Arne Slot will not sacrifice his ideals by naming a more defensive full-back – namely Joe Gomez – in pursuit of stability, but is “more than open to adapt” to win games.
Liverpool are now 10 games without a clean sheet and have conceded first in each of their last seven, leading to concerns over their defensive setup.
With regular changes at right-back as Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong and midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai all fill the role – along with Calvin Ramsay in midweek – there have been calls for a more defensive option.
In his pre-match press conference before the visit of Aston Villa, Slot was asked whether he had considered tweaking his back line with Gomez an option at right-back.
“It does go against my beliefs, but I have won games in the past [by doing that],” he admitted.
“I’m talking about Man City away [when we won 2-0 last season], which went maybe against my beliefs, but it was necessary to play it over there like that in the second half.
“So I would be more than open to adapt in certain situations.
“But I don’t think the story is, at least in my opinion, that we concede chance after chance after chance and that we are too open. It’s absolutely not like this.
“Apart from Palace, because in the first half we could have been two or three-nil down, and maybe the Brentford game, I think all the other games we deserved much more than we got.
“And we hardly conceded a chance – even this week, with the team I put out which played for the first time together, I think they only conceded three big chances.
“Unfortunately all three went in. But that’s because they were ‘big’; they weren’t ‘chances’, they were ‘big chances’.
“I don’t see us conceding a lot of chances, so I don’t see a reason to change our playing style completely.
“But we need to do better in not conceding goals, that’s for sure.”
Slot views Gomez as a centre-back
Gomez made his second start of the campaign as one of 10 changes for the 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, doing so again as a centre-back.
He has barely been used as a right-back even from the bench under Slot, who has relied upon him as backup to Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate.
With Bradley still available and Ramsay another option it is unlikely that the head coach will turn to his No. 2 in a role he has played regularly throughout his decade at Liverpool.
That could also be informed by his lack of options at centre-back, as if any of Van Dijk, Konate or Gomez pick up an injury, Slot would be desperately short in a key area.