Article by Romeo Ene – published Tuesday, September 30, 2025, 08:58 / Updated Tuesday, September 30, 2025 08:58
Arne Slot (47 years old), the coach of Liverpoolheld the press conference preceding the away game with Galatasaray, from stage 2 of the main Champions League group. The champion of England comes after the first failure of the season, 1-2 on Crystal Palace's field.
The Dutch technician said he wants to improve his game in defense. According to him, the problem is not at the lateral defenders, but at the game of the whole team, especially in the fixed phases.
How Arne see Liverpool's duel with Galatasaray of the Champions League: “This is an aspect to improve”
“One of our strengths last season was to keep the opponent away from our gate. Look carefully, I received four goals from fixed phases this season.
I changed the side defenders, but I changed a little more than that. When I think of the gaps I received, the first thing that comes to mind is not that the side defenders are the problem.
It's always about the team. Last season I received few goals because 11 players worked incredibly hard to prevent the opponent from creating opportunities.
They work very much this season, but the fixed phases are something else, separate from the game itself. We must return to our level before and demonstrate in the matches and months that we usually do not receive hollows from fixed phases.
This is an aspect that we must definitely improve. I see teams in the Premier League winning matches due to fixed phases, and we lose matches because of them”, Considers Arne Slot, quoted by Sportal.bg.
Galatasaray, Liverpool's opponent, scored 24 goals from fixed phases, out of a total of 91, last season, although this figure also includes penalties. Slot believes that the fixed phases become more and more important.
Football is becoming more and more transforming into a fixed phase game. It's more and more clear, especially in the Premier League.
I know Galatasaray is strong at fixed phases, but we were also a force in this chapter last season. We won our last match in the Champions League with a fixed phase goal scored by Virgil Van Dijk.
– Arne slotLiverpool's coach
The ranking after the first stage of the main group of Champions League
