Arne Slot cited Liverpool’s first-half errors as the main reason for their 3-2 defeat at Fulham, and admitted that his Premier League leaders have not dominated matches like the team that has won the last four titles, Manchester City.
The Reds were stunned at Craven Cottage on Sunday, finding themselves 3-1 down at the break. They went on to lose in the league for the first time since September, bringing to an end their 26-match unbeaten run in the competition.
Liverpool’s lead at the top therefore remained at 11 points following Saturday’s draw for second-placed Arsenal against Everton.
When asked if having such a comfortable gap in the title race has led to complacency in his squad, Slot replied in his post-match press conference: “I think there is no reason for us to be complacent.
“We are not No 1 at the moment because we win every game with a margin of three or four goals.
“I think everyone that has seen our games [knows] it takes us so much effort, so much hard work to win games of football, combined with quality of course.”
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Slot went on to talk about the way Man City recorded victories en route to their recent four titles in a row.
“The team that won the league in the last four seasons were already 3-0 up at half-time almost every single game they played.
“That’s not the way it is for us, so we are fully aware of the fact we have to compete for seven more games.
“We saw it on Wednesday when we played Everton, it was a close call. Today it was a close call and many times we’ve been on the right side. Today we were on the wrong side, mainly because of the errors we made.”
Defeat to Fulham means Liverpool have lost three of their last four matches in all competitions, including the EFL Cup final to Newcastle United, although it was just their second loss in the league this season.
Liverpool will now have a full week to prepare for the visit of West Ham United next Sunday (14:00 BST), while their title-race rivals Arsenal have to play twice in the meantime.
The Gunners have a huge midweek fixture, at home to Real Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final, before they host Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday evening (17:30 BST).
“Today it wasn’t enough and now we have a whole week to prepare for West Ham,” Slot added.
“Everyone needs to be aware and they are – actually, I didn’t need to tell [the players] – the only way we can win a game of football is through hard work, 90 minutes of constant effort.
“I’ve said it a few times now, we are not the team that are leading at half-time with 3-0 or 4-0 with three, four or five acts of brilliance.
“It was hard work every time we won a game of football this season, except for two or three games.”
