- Liverpool hold a 12-point lead with just nine matches remaining in the season
- The Reds saw their Champions League and Carabao Cup hopes disappear
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Liverpool manager Arne Slot has warned his players that they will be haunted for decades if they if they fail to secure the Premier League title from this position.
The Reds will return from the international break with a 12-point lead over second placed Arsenal with just nine games remaining.
No team has ever lost the title with such a lead at this stage of a season but the mood at Anfield is not what it was a few weeks ago.
Slot’s team were eliminated from the Champions League on penalties by PSG before being well beaten in the Carabao Cup final days later.
‘I know how it works,’ said the Dutchman in a new book which details his journey to the club. ‘If you don’t pick up trophies as a manager or as a player, it can haunt you for decades.
‘There are different ways to be remembered. Look at the Holland team in the 1974 World Cup. Everyone saw that World Cup as the tournament where Holland came out as winners. But they didn’t come home with the cup. It was about their style of play.
Arne Slot has delivered a warning to his players about the Premier League title race
The Reds need to bounce back from what was the most miserable week of their campaign
‘Of course, I want to win as many games as possible – but I also want to stay in the memory of people. That is a trophy in itself, in my opinion.
‘I love it when people describe me as the coach who is always thinking in an attacking style. As long as you keep attacking, you improve the chances that you will come out as a winner.
‘Take as many risks with your team as you want because that will bring you more rewards than when you make choices fed by fear. I will lose games in my life in future, for sure – but never will I lose them from having a defensive mindset.
Slot added: ‘I have no fear when I do my team-talks these days. I am fully confident that all my attacking ideas will work out. I have no room for fear or nerves. I make my decisions on the basis of logic and what I see.
‘The only time I might feel a bit nervous is if Pep (Guardiola) was in the same room looking over my shoulder! I want my teams to play in such a dynamic way that we are really difficult for our opponents to analyse.’