Arne Slot acknowledged Steven Gerrard\u2019s observation that he speaks frequently about low blocks, but said he feels compelled to explain his view when asked. Gerrard had warned Slot against repeatedly referencing low blocks after the Liverpool manager attributed part of his side\u2019s Champions League win against Marseille to the French team adopting a more adventurous approach.<\/p>\n
When told of Gerrard\u2019s comments in an interview with Sky Sports this week, Slot conceded the criticism while defending his candour. \u201cI can only agree with him, that I speak a lot about low blocks\u2014because we face a lot of low blocks!\u201d the Dutch boss admitted. \u201cAnd if people ask me after the game my opinion about the games I have to describe something,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Slot noted Gerrard\u2019s own experience dealing with stubborn defensive setups. \u201cHe also said he faced them when he played. He was also one of the players who could unlock a low block because of the quality he had.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot is being said about it and maybe I should try to find other words or just simply not talk about it anymore. People know now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statistics underpinning Slot\u2019s complaints were referenced in coverage: Liverpool\u2019s opponents have adopted an average defensive line of 31.8 metres from their own goal, with only Arsenal coming up against lower blocks than Slot\u2019s defending champions, per GeniusIQ (via Sky Sports). By contrast, Bournemouth\u2019s backline starts on average 42.2 metres from their goal this season, reflecting a far more aggressive approach.<\/p>\n
Slot suggested Bournemouth\u2019s intensity could mean a different test on the south coast. \u201cMaybe we don\u2019t face it [a low block] anymore because Bournemouth has always been a very intense team to play against and they will be like that,\u201d he said ahead of Saturday\u2019s trip. The Cherries caused Liverpool problems in the first league meeting, pushing the title holders in an unfortunate 4\u20132 defeat at Anfield. Andoni Iraola\u2019s side have fluctuated in form over the subsequent five months, but remain a feared foe for their venomous approach off the ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cBournemouth is one of the most intense teams in the league,\u201d Slot fretted. \u201cIn every running stat they\u2019re either on top or in the top two, three, four. ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Slot accepts Gerrard’s point on low blocks, but insists: “I have to” describe opponents’ tactics…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[739,175],"tags":[1162,299,1047],"class_list":["post-6207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bournemouth","category-liverpool","tag-analytics","tag-arne-slot","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}