Arne Slot 'almost annoyed' as Liverpool boss makes feelings clear on transfers

Arne Slot dismissed criticism of Liverpool's approach after the Wolves defeat as he defended the club's transfer policy and squad model following questions about summer signings

Arne Slot spoke to the media on Thursday(Image: Getty Images)

Arne Slot has brushed off criticism of Liverpool's game strategy, reasserting that there will be no alteration to the club's transfer policy this summer.

The Reds have faced renewed scrutiny following a subpar performance in their 2-1 defeat to bottom-of-the-table Wolves in the Premier League on Tuesday. Slot's players have shown a tendency to start matches slowly this season, having scored only three first-half goals away in the top-flight this campaign.

The Reds only began to generate regular chances at Molineux after falling behind in the 78th minute, but they still suffered a loss despite Mohamed Salah's equalizer five minutes later as the match became significantly stretched.

Slot was prickly when questioned why Liverpool couldn't have adopted a more offensive approach from the outset.

"It's not the perfect word to use because it's not what I feel, but I'm almost annoyed if you say 'that approach' because the approach is no different," said Slot. "The approach is we want to have the ball as much as possible and want to have it back as soon as possible.

"We always press high, and when we have the ball, we try to attack. In the final part, when we have the ball in the same position, it leads to chances that didn't happen in the first half or first 80 minutes.

Slot is happy with Liverpool's transfer business(Image: Getty Images)

"That's not down to approach, we don't approach the game by saying in the first 70 minutes we don't want the ball and we don't want to attack. We do. That it doesn't lead to anything, that we can agree on.

"That might also be due to the fact the opponent is fitter at the start of the game compared to the end. They, maybe, became a bit more defensive because they were 1-0 up and gave us even more space, or there is more urgency from us."

Slot added: "But it's never the approach. We always start the game in the same way, and we play it in the same way. That there's a difference in the last 10 minutes in terms of chance creation compared to the first 80 — that is clear.

"There's no difference in the approach. If you mean I approach it like 'let's stay calm and let's wait, wait'. No, no. Attack as much as you can. That's what you see in the game.

"We bring enough players forward, but that we're not able to create a lot of chances with all the ball possession is not something new to me. That has happened throughout the whole season."

Liverpool travels back to Wolves on Friday for its FA Cup fifth-round tie, with Slot's rotation choices restricted. Andy Robertson, Curtis Jones, Joe Gomez and Rio Ngumoha are all pushing for a starting berth, while Florian Wirtz could feature on the bench after being absent for the previous three matches.

The Reds remain without Alexander Isak, Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo and Giovanni Leoni, though Slot insists he was satisfied with the players recruited during last year's squad rebuild. "I'm so happy with what we did last summer," he said. "We signed such great players, but some of them needed some time to adapt, and some of them have mainly been injured.

"Adaptation you can predict because that's what we knew, but that some signings and some others got some long-term injuries isn't something you can predict. It's the model that we don't have 25 players over here. We have a different model over here.

"Then it hurts even more if you have three or four long-term injuries at the moment. I always knew when I came in here that this was the model, and I'm really happy with that."