Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has torn into Arne Slot’s style of play at Liverpool, suggesting he has made Anfield one of the ‘easiest’ places to visit.
The Reds are enduring a nightmare season, currently fifth in the Premier League and on the verge of being knocked out of the Champions League. Their title defence was over long ago, and Slot has come under heavy criticism in recent weeks.
Liverpool have often prided themselves on their strong home form, but have lost three matches at Anfield in the Premier League so far this season and have drawn four more.
At the weekend, they blew a 1-0 lead against struggling Tottenham, drawing more criticism, and Scholes is of the view that Liverpool’s style – and the lack of impact of Anfield – has contributed to their demise.
‘Anfield was always the toughest place to go,’ Scholes said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast. ‘Jamie Carragher mentioned it loads of times, you had the fans on top of you and the players on top of you.
‘They’ve lost that determination to stop the other team. It’s just not there any more. They’ve become almost a possession-based team. Florian Wirtz is a brilliant, brilliant footballer but I think he’s made them more into a possession team.
Paul Scholes has torn into Liverpool’s style under Arne Slot amid their poor run of form
The Reds are enduring a nightmare season, currently sitting fifth in the Premier League and on the verge of being knocked out of the Champions League
‘I think under (Jurgen) Klopp and probably under past managers as well at Liverpool, the last thing they’re thinking about at home is playing football. They’re just thinking about kicking the s*** out of you and steamrolling you and stopping you from playing.
‘Now this last year and a half it’s become probably one of the easiest places to play and you’d never say that about Anfield.’
Liverpool were often known for their aggressive approach under former manager Klopp, but changed their style under Slot.
They have drawn criticism for their build-up play, but also for their lack of adaptability from the Dutchman.
‘They won the league, brilliant, they won it quite early last year,’ Scholes continued. ‘Naturally, you are going to drop off a bit but the signs were there towards the end of last year they’ve lost the determination to stop the opposition.
‘They’re still good, they still want to be a nice pretty football team – but you’ve got to stop the other team.’
Later, he added: ‘When we talk about philosophies of managers and football clubs – how many times did we speak about Ruben Amorim coming to United with his own philosophy playing the way he wanted? Man United had their own philosophy, I think it’s almost a similar way for Liverpool.
‘Liverpool aren’t a possession team, they’re just not – they’re all over you like a Jurgen Klopp team. Now he’s (Slot) trying to do it a little bit different and I just don’t think it suits Liverpool.’
