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The Dutch manager has stated that the Anfield decision-makers share his views regarding the poor performance streak and he will not abandon their forward-thinking philosophy in search of a solution. The tactician conceded that six losses in seven games was unacceptable ahead of Saturday's match against Aston Villa.

Pressure Mounting Throughout Challenging Phase

The manager acknowledged the pressure was on before his altered lineup suffered Carabao Cup elimination against Crystal Palace. However, he maintained that this pressure to arrest the slide is not coming from the Anfield hierarchy or football administration following a summer transfer outlay of nearly £450 million.

"We share common perspectives," remarked the manager, whose side will meet Real Madrid in the continental tournament and play against the Citizens in the domestic competition.

Squad Quality Remains Unquestioned

The coach is convinced his team "boast a remarkable roster if they are completely available and fully prepared for the schedule ahead". He mentioned that the summer investment in talents including the attacking midfielder and the Swedish striker, who is expected to be sidelined again against Villa through physical problems, had left the club "in a strong situation for the near future and the long-term future".

Team Cohesion Issues

When questioned about why his team were taking so long to gel, he responded: "That's not particularly helpful. 'Why, why, why?' I provide reasons and people say I'm offering alibis. I can identify multiple factors why we are struggling for victories or experiencing losses as we do but, as I say every time, there are insufficient justifications to have a run of form as we had now."

• Regardless of whether I could list 200 excuses
• When you are Liverpool you cannot lose
• The reality is six out of seven

Backline Performance

Only Burnley (21) have allowed more significant openings from open play this season than Liverpool (nineteen). The table-toppers, Arsenal, have conceded only two. Yet the manager disputes the champions have been too open and claims there is no basis to compromise forward-thinking approach for a more pragmatic style after ten fixtures without a goalless performance.

"In my view we're not conceding a lot of chances so I don't see a reason to modify our philosophy entirely but we need to do better in not conceding goals," he stated.

Particular Cases

"Versus the Red Devils, how many openings did we give up? Versus the German side when we were 3-1 up, we hardly conceded a shot on target. In every match we have competed in we haven't given up a numerous openings. Definitely not. We do allow a somewhat more than the prior term but that stems from us being trailing by a goal so you take a bit more risk. But in general I don't believe that our challenge is that we give up too many openings. Our issue is we don't score the openings we produce."