What Arne Slot ditched in Liverpool training spoke volumes as problem now clear

Our Liverpool FC correspondent Paul Gorst takes closer look at the physicality issues that are blighting the defending Premier League champions' season

As the searing temperatures baked the Liverpool squad and the mosquitoes began to circle, few present at Tokyo's JFA Dreamfield in late July were ready for what was supposed to become the latest part of Arne Slot's tactical masterplan.

As Slot and his coaching staff underwent an open training session at the facility used by the Japan national side during their pre-season tour of the Far East, it was clear that the long-throw routine was being honed as a new string to the bow of the Premier League champions.

The likes of Conor Bradley, Milos Kerkez, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch all took turns at hurling the ball into the penalty area as Slot and his staff looked to unearth new ways of opening up the opposition for the season ahead.

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At the time, it felt like a major deviation from what had made Liverpool such a formidable outfit the season previous. Some months on, however, it was clear Slot and his staff were merely following what has since become a wider Premier League trend.

And given none of those who tried the long throws particularly excelled, it was an experiment that has been quietly consigned to the dustbin at Anfield since.

While teams like Brentford, Sunderland and even league leaders Arsenal have become astute at long throws into the penalty area, it's fair to say the Reds' decision not to follow suit has been down to their inability to embrace the trend rather than their unwillingness.

Slot spoke after winning the title last season about needing "new weapons" but after giving the long throws a trial in Japan, the champions have decided to leave the experiment on the cutting room floor.

The club advertised for a set-piece coach earlier this year before opting to give Aaron Briggs the role on a full-time basis having seen him introduce the duties alongside his other tasks during his season as first-team individual development coach.

Set-pieces, though, have become a real problem for Liverpool. The Reds concede 7.4 goals per 100 set-pieces in the Premier League this term, which is a figure only better than Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.

Rarely has a press conference passed without Slot detailing his latest take on the situation, often referring to his belief that a "negative set-piece balance" is to blame for many of the problems experienced so far.

Liverpool, according to both Slot and captain Virgil van Dijk, worked extensively on defending long throws for their recent trip to Brentford, but conceded after just five minutes to Dango Ouattara's goal after Michael Kayode's launch into the area wasn't properly dealt with.

It's proving to be their Achilles' Heel just now and at a time when Premier League football, as a collective, is embracing a return to a more direct style, that has to be considered a major concern.

"I do think Liverpool, the people buying the players and the manager, tried to take a team that last season won the league but in Slot's eyes, he wanted it to be more sexy, with more goals, more entertaining," Jamie Carragher said on the Overlap Fan podcast this week.

"He is always speaking about Paris Saint-Germain, he loves Pep (Guardiola), you hear him speaking about Pep before the game, he's his hero.

"So he's trying to take his team over here and go that way and the league's gone (opposite direction) that way: powerful; set-pieces; long throws. It's almost like a throwback to the 2000s.

"And Liverpool have been left behind and they almost just got it wrong in terms of where the game is going. I think that has been a big problem for them."

Now on a run of seven defeats in 10 across all competitions, the Reds have come out on top in 'duels' - defined "as a physical contest between two players to gain possession" - just four times during that sequence.

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