Liverpool manager Arne Slot has warned that his team needs to be more defensively disciplined as they prepare to start their Premier League title defence, following their Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace.
The Reds have invested heavily this summer, signing Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, and full-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, while parting ways with several senior players.
After claiming the league title in Slot’s debut season—when only Federico Chiesa was brought in—the club’s unusual spending spree has raised fans’ hopes. Liverpool scored 20 goals in six pre-season friendlies but has also been conceding frequently.
“Last season we had a lot of ball possession but that didn’t always lead to promising situations,” Slot said after they were beaten 3-2 on penalties following a 2-2 draw with Palace.
“Now we are better in creating and getting promising situations than we were, in my opinion, throughout the whole last season.
“But the other side is also true … and what made us really strong last season was we only won mostly (by) a margin of one goal and that had mostly to do with us keeping a clean sheet or as a maximum conceding one goal.”
He added: “It needs maybe a little bit of adjustment defensively at the moment because we don’t concede a lot of chances, but we do concede goals at the moment.”
Slot remains optimistic, saying his new signings will settle in, but admitted it may take time to balance the improved attack with defensive stability. Liverpool face Bournemouth in their league opener at Anfield on Friday.
