Arne Slot is WASTING Liverpool's best player

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot is having a hard time of it right now.

The pressure is piling up on the 47-year-old Dutchman - who has overseen a run of six defeats in seven Premier League matches.

Back-to-back defeats came either side of the international window - to Manchester City at the Etihad and at Anfield against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

The Forest game was a new low for Slot - whose side are now languishing in the bottom half of the table.

It’s a far cry from the summer - when the Reds were on top of the world having won the title in Slot’s first season in charge.

They added £450m worth of new signings in the summer transfer window - improving the title-winning squad with the likes of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak.

Slot keeps using Szoboszlai at right-back

Slot - and sporting director Richard Hughes - simply haven’t got the balance right and Trent Alexander-Arnold is the player being missed most of all.

We’ve seen Jeremie Frimpong signed from Bayer Leverkusen for £29.5m and Conor Bradley given a new contract. But neither has managed to replace Trent in an effective manner and the pair are currently out injured.

Slot hasn’t been able to resist the temptation to use Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back - even when Bradley and Frimpong have been fit.

At the weekend the manager chose to select the Hungary captain at right-back - even though the likes of Joe Gomez, Calvin Ramsay and even Curtis Jones were available.

It meant the Anfield club were missing the 25-year-old’s thrust through the midfield as once again they failed to connect well with the attackers further forward.

Slot has used Szoboszlai as a Swiss army knife this season - sending him out in a range of positions to capitalise on his consistency.

But that is having a detrimental effect on the team as Szoboszlai is not given the chance often enough to influence the game from his best position of attacking midfield.

Liverpool missing Szoboszlai in midfield says James Pearce

And one club insider has now suggested that Slot is misusing his star player and is calling for the head coach to use his reserves much more often.

“Why play Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back yesterday in the absence of the injured absentees Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong?” James Pearce of the Athletic asks.

“Liverpool were always going to miss the Hungary international’s athleticism in midfield.

“Slot made the point that Joe Gomez, an unused substitute against Forest, had missed some training earlier in the week. But he has seemed strangely reluctant to turn to Gomez, the club’s longest-serving player, all season.

“The fact his only starts have come in the two Carabao Cup ties is baffling, given the lack of defensive options and Ibrahima Konate’s dreadful form at centre-back.

“Calvin Ramsay could also have deputised at right-back on Saturday, freeing up Szoboszlai to continue to operate where he can influence games best.”

Arne Slot won't use other right-back options

It’s clear that Slot doesn’t trust Gomez at this stage - with the England man playing only half an hour of Premier League football all season long.

Ramsay meanwhile was used in the EFL Cup amid a right-back injury crisis but unless things drastically change it appears Slot will continue to put Szoboszlai out of position rather than utilise Gomez or Ramsay.

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