Arne Slot lays down gauntlet to Liverpool players amid 'weird' admission

Arne Slot has urged his Liverpool players to incorporate a more streetwise approach into their game as they kick off their Premier League title defence against Bournemouth on Friday night.

Ryan Gravenberch will be absent from the match due to a suspension incurred in the final fixture of last season, where the champions were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace. Despite already having a booking for simulation, the Dutch international was shown a straight red card for a professional foul, resulting in him missing just one match.

Slot pointed to that carding and an incident involving new signing Florian Wirtz in the second half of Sunday's Community Shield penalty shootout loss to Palace as examples of why his players could benefit from being a bit more savvy during certain phases of matches. However, he also expressed his pride at how his squad clinched the title by a 10-point margin without resorting to the 'dark arts' too frequently.

"Last Sunday, the chances we conceded were primarily because we lost the ball very simply in midfield three times, allowing them to counter-attack us," Slot said during his Thursday morning press conference.

"You could argue that Ryan is always very careful with the ball, but I'm not sure how much we missed him last Sunday. But it's clear that Ryan had a significant impact last season. It's not amusing, but I can't find another word - everyone has probably forgotten, but he received his suspension due to two yellow cards.

"The first was for a dive, there is one team in the league that, in my opinion, is by far the most honest team and when they play - and I sometimes blame them for this - they never try to make more of a foul, like Cody in the 2-2 game with Palace, we conceded and he got a push in the back he was too clean.

"So if there is one team in the league that is very clean, never dives, never time delays, it is us. And we have a suspension now for a player diving for a yellow card. But I have said many times, probably the midfield might be our strongest line when it comes to the bodies we have.

"Unfortunately, Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) had a bit of a different pre-season but he is back fit now so I still have a choice to make in midfield, even if Ryan is not there."

Slot continued: "Maybe for me to use the right words in English, but you can never be too honest. But I saw this week Fenerbahce against Feyenoord and I saw a lot of moments where players were really smart. These kinds of things, should we use them more? I am not sure.

"For me the best game last season I was part of was PSG against us, especially our home game, I like that more than the away game. But that was just such high intensity because both teams were here to play and not a foul or time delaying.

"I am proud of who we are and we won the league by being who we were, so let us stay who we are. But sometimes, like against Palace - if I talk to a referee or fourth official, it is about this - but they hold Florian, clearly in midfield, and he is so fair that he didn't fall over and the referee says 'If you don't fall I don't give a free-kick.'"

"That is a little bit weird. And then a few moments later they fell down and the referee sees they fell down so it is probably a foul. We had so much more possession than Palace but we made 13 fouls and they made five. We are a very fair team, that is clear, and that is also maybe the reason we won the league, so why change some things when it went so well?"