Liverpool manager Arne Slot has cleared up that he didn’t mean to be negative about Manchester United after the Reds’ defeat to them, telling Ruben Amorim he had a “very smart game plan.”

Slot showed himself to be a bit whiny after United beat Liverpool2-1 on Sunday. He suggested the reason his Reds side found it hard – and lost their fourth game on the spin – was because of the low block and long balls played by United.

“It is always difficult to play against a team that defends in a low block and mainly plays the long ball. It makes it even more difficult when you go one down after one minute when one of our players are on the floor,” he said.

Now, ahead of Liverpool’s next game, a Champions League tie with Eintracht Frankfurt, Slot has cleared up what he meant.

He told TNT Sports: “We faced a team that had their game plan very well in order.

“There was a bit of a debate over what I said after the game, but it was meant to be a compliment… so, they had a low block and played a lot of long balls. I was asked why it was difficult, and that was the reason.

“It wasn’t criticism, it was me trying to explain why the game was made difficult. If you win the ball back after they’ve played it long, there are 11 players behind the ball. I would add that, to a certain extent, I was positive that we created as many chances as we did.

“Against [Crystal] Palace, we were able to create a lot against a low block, the same against United, but not many games since I’ve been in charge have we been able to create many chances against a 5-4-1 low block. It wasn’t meant as a criticism at all.

“It was a very smart game plan and certainly their last three signings – two of them for sure – had an impact on the game, in [Matheus] Cunha and [Bryan] Mbeumo.”

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Liverpool clearly did find it difficult against United and though they made chances and should probably have scored more than they did, they only managed the one goal.

With Slot now identifying that he’s lost two games in quick succession against a low block, it would not be a surprise to see him make changes to try to better break them down.

Other sides changing their own tactics to try to hurt the Premier League title holders would also not be surprising.

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