Liverpool kickstarted their latest European adventure with a dominant 3-1 victory over AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Goals from Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai secured all three points for the Reds at the San Siro.
It was the perfect response from Arne Slot’s men whose perfect start to the season was brought to an end as Nottingham Forest‘s Callum Hudson-Odoi‘s second-half strike sunk Liverpool on Saturday.
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It comes as no surprise that Konate and Van Dijk’s goals came from set pieces, with fellow defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kostas Tsimikas contributing with the assists.
It was a summer of transition at Liverpool. A new manager. A Michael Edwards return. But the change wasn’t due to stop there with the club activley seeking a set-piece coach to potentially provide the Reds with that extra bit of fire power.
Liverpool’s philosophy on transfers carried over to looking for this said coach – that they won’t complete a move until they’re sure of guarenteed improvement – with Journalist David Lynch stating that the club are yet to find anyone who can promise what they’re looking for.
Instead, the responsibility has for now been put on the shoulders of Slot’s assistants in which the Dutchman was quick to praise after Liverpool’s victory at the San Siro.
“We hit the crossbar a few times today out of open play, so we needed set-pieces and it was good to see that we scored them for all the work my assistants and the players put in. It is nice to see it got rewarded today,” Slot said after the game.
Slot appears reluctant to sell Kelleher before the deadline
A MOVE FOR A SET-PIECE COACH POSTPONED
Aaron Briggs’ contribution to Liverpool’s set-piece success was outlined after the dugout swarmed around the first-team individual development coach.
Despite Liverpool playing very well in Milan on Tuesday, the bottom line is that they wouldn’t have claimed maximum points if it wasn’t for Briggs’ influence.
VfL Training Wolfsburg, 16.01.2024, FUßBALL – VfL Wolfsburg, Training, 1. Bundesliga, Saison 2023/24. Co-Trainer und Analyst Aaron Briggs VfL Wolfsburg Wolfsburg *** VfL Training Wolfsburg, 16 01 2024, FOOTBALL VfL Wolfsburg, Training, 1 Bundesliga, Season 2023 24 Co Coach and Analyst Aaron Briggs VfL Wolfsburg Wolfsburg
Therefore, according to Lynch, Anfield sources now insist that only the emergence of an ‘outstanding candidate’ would prompt Liverpool to consider pushing forward in approaching a specialist coach.
This may alter if Briggs and co fail to keep the set-piece goals coming or Liverpool fail to remain colossal when it comes to defending similar situations.
For now, though, it seems the Reds are sticking with what they’ve got.
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