my players are unwilling to fight, but that they need to run a lot to cover the ground - because the opponent's passing control is obviously better than ours, causing us to repeatedly lose position.

I always review the tactical arrangements of both sides first and will never blame the players. When we improved in the second half, you could see they were winning more duels and winning the ball back many times - it didn't translate into goals, but we definitely deserved one in that period.

——About the Red Army’s five losses in the league this season and assessment of the championship situation

Yes, this number is indeed too many. The last thing we should talk about at this moment is the championship. Our priority is to focus on winning games - winning game after game - and until then this topic shouldn't even be considered. The reality is we are currently eighth. One team is well ahead, although Manchester City are only four points behind Arsenal.

I have emphasized many times that the best time to measure the league situation is of course after the 38th round. The second is after the 19th round - because by then all teams have played against each other once. Our focus now should be on winning, the championship is the last thing we need to think about.

We had this qualification last season, but not in the previous two seasons. Obviously we need to improve, that's self-evident.