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Preserve serenity. That proved to be the tranquil guidance provided by Virgil van Dijk and the young midfielder recently as the Merseyside club reflected on successive losses for the second instance under the Dutch manager.

The manager stayed calm and positive during his press conference, interspersing multiple spontaneous points that the squad he was backing from rare censure are leading of the the league. Anew. But beneath the reassuring words and encouraging ranking, there are indisputable issues with the team's performance that, per Slot in his own words, go beyond than the initial ten matches of the term.

We had been delighted securing the title,” stated the head coach. “However we kept open our eyes for the final stages of the campaign to how many times we required a dead-ball situation [to win].”

The reigning English champions haven't struggling to produce openings from live action or to convert superior ball control into comfortable wins this term, their head coach asserted. Liverpool were facing difficulties to do each starting in the middle of the prior term, when opponents adjusted their tactics to restrict Liverpool, and are yet to find remedies.

Statistical Support

Data support Slot. During the initial nineteen matches of his first campaign, Liverpool notched forty-seven strikes with forty (85.1%) coming from live action. In the concluding 19 league games, the club managed 39 goals, of which 27 (just over two-thirds) were from general play. The drop-off was improved this season, though only a few matches have been played, with ten of the team's twelve league goals coming from general play (a high percentage).

• First 19 games: eighty-five point one percent of goals from open play
• Closing phase: sixty-nine point two percent of goals from open play
• This term: 83.3% of goals from open play

But Liverpool's performances so far this term, especially the losses at Palace and in Turkey in the period of less than a week, can not be linked solely to a drop in dead-ball effectiveness only. Moreover, their seven-game winning streak prior to heading to Selhurst Park was often accompanied by the qualification that Liverpool secured victory late and/or despite an inconsistent showing.

Line-up Issues

Florian Wirtz is taking time to settle to the pace of the the top flight and is a big-money acquisition that the manager is continuing to integrate to maximum effect. The club's new full-backs, Jeremie Frimpong and the other full-back, were publicly backed by their boss ahead of the Galatasaray defeat but are not currently at the standards of the the previous incumbents.

The forward is short of full sharpness after spending the summer not playing at Newcastle, and the French defender's displays has dipped significantly. The problems extends. Solely Hugo Ekitiké, Van Dijk, the goalkeeper, who will miss the weekend fixture to Stamford Bridge with a muscle problem, Dominik Szoboszlai and the Dutch midfielder have delivered to a high standard so far this season.

Key Missing piece

Liverpool urgently require the creative force to restore full fitness and his influence over their tempo, calmness and penetration. The midfielder was excluded of the concluding fixtures of the previous campaign to start his recovery from a nagging groin injury and be ready healthy for pre-season. That was, that was the plan. The midfielder's recovery process was lengthier than anticipated, the preparation period was repeatedly affected as a result, and a crucial part in Slot's machine has been unable to finish a full match for his club following the single-goal success at Leicester on the spring date.

“People claim he’s playing catchup,” the manager stated. “Where I'm from we say he is out of sync.” Liverpool will be a different proposition once Mac Allister is directing the engine room alongside his Dutch teammate again.

Future Focus

The manager has praised the benefits of flexibility in his new-look squad, with the recent acquisitions the German, the Frenchman, Isak and the defender able to perform in a different spots, but a team in transition could do with more consistency in lineup choices to accelerate the transition.

I believe we do things differently but I observe opponents doing a lot of things differently against us,” he said. “Jürgen Klopp gave me a lot of benefits but one benefit he provided was ending up third the previous season and in fifth position the season before that.”

Liverpool boast enough world-class talent to correct their inconsistent performances, as Jones said this week, but the coach concedes the remedy is more complicated than hoping for the playmaker and the striker to hit their stride. Stamford Bridge might prove a perfect setting to start, though.

There are multiple factors,” he remarked. “In what way can we find our wingers? Are we reaching them regularly and in dangerous positions {like we did|as we managed|similar