Slot accepts 'noise' will continue unless Reds improve and win trophy

Liverpool manager Arne Slot during a press conference at Anfield. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.

A defensive Arne Slot insisted Liverpool can still win a trophy this season but accepted if they continue to under-perform at both ends of the pitch the growing criticism would increase significantly.

The Dutchman said securing silverware - they are still in the FA Cup and can guarantee qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League at home to Qarabag - would make it an "acceptable" campaign.

But it is their Premier League form which is attracting the scrutiny as Saturday's defeat at Bournemouth was their seventh of the season. It dropped them to sixth in the table and although they are only two points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, it prompted questions about their ability to qualify for the Champions League.

Former defender Jamie Carragher claimed the squad was not equipped to compete in the Premier League despite having £450million spent on it in the summer, adding to the criticism coming Slot's way.

"I think it's going to be really difficult to quiet the outside noise with the position we are in in the league so even if we win a few games, every loss or every disappointing result will start the noise coming back again," Slot said.

"It's impossible to shut down the noise at a club like this if you are not competing for the league.

"Coming back on what is acceptable for me, I can say if we improve in both boxes, I think we are able to win something this season. If we only improve in one box, it is going to be really difficult to win something this season.

"If we can't improve in both boxes, it's going to be a lot of noise throughout the whole season."

Slot won the Premier League in his first year, Liverpool's second in five years having gone 30 years without a title, but has found the going tough second time around.

Injuries have contributed to that and he goes into Wednesday's final league phase match in Europe with just one fit senior centre-back in Virgil van Dijk, with Joe Gomez and Giovanni Leoni injured and Ibrahima Konate on compassionate leave after the death of his father.

Slot has been criticised for some of his selections; at Bournemouth he started his only fit striker Hugo Ekitike on the bench and took off first-choice left-back Milos Kerkez at half-time and his other full-back Jeremie Frimpong after an hour despite not having a like-for-like replacement.

But the Liverpool boss insisted the "struggles" he was facing made it impossible to do otherwise.

"I have to adapt the system or put players in different positions. Taking Jeremie off, no-one would complain if I brought in a similar player but I had to end the game with four defenders where only two were real defenders," he added.

"That does not help with the narrative. That I am completely aware of. Before people say I don't listen to performance staff or medical staff, I am listening and sometimes I make my own decisions.

"I speak to my players and know how they feel and if they are ready to go again for 90 minutes. For people who don't have all the information, that could lead to scrutiny. I am aware of that.

"If you are not aware of the information it is not strange to criticise decisions but if people knew the struggles we and I are facing, they would be more understanding of the decisions I make."