Slot admits Liverpool set pieces have been a “disaster”

Liverpool’s struggles at set pieces this season have been laid bare again by Arne Slot following the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth.

The head coach has been unusually open about the issue in recent interviews, even as results continue to suffer.

Slot’s comments, via TNT Sports, ahead of our match with Qarabag left little room for ambiguity.

“We have been a disaster in set pieces throughout this season.”

That blunt assessment raises an obvious question, if Slot is so aware of the problem, why does it keep happening?

Slot admits Liverpool weakness in both boxes

The Bournemouth game underlined how costly these moments have become.

A long throw in stoppage time was not cleared and Amine Adli scored the winner, it was another example of poor organisation and second-ball defending.

Slot did not hide from it afterwards. “Set pieces are also a part of the box, and we have been a disaster in set pieces throughout this season.”

He did point to small signs of progress. “The positive was that we scored two from set pieces as well, so there is a development to see maybe.”

That fits with what we have seen since the club parted company with set-piece coach Aaron Briggs at the end of December.

We went six matches without conceding from a dead-ball situation before Bournemouth exposed a lingering weakness.

The Marseille win was the clearest example of that improvement, with control replacing panic at corners and wide free-kicks.

But one setback was enough to bring the entire debate roaring back.

Liverpool set-piece record compared to open play

The numbers show why the issue refuses to disappear.

Premier League set-piece record (via Opta):

Liverpool’s defensive data is not bad in general terms, we have conceded the joint seventh-fewest shots in the Premier League.

Our expected goals against stands at just 7.7 yet the proportion of goals coming from set pieces is alarmingly high.

That imbalance explains why set pieces feel so damaging.

We are often defending well in open play but undoing that work from dead-ball situations.

It also means every lapse is magnified because so few goals are coming from other sources.

Jamie Carragher’s criticism of our lack of physicality against Bournemouth adds another layer.

He highlighted how easily Bournemouth carried the ball through midfield without resistance, creating the platform for chaos in our box.

That suggests the problem is not only technical marking but the overall structure before the ball even arrives.

Slot’s openness about the issue may be honest, but it also risks reinforcing the narrative that opponents should target us this way.

We are sixth in the table on 36 points, with Chelsea and Manchester United within touching distance.

Margins are thin, and conceding cheap goals is the fastest way to fall further behind.

The reality is that Liverpool are poor at set pieces right now, though there have been signs of improvement since December.

But until those improvements hold under pressure, Slot’s words will keep being thrown back at him every time the ball drops in our six-yard box.