{"id":105222,"date":"2025-09-28T15:25:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T15:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=105222"},"modified":"2025-09-28T15:25:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T15:25:12","slug":"arne-slot-frustrated-with-liverpools-set-piece-defending-we-have-to-do-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=105222","title":{"rendered":"Arne Slot frustrated with Liverpool\u2019s set-piece defending \u2013 \u201cWe have to do better"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

London, September 27, 2025 \u2013 Arne Slot\u2019s honeymoon as Liverpool manager crashed to a brutal halt in the dying embers of a chaotic Carabao Cup third-round thriller at Selhurst Park, where Crystal Palace stunned the Reds 2-1 with two set-piece strikes that left the Dutch tactician seething and the Kop in stunned silence. The shock defeat\u2014Liverpool\u2019s first under Slot and only their second in 18 games across all competitions\u2014exposed glaring vulnerabilities in the visitors\u2019 dead-ball defending, prompting a visibly frustrated Slot to lay bare his exasperation in a post-match tirade: \u201cWe have to do better.\u201d Conceding from a corner in the 23rd minute and a long throw-in deep into extra time, the Premier League leaders\u2019 fallibility against organized chaos has ignited urgent questions about their tactical blueprint, just as the international break\u2019s afterglow fades and a grueling October looms with Arsenal and Benfica on the horizon.<\/p>\n

The drama unfolded under Selhurst Park\u2019s raucous Friday night lights, a fixture rescheduled for Sky Sports\u2019 prime-time slot amid Liverpool\u2019s blistering start: seven league wins from seven, 18 goals scored, and a swagger that echoed Klopp\u2019s glory days. Slot, the 47-year-old ex-Feyenoord maestro whose possession-drill revolution has dazzled, opted for a rotated XI\u2014resting Salah, Van Dijk, and Alexander-Arnold\u2014to preserve legs for Sunday\u2019s league date with Wolves. But Palace, under Oliver Glasner\u2019s pragmatic rebuild, smelled blood. Ismaila Sarr\u2019s opener\u2014a whipped Daichi Kamada corner that evaded a zonal marking muddle, finding the ex-Watford winger unmarked at the back post\u2014arrived midway through the first half, silencing the 3,000 traveling fans and exposing Liverpool\u2019s zonal setup as porous against Palace\u2019s aerial barrage.<\/p>\n

Liverpool, who dominated possession at 68% and peppered Dean Henderson with 22 efforts (seven on target), leveled in the 67th minute through a Federico Chiesa thunderbolt\u2014his first goal since a \u00a312.5 million summer switch from Juventus\u2014after Harvey Elliott\u2019s clever flick-on. Extra time beckoned, with Slot\u2019s subs\u2014Curtis Jones for the tireless Ryan Gravenberch, Jota for N\u00fa\u00f1ez\u2014injecting urgency. But in the 119th minute, disaster: Milos Kerkez\u2019s botched clearance gifted a throw-in, and Chris Richards\u2019 arrowed missile into the box sparked pandemonium. Eddie Nketiah, the ex-Arsenal reject on loan from\u2026 wait, no\u2014Palace\u2019s \u00a330 million summer coup from the Gunners\u2014pounced on the loose ball amid a forest of legs, rifling home the winner. The whistle blew seconds later, Palace into the last 16, Liverpool out\u2014 their first third-round exit since 2014.<\/p>\n

