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Arne Slot has revealed that Manchester United’s defensive weaknesses in wide areas were targeted by his Liverpool players in their 3-0 win at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Liverpool capitalised on two errors from Casemiro as Luis Diaz scored twice in the first half before Mohamed Salah struck in the 56th minute to complete a deserved win for Slot’s side.
The defeat has left United with just three points from their opening three Premier League matches, while further questions have been raised over Erik ten Hag’s tactical plan for the team.
Speaking after his side’s win, Slot highlighted United’s vulnerable areas and claimed Liverpool’s midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai played a pivotal role in the game.
When asked what he identified from United’s first two Premier League games against Fulham and Brighton, Slot told Sky Sports: ‘Last season, they were man-marking in the midfield and they had a press with the No.7 and the No.11, so with the striker and one of the wingers jumped with him.
‘This season they are more with a No.9 and a No.10 press, so they are more in a 4-4-2, so that’s different of course.
‘I see them, in my opinion, working harder if the ball is being played through them, so they run more. That’s at least what I saw in their first games.
‘Their style is also this season, maybe last season as well, that I don’t remember that well, but their full-backs are, nine out of ten times, really high and then Casemiro comes in between so if you pick the ball and you can keep Luis Diaz and Mo Salah high, then you’re constantly in a one-vs-one situation.
‘And then you need midfielders who can run, and we had three of them today who kept on running and if they arrive in a duel they are aggressive enough to win it. That was I think one of the main things why we could win today.’
When asked in his post-match press conference if he felt his Liverpool players could specifically target United’s midfield, Slot replied: ‘With the ball we thought, yes, when we had ball possession we were hoping that we could find one of our midfielders open or free every time.
‘But, again, also these three played a very good game, I agree with you, but they need their centre-backs to play the ball through the lines. They need the centre-backs to be close to them for the moments they cannot arrive, then Ibou [Konate] was there, Virgil [van Dijk] was there. Virgil every time stepped into the midfield defensively, also.
‘Like I said, it was a team performance and, you know me a bit now, it is always about the team and then the individual can show himself.
‘I think all 11 of them and the ones that came in played a very good game, but that’s not a coincidence because the team played really well.’
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