Arne Slot's REFUSAL to utilise Liverpool star is a massive mistake

Arne Slot confirmed on Saturday that he is taking full responsibility for Liverpool's results, but owning up to his selection mistakes would also go a long way. He's missing a trick right now.

Following the truly dismal 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Anfield this weekend, the Reds have slumped to a record of eight losses in their last 11 games, spanning all the way back to September.

Now three months into the season, there's little excuse for the new signings to not be up to speed yet and the long-standing squad members should have adapted to their new teammates by now.

Unfortunately, it's not worked out like that, and Slot's tactical approach, coupled with injury troubles, has made Liverpool are really troubling watch recently. In some way, though, it appears as though there's a level of stubbornness at the club which is actively hindering the team's ability to succeed.

Ramsay is being IGNORED by Slot

In his press conference this week, the Dutchman noted that Liverpool have five defenders available, which suggests that he only considered Andy Robertson, Milos Kerkez, Virgil Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez, even though academy starlet Calvin Ramsay was also in the squad.

The 21-year-old Scot has never made a Premier League appearance, but he's been at the club for a few years, learning his trade as a right-back at different clubs through several loan moves. Given that both Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong were unavailable, he's a really useful asset for us to have.

However, it was decided against Forest that Dominik Szoboszlai would be played as the right-back, and Ramsay didn't get the opportunity to feature throughout the contest - once again, it's important to reiterate that Liverpool didn't have either of their two right-sided full-backs available.

You couldn't have asked for a set of conditions more suited to giving Ramsay a chance to shine.

But in Slot's post-match press conference, everything became clear and it's a concerning sight.

He said: "We had to start the game with a midfielder at right-back because both of our full-backs are injured. Joe Gomez can also play there, but he has not trained the whole week. He was not fully ready to start. When you are 2-0 down, it's not really necessary to bring in a defender. You prefer to bring in someone who can score a goal."

From those quotes, it's clear that Ramsay seemingly doesn't exist in Slot's mind. Regardless of the match situation, it was completely unnecessary to play Szoboszlai at right-back instead of midfield.

After all, the Hungarian has been Liverpool's best player this season, so it feels wrong to move him away from his best position. Furthermore, we've seen Ramsay play in the Carabao Cup this season and hold his own. Why should his first-team audition not warrant due consideration?

The Reds were miles off the pace against Forest, as they have been for most of this season, so it's not as easy as suggesting that Ramsay's involvement would've solved our issues, but we might have got some more balance in the team, and Curtis Jones might then have been available off the bench.

Slot might well have his reasons for not playing the Scot, but fans were left frustrated by the call.

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