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Jamie Carragher told Arne Slot that his Liverpool plan for this season "worries" him after watching the Reds let a 2-0 lead slip against Bournemouth before winning the game late on at Anfield.
With Florian Wirtz added to the Liverpool team this season, the emphasis has shifted a little more in the direction of being attack-minded, but the balance hasn't quite been right in pre-season or the start of the new campaign to date. Crystal Palace caused problems on the break at Wembley a week ago, and Bournemouth was equally as dangerous on Friday.
"Watching your Liverpool team last season, you very much had control of games," Carragher said on Sky Sports. "Today, it was end-to-end. Is that a worry for you because there is a lot of attacking talent that wasn't there last season?"
"Not that we bring more bodies in front of the ball, but we have players who are looking for the final pass a little bit more," Slot replied. "Ryan Gravenberch (who was suspended for this game) was last season very important as well.
"With Alexis Mac Allister only being back for two or three weeks of the pre-season, we lost a little bit of that control in our midfield. But Ryan will be back next week and Macca will be fit again, and we need to find a better balance."
When the counter-attack that led to Bournemouth's equalizer on the night began, Liverpool had eight players in the Cherries' penalty area, including both full-backs, Andy Robertson and Joe Gomez.
Losing the ball on the edge of the box, that left Bournemouth with an opportunity to break away with a four-on-two situation.
And while late goals from Federico Chiesa and then Mohamed Salah saw that the points still went to Liverpool, the Reds can't bank on late winners or scoring three times every week.
"That is the team we are," Slot said, explaining his decision to keep attacking even with a two-goal lead. But Carragher said that "worried" him given how much that can expose the Liverpool defense.
"We will try [to play like this all season]," Slot insisted. "Although we want to do better in the transition. But is also that if Mo had a shot on goal that went over or out for a corner, it is not a problem.
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"How Dominik Szoboszlai lost the ball with a trick, that is not smart at that moment in time. We will work on these counter-attacks, but we are not a team that if we are 2-0 up, we will go with 10 men in our own box."
Liverpool has a 10-day break now before playing Newcastle United at St James' Park. The Reds still have time to buy more players in the transfer market, with Marc Guehi and Alexander Isak both admired.
Liverpool.com says: While Slot wants to be attack-minded, there is going to have to be refinement in the way that his side plays. In the Premier League, you can't allow teams to break away because every team has at least one dangerous forward. It is still early in the season, though, and pairing Gravenberch and Mac Allister should make a big impact.
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