Slot made wholesale changes to his squad that bowed out of the Carabao Cup following the loss to Palace. However, despite the mounting criticism about his team selection, the Dutch manager remained defiant and hit back at suggestions that his squad lacks quality or depth. Instead, the former Feyernoord coach blamed the club’s injury crisis and the gruelling fixture schedule for the team’s collapse in form.
“We have enough to play the games, but I have to take care of a few of them, why I made the decision not to play seven or eight,” he said. “I am happy with the team, the quality we have and convinced by the strategy and policy we have. But that makes it the issue, not all of them had a proper pre-season or have been injured, so when three or four are injured you go back to 15 or 16. I am convinced 20 is enough but we are struggling to keep them fit for obvious reasons.
“Alex came to us on September 1, and it has been harder to keep them fit, so if a few aren’t available, it comes to the same players. Maybe last season we were lucky, and now unlucky? But we’ve had a few away games with only a few days’ rest in between. No excuses, before people say…We have to manage the situation, three games in seven or eight days. So nothing to do with squad depth, more just injuries and availability of players.”