LIVERPOOL: Arne Slot vowed Thursday to “keep fighting,” saying his conversations with Liverpool’s owners have not changed despite his team’s deep slump.
The Premier League champions were hammered 4-1 at Anfield by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday — their ninth defeat in their past 12 matches in all competitions.
The stands emptied as frustrated fans quit the ground in droves in the latter stages of the match.
Now Liverpool face a trip to rejuvenated West Ham on Sunday, desperate to improve on their position of 12th place in the Premier League table.
Slot, who led Liverpool to the Premier League title last season in his first campaign in charge, said in the aftermath of Wednesday’s defeat he was confident his job was safe.
He held a press conference on Thursday, previewing his team’s match at West Ham, who look a different side under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
The Dutchman was asked at the start of the press conference whether he has spoken to the club’s owners since the PSV game.
“We’ve had the same conversations since I’ve been here,” he said.
“We fight on. And we try to improve, that’s what we all try. But the conversations have been the same as they’ve been for the past one and a half years.”
Slot admitted Liverpool’s standards had slipped but insisted he did not feel let down by his players.
“We think we can play better than we do,” he said. “But last season, when we did really well, there was a lot of focus on certain individuals and I always said it should be about the team, and the team makes the individuals look very good.
“And if the opposite is happening, we should also look at the team and not at the individuals.”
Slot vows to ‘keep fighting’ as Liverpool’s crisis deepens
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Slot vows to ‘keep fighting’ as Liverpool’s crisis deepens
- The stands emptied as frustrated fans quit the ground in droves in the latter stages of the match
- Slot said in the aftermath of Wednesday’s defeat he was confident his job was safe
Twice champion Naomi Osaka out of Australian Open
- Osaka said on social media that her body needed attention following her previous match against Sorana Cirstea
MELBOURNE: Twice Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka has pulled out of the Grand Slam ahead of her scheduled third round match on Saturday, citing a fitness problem.
Her opponent, Australian Maddison Inglis, has a walkover into the fourth round.
Japanese 16th seed Osaka, the 2019 and 2021 winner at Melbourne Park, said on social media that her body needed attention following her previous match against Sorana Cirstea, without elaborating on the issue.
“I’ve had to make the difficult decision to withdraw to address something my body needs attention for after my last match,” she wrote.
“I was so excited to keep going and this run meant the most to me, so having to stop here breaks my heart but I can’t risk doing any further damage so I can get back on the court.”
The pull-out is a setback for Osaka, who has been returning to her best and made the US Open semifinals last year.
At Melbourne Park, Osaka made a huge splash before her opening match against Antonia Ruzic when she entered Rod Laver Arena in a jellyfish-inspired outfit, one of the boldest fashion statements seen at a Grand Slam.
