Arne Slot Reflects on Liverpool’s Control in Real Betis Clash

Liverpool Starts Strong in Pre-Season US Tour

Liverpool kicked off their pre-season tour in the USA with a promising victory over Real Betis, highlighted by Dominik Szoboszlai’s decisive strike in the first half at Acrisure Stadium. Despite the positive outcome, Arne Slot, Liverpool’s head coach, identified several areas in need of refinement.

In the aftermath of the match, Slot shared his thoughts, “I think there were a few positive things and, of course, a few things we have to improve. But the positive thing is that we kept a clean sheet. I think we only conceded one big chance and that was somewhere around the last 10 minutes of the game. So we controlled the game really well and in between we had a few good attacks where we created a few good chances and scored a good goal. Those were the positives from this game.”

Tactical Flexibility: No Striker, No Problem

The absence of a traditional striker did not hinder Liverpool’s tactical setup. Slot explained, “I think during the season you will see us play with a real striker. But at this moment we have no-one available and then with Dom and Harvey [Elliott] we’ve got two No.10s, so we put them in the position they will play during the season as well.

So that was one of the reasons why we played with a double 10 instead of with a striker. That is maybe out of necessity. But for the rest of the style of play with trying to build up from the back, that is our style – to control the game, to not concede constant counter-attacks. That will hopefully be our style during the season. There are also, of course, many things we can improve but that’s normal after two weeks.”

Handling the High Press

Discussing the team’s response to Real Betis’ aggressive pressing, Slot noted, “I think we pressed them higher than they did us. We won the ball back a lot of times high in their half. But there were moments when they pressed us high. We played through their press a few times really good, so the goal was an example of that and our biggest chance of the second half was an example of that as well.

But I also saw moments where we lost the ball too simple or we made the wrong choices, and I think that’s normal after two weeks of trying to implement more control from the back. So, we take some positives and we take some things which we can and have to improve, especially with the likes of Arsenal and Man United coming up.”

Youth Shines on the Big Stage

Arne Slot also had high praise for young Trey Nyoni, who played a pivotal role in the game’s dynamics. “I think he did really well today but it was only an hour. Like I said, he did well. He was one of the reasons why we scored the goal, because he turned really quickly and [played] a spot-on pass in between the lines. And he was also involved in the biggest chance in the second half.

So he did well. But he’s just turned 17 and his body has to grow, and we are really careful with him. So he doesn’t join every session and sometimes he goes out a bit earlier because he only turned 17 and you can see his quality but you can also see his body still needs some time to grow to play at Premier League level. But he showed some interesting things today.”

Pitch Perfect Performance

The condition of the pitch at Acrisure Stadium was lastly touched upon by Slot, who dismissed it as a factor in any of the game’s mishaps. “The field was really good. Sprinkled it, it was full of grass so I think the field suited the way we wanted to play. We did lose the ball a few times but that had nothing to do with the field, that had to do with the individual performances of some players and the choices they made. But the losses of the ball had nothing to do with the pitch! The pitch was perfect.”