Liverpool will try to add “extra weapons” this summer to take the Premier League champions to the next level, Arne Slot has said. In addition to plans to strengthen the squad via the transfer market, the head coach is plotting tactical tweaks to keep the team evolving.
The players were given four days off after thehome draw with Arsenalbut return to action on Monday night at Brighton. Withtop spot secured, thinking has turned to recruitment and Liverpool are set to invest this summer. Slot has been holding meetings with the sporting director, Richard Hughes, over plans to strengthen in certain areas. The Bayer Leverkusen defenderJeremie Frimpong is a key targetand the club are set to trigger his €35m (£29.5m) release clause.
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“I think we can find one or two extra weapons this team doesn’t have,” Slot said. “Maybe, maybe, by using the transfer market. That is what we are trying to achieve. That will make us only stronger. That is what we need because we saw [Manchester] City spending £200m in the [January] transfer window. All of them will. Apart from the transfer window, we can also improve certain aspects ourselves.”
As with most teams challenging at the top, Liverpool have been the victim of the opposition using underhand methods in matches in an attempt to disrupt the rhythm, which has clearly irritated Slot. “One of the things you cannot do anything about is that tactics are being used that have nothing to do with football,” he said. “Delaying the start of the game, pretending you are injured, taking one minute for a free-kick, one minute for a throw-in. That is my main worry. When we have dropped points, that tactic was used. I like to say it now after us winning the league, not [after] losing a game.
“I don’t wake up during the night but if I did I might be like: ‘Shit. There’s no answer to be found to that type of play.’ Every time we drop points, that happened … goalkeepers taking one and a half minutes. I am hoping for the league …Rúben Dias said something about it[about Southampton’s negative tactics], too, which is not always the best moment to say it after dropping points. But for me he was right. Southampton can do what they want but we as a league must find an answer.
“People always tell you the Premier League is so intense, so intense. But there are tactics to slow the game down.”