Gerrard Hails Slot Response and Blasts "Keyboard Warriors"

Steven Gerrard has hailed Arne Slot for how he has handled the “demand” of Liverpool Football Club after admitting the Dutchman had been under “immense pressure.”

Goals from Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch, either side of half-time, secured Liverpool’s first Premier League win since September as they beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield.

The champions endured a torrid run of form after their 2-1 win over Everton in late September, losing six of their next seven matches across all competitions.

The slump in form, consisting of four consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time since November 2014, resulted in Slot facing an enormous amount of pressure.

But former Liverpool captain and Villa manager Gerrard has hailed Slot for how “calm” he was during the crisis before steering the Reds back on track.

“Listen, I think he’s handled the last couple of weeks really well. He’s been calm. He has been under immense pressure, so have his players,” Gerrard told TNT Sports.

“But that is the demand here at Liverpool Football Club, especially off the back of becoming champions.

“You don’t rest on that. It’s about parking that up and going for the next prizes. He’s handled it well.

“It’s a great win; he deserves a lot of credit for that. But they come thick and fast, in two days’ time, the pressure will build again as he’ll be expected to beat Real Madrid.

“Compared to when we played there are a lot more people with microphones and cameras in front of their face, there are a lot more keyboard warriors and a lot of unnecessary noise.

“But it is football in the modern age, you have to take the rough with the smooth, that is life.

Steve McManaman, meanwhile, insisted the poor run of form resulted in an “avalanche of nonsense” being spoken about the Premier League champions.

“There has been a lot of nonsense spoken,” the former Liverpool midfielder told TNT Sports.

“Yes, you can take criticism, the right criticism at the right times and their performance, particularly against Brentford, probably warranted criticism, some of the other games not so much.

“But there was an avalanche of nonsense spoken and they know that.

“They are not immune to any of it all and it is far more noticeable now because people have got things to do and podcasts to sell and all this nonsense, so everybody is click-baiting this and getting involved.

“It is just everywhere at the moment, you cannot avoid it. The only way you can respond is by doing that tonight.”

Slot has full backing of FSG

Before the Premier League clash at Anfield, Slot insisted he retained the full backing of Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, and wasn’t worried about his future at Anfield despite his side’s recent form.

“For me they say similar things,” the Dutchman told reporters on Friday.

“I speak mainly to Richard [Hughes] and once in a while to the others. They also see similar things as what I see.

“For me the conversations haven’t changed a lot. We always talk about the game and it’s always nicer to talk about the game if you have won than if you have lost.

“[I feel supported] not only in this period but also when things go well.”

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