Arne Slot gets a WIN despite horrendous Liverpool defeat

A truly awful performance from Liverpool but Arne Slot can take a lot from it. The boss has a boost here.

Liverpool were atrocious against Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup on Sunday. The Reds managed four shots on target across the 90 minutes and one of those came from Caoimhin Kelleher.

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The goalkeeper went up late for a free-kick and the resulting corner, managing to eventually get on the end of a cross. Now, he didn't score - but he came about as close as anyone else did in a Liverpool shirt.

It was an embarrassing display, in truth, and made all the worse by who was playing. Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa all played the full 90 minutes up top. Harvey Elliott was supposedly pulling the strings at no.10.

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And yet, Liverpool failed to really test Conor Hazard in goal. The Plymouth goalkeeper did make some impressive saves late on but they were efforts he really should have been saving.

This was Liverpool at their worst - unquestionably the most 'off it' they've been under Arne Slot. But with that, comes what is maybe a bit of positivity for Slot.

The Dutchman did get a bit of a win here.

Arne Slot's win

There are a couple of ways Slot can come away from this one. The most obvious is that Liverpool will not play in the latter stages of the FA Cup.

That can be a bit of a bonus for the Reds as they're very much planning on pushing all the way for the Premier League and UEFA Champions League. Let alone the upcoming Carabao Cup final.

It's a bit of rest in an otherwise full-throttle season. Yes, we'd rather Liverpool went on and won the FA Cup but perhaps this is the small boost they need to get over the line in the 'bigger' competitions.

And there's another more subtle 'win' for the boss here. He's essentially been proven right on a number of players who haven't been in the team regularly.

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Slot has made it very clear that he likes to stick to preferred players - poor Ryan Gravenberch can barely catch a break - and this largely confirmed that he's right to do so. Not that the Dutchman really needed his position cemented but here was proof that the players he's been trusting are absolutely the players he should trust.

Okay, so maybe we're stretching a bit with that one. But there's a reason, after all, that a major summer overhaul is planned.

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