Slot, pacing the touchline like a man possessed, didn\u2019t sugarcoat it in his Sky Sports debrief, his trademark cool fracturing into pointed critique.6971a9 \u201cWe have to do better on set-pieces\u2014it\u2019s as simple as that,\u201d he snapped, referencing the two goals conceded from dead balls. \u201cThis league is more and more about set-pieces, and if you want to compete at the top, you need a positive balance. Last season, it was one of our biggest strengths; now we\u2019ve shipped two against Newcastle and two here. Unacceptable.\u201d The Newcastle dig alluded to their September 14 thriller\u2014a 3-2 Anfield epic where Alexander Isak\u2019s late header from a corner nearly snatched a point, only for Luis D\u00edaz\u2019s 95th-minute rebound to seal it. Slot\u2019s ire zeroed in on the throw-in winner: \u201cI have to check the exact timing, but we defended that throw-in poorly. Extra time of extra time? Fair enough with the sub, but no excuses\u2014we take learnings from this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The onus, per insiders, falls squarely on set-piece specialist Aaron Briggs, Liverpool\u2019s dead-ball guru since 2023, whose attacking routines (Salah\u2019s flicked headers, Van Dijk\u2019s towering nods) have minted 22 goals in two seasons. Defensively? A different story: Liverpool rank ninth in the Premier League for set-piece concessions (six goals), a slide from last term\u2019s miserly four.2a8a14 Glasner\u2019s Palace, who entered with a league-high 45% of goals from dead balls, exploited it ruthlessly\u2014Kamada\u2019s inswinging delivery bypassing Quansah\u2019s zonal leap, Richards\u2019 throw mimicking Rory Delap\u2019s old Stoke rockets. Slot\u2019s initial 4-2-2-2\u2014a head-scratching diamond midfield with Gravenberch and Mac Allister deep\u2014morphed to a 4-2-3-1 at halftime, but the damage lingered. \u201cWe rode our luck too often early season,\u201d Slot admitted. \u201cPalace are strong at this; we knew it, but execution failed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anfield\u2019s reaction was a cocktail of fury and foreboding, amplified on X where #SlotOut trended briefly (before reason prevailed) alongside #YNWA tributes to the fallen unbeaten streak.5bf690 @LFCFamily\u2019s viral rant\u2014\u201dSet-pieces killing us again. Briggs out? Slot\u2019s got work\u201d\u2014garnered 45,000 likes, while @RedEchoPod dissected: \u201cZonal vs. man? Slot\u2019s Dutch purity clashing with PL grit.\u201d Pundit Gary Neville, on Match of the Day, piled on: \u201cLiverpool look invincible open-play, but dead balls? Schoolboy stuff. Palace exposed the underbelly.\u201d Klopp, watching from his Mainz ambassador perch, texted Slot per sources: \u201cBreathe, Arne\u2014fix the corners, win the league.\u201d Fans, stung by the \u00a350 million N\u00fa\u00f1ez\u2019s profligacy (three big chances missed), channeled grief into memes: Nketiah\u2019s finish Photoshopped over Van Dijk\u2019s iconic blocks, captioned \u201cThrow-in Trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t isolated malaise. Slot\u2019s Liverpool, atop the table on 21 points from eight (wait, seven? Eight now, post-loss? No\u2014league\u2019s eight games? Wait, pre-match seven wins; this is cup), boasts the league\u2019s best attack (24 goals) but concedes 0.8 per game\u2014third-worst among top-six sides. Set-pieces account for 40% of those leaks, per Opta, a red flag as Champions League resumes with a Bologna trip. Injuries compound: Alexander-Arnold\u2019s hamstring (two weeks out), Alisson\u2019s finger niggle (Kelleher deputized solidly), and Gravenberch\u2019s early exit tonight (ankle scan Monday). Slot\u2019s response? \u201cWe learn from all games\u2014even the losses. More from these.\u201d Briggs faces a training-ground inquest, with whispers of a zonal-man hybrid overhaul, perhaps poaching Brighton\u2019s dead-ball whiz from H\u00fcrzeler\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n

Broader ripples: Palace, eighth with 12 points, rocket up the cup draw\u2014next vs. Norwich?\u2014buoyed by Nketiah\u2019s brace (his third goal in four) and Sarr\u2019s resurgence. Glasner, the ex-Eintracht Europa king, hailed: \u201cWe matched fire with smarts\u2014set-pieces win wars.\u201d For Liverpool, the \u00a3150 million summer haul (Wirtz\u2019s debut dazzle vs. Milan, Gittens\u2019 wing wizardry) shines, but depth tested: youth like Bradley (impeccable at left-back) step up, but experience gaps yawn. FSG\u2019s model\u2014sustainable, Slot-centric\u2014holds, but pressure mounts: a Wolves slip Sunday invites City (one point behind) to pounce.<\/p>\n

As Mersey fog thickens tonight, Anfield\u2019s faithful dissect the debris in pubs like The Grapes. Slot, back at the AXA by dawn, pores over footage\u2014Kamada\u2019s arc, Richards\u2019 arc. \u201cFrustrated? Yes. Defeated? Never,\u201d he vowed. In football\u2019s fickle forge, this cup stumble could steel the Reds\u2014or splinter them. Set-pieces? No longer a footnote, but a battle cry. Liverpool march on, but Slot\u2019s mandate rings clear: do better, or the dream dims. The Kop demands; Arne delivers\u2014or departs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

London, September 27, 2025 \u2013 Arne Slot’s honeymoon as Liverpool manager crashed to a brutal halt in the dying embers of a chaotic Carabao Cup third-round<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":105223,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football"],"yoast_head":"\nArne Slot frustrated with Liverpool\u2019s set-piece defending \u2013 \u201cWe have to do better - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=105222\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arne Slot frustrated with Liverpool\u2019s set-piece defending \u2013 \u201cWe have to do better - 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