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Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha says Liverpool's players are to blame for the inconsistent form that the Reds have showcased this season — not Arne Slot.
At the weekend, Slot suggested that it was the other way around after watching his side lose 3-0 to Manchester City. He admitted that he got his tactics wrong against Pep Guardiola, leaving Liverpool trailing even further in the Premier League title race.
"It's not about the manager, Arne Slot," Saha, who also played for Everton and Fulham in England, told OLBG. "I think it's more about the players. They're starting to understand how they need to play together again.
"Some new players have come in and they’ve been a bit shy and underperformed a bit, I would say. They’ve done better to return to the players they trust.
"Liverpool rely a lot on their wingers. That’s always been Mohamed Salah over the years but now Cody Gakpo is there. They have Hugo Ekitike who seems to be getting into a proper rhythm to give that confidence that the midfielders need.
"Even before their run of losses, Liverpool weren’t dominating games. They had moments but they’ve been punished this year and Salah missed some opportunities so they didn’t end up with the results they wanted.
"But I think Liverpool still have the ability to be a very consistent team this season to provide a lot of questions to their opponents so I think they are still going to be there, in the title race.
"It’s one of those things. When you win, the next year is always a little bit more complicated. I think Slot is finding those things out."
Slot has some big decisions to make during the international break, but Liverpool returns to action with an easier-looking fixture list. Nottingham Forest is next up at Anfield.
"The last thing I should speak about now is the title race," Slot said after the defeat at the Etihad Stadium. "We should first focus on getting results — result after result after result — before we can even think about that and the reality is that we are eighth now.
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"One team is quite far ahead, although City are four points away from Arsenal. The rest is quite close and I said last season many times, even when we were leading in the beginning, the best way to judge the league table is of course after 38 [games] but the next best thing is to judge it after 19 games because then you’ve all faced the same opponents.
"And our first focus should be on getting results and the last thing we should focus on is the title race, which is something we could do last season but also not the previous two seasons before. But we need to improve and that’s obvious."
Liverpool.com says: There are a few reasons that the Reds have not performed to the highest level this season. Slot has got things wrong, but individuals haven't done well. There's also been some bad luck. In time, there is enough quality to get back on track.
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