Liverpool manager Arne Slot has admitted his side are trapped in a frustrating cycle after a dramatic 2-1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Tuesday night.
The Reds dominated possession but were punished in stoppage time as Andre’s deflected strike sealed victory for Wolves, leaving Slot to describe the result as the “same old story” of their season.
Speaking after the game, the Dutchman did not hide his disappointment.
“Same old story,” Slot said.
Wolves had taken the lead in the 78th minute through Rodrigo Gomes before Mohamed Salah responded almost immediately to level the score.
But just when it seemed Liverpool would salvage a point, Andre’s effort took a wicked deflection off Joe Gomez and flew past Alisson Becker deep into added time.
Despite controlling 65.8 per cent possession and winning 11 corners to Wolves’ two, Liverpool were left empty-handed.
Slot blamed his side’s continued struggles in front of goal.
“Recently, we are picking up points because many times we’ve scored from set-pieces, but what did not change in the last five, six or seven games is that we struggle and find it very hard to score from the open-play chances that we do create,” he said.
“Not as many as I would like from all the ball possession we have, but enough and far more than the other team. But end result, we score one and they score two – and indeed another time in extra time.”
The Liverpool boss admitted his team were poor in the first half.
“I don’t think we played a very good first half,” he said, criticising the quality of their set-pieces.
Though he acknowledged improvement after the break, Slot maintained that his players failed to take decisive moments.
“In extra time, or just before extra time, we were twice very close to scoring the 2-1,” he said, referencing Salah’s intercepted dribble and Virgil van Dijk’s late header saved by Jose Sa.
“Those are chances and the one we concede is not even a chance. We gave away one chance but conceded two.”
Slot also credited Wolves for their compact defensive setup.
“Well done by Wolves. They made it really hard for us, compact,” he said.
With eight Premier League matches left, Slot admitted the defeat was a major setback in Liverpool’s campaign.
“My expectations have changed throughout the season because I expected more from us than where we are fighting for now,” he said.
“There are still eight games to play, but dropping points in a game where it’s absolutely not necessary if you look at the run of play is disappointing.”
On the decisive deflected goal, Slot refused to single out Joe Gomez.
“You can always do things different but a deflected shot, I have to see how he puts his body in front of the ball and if he could do anything about that or not, or it was just bad luck,” he said.
“But it’s not the first time a ball goes in from a deflected shot.”
