Echo: It’s time for Sloter to focus on Isaac Wirtz, but defensive issues are still the most prominent

November 10th: In the 11th round of the Premier League's highlight match, Manchester City defeated Liverpool 3-0 at home. After this round, Manchester City ranked second with 22 points, 4 points behind Arsenal, and Liverpool ranked 8th with 18 points. After the game, the "Liverpool Echo" wrote an article analyzing some details of the Red Army's disastrous defeat.

When the game came to an end, the broadcast camera showed the visiting team’s bench. Isaac just sat there, frowning. The Sweden international is just two days back from yet another injury and it was no surprise that he did not get a chance to play due to the course of the game. But Isaac got a chance to see up close the lack of consistency on offense.

The midfielders were busy stopping Manchester City's offensive, and they frequently made mistakes in the rare possession opportunities in the first half, leaving forward Ekitic in an isolated and helpless situation. Liverpool didn't even have a shot on target in the first half.

Wertz and Salah did work very hard, but they became more and more frustrated as they played. The latter also missed a scoring opportunity late in the game. Although this is only the second time Slott has failed to score in 49 Premier League games coaching Liverpool, it cannot conceal the fact that the team's offense is weak.

Liverpool needs to regroup, and the following international match day should be an opportunity for Slott to formulate a new offensive plan: let Isaac, who has 125 million pounds, and Wirtz, who has 116 million pounds, act as the core.

But offense is not the most prominent of Liverpool's many problems this season. The Red Army has not achieved any draw so far, which is quite convincing. For example, if they can hold on against Chelsea and Crystal Palace, the extra two points and two fewer league losses will greatly change the current situation.

To put it simply, this Liverpool team is not tough enough. Since the end of Dalglish's second term in charge in April 2012, they have suffered four consecutive league away defeats for the first time. Although the team's overall defense today, especially in the midfield area, failed to meet the standards in the wins over Villa and Real Madrid, Slott also took responsibility for this because this was his tactical arrangement. But the performance of individual players is really worrying, especially Konate.

Liverpool has conceded 17 goals in the Premier League this season, only fewer than Bournemouth. Mamardashvili performed impeccably, saving Haaland's penalty to keep Liverpool on the scoreboard for a few moments longer. Since the start of last season, he is one of the goalkeepers who has saved the most penalty kicks in Europe's five major leagues. Such a performance was especially rare on an afternoon filled with negativity.

The referee's impartiality did not bring any benefit to Liverpool. Speaking at a pre-match media event in a side room at the AXA training center on Friday, Slott mentioned that recent refereeing decisions have not been kind to Liverpool. But he broke off mid-sentence and left the scene in an almost comical manner.

In the 37th minute of the game, Slott's suspicions about the referee were further confirmed, and the Red Army supporters were also in a panic. Liverpool's performance in the first half was disappointing, and Slott, who had criticized the team for not scoring enough from set-pieces in the league, finally saw his players respond: Salah took a corner kick and Van Dijk headed home.

Donnarumma had nothing to do with the ball, but Robertson stood in an offside position and quickly lowered his head to avoid the ball before it flew into the goal. Referee Kavanagh personally watched VAR and, although the goal was not unlike some that had been counted as valid recently, it was eventually disallowed.

This goal is reminiscent of Manchester City's winning goal against Wolves about a year ago. That goal was eventually ruled valid, and the referee at the time was Kavanagh. If even one referee cannot maintain a unified standard, it will be even more difficult to ensure the consistency of the entire referee team.

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