How Arne Slot overcame ‘avalanche of nonsense’ to silence Liverpool’s 'keyboard warriors' with key win over Aston Villa

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Steven Gerrard and Steve McManaman rubbished the criticism of Liverpool during their losing run as an "avalanche of nonsense" from "keyboard warriors" after The Reds got back to winning ways against Aston Villa. Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch scored in the 2-0 win, while Arne Slot's side kept their first clean sheet in seven weeks to temporarily climb to joint-second in the Premier League.

Highlights: Liverpool back to winning ways after landmark Salah goal

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Steve McManaman condemned the "avalanche of nonsense" that has been levelled at Arne Slot and Liverpool in their losing run after The Reds beat Aston Villa at Anfield.

Mohamed Salah became only the third player to score 250 goals for Liverpool, and Ryan Gravenberch netted on his return to the starting XI as The Reds swept aside an underwhelming Aston Villa side at home to record their first Premier League victory since September.

Despite that poor run of form, that also included defeats in the Carabao Cup and UEFA Champions League, this victory pushes Liverpool up to joint-second in the Premier League table at least temporarily, with Bournemouth, Sunderland and Manchester City still to play.

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And TNT Sports pundit McManaman rubbished the backlash that has dogged Liverpool throughout their loss of form.

"There has been a lot of nonsense spoken," McManaman said.

"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.

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"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."

Gerrard praises Slot’s response to ‘keyboard warriors’

Seven days ago, McManaman said Liverpool were "all over the place" from kick-off against Brentford and thought they looked "chaotic, individualistic", adding The Reds "could have conceded more" in the 3-2 defeat.

But after Liverpool were knocked out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, they looked a different side against Aston Villa and impressed former captain Steven Gerrard, who was in attendance as a TNT Sports pundit.

"I think he [Slot] has handled the last couple of weeks really well, he has been calm, he has been under immense pressure," Gerrard said.

"So have his players, but that is the demand here of Liverpool Football Club especially on the back of becoming champions, they do not rest on that. It is about parking that up and going for the next prizes.

"So he has handled it well, it is a great win, a big win. He deserves a lot of credit for that but they come thick and fast now. In two days' time the pressure will build again because they will 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."

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Slot made the decision to bench £116 million signing Florian Wirtz for the Anfield showdown against Aston Villa, with nine of Liverpool's 10 starting outfield players involved in the Premier League triumph last season.

And the move paid off, with Liverpool's press forcing the visitors into a littany of errors including one that gifted Salah the opening goal.

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"As a football player I had many setbacks, the margins are small in the Premier League," Slot told TNT Sports. "You see it every single game, again today because now we are on the good side of things winning 2-0 but it was again a close call like our other games were.

"I think what you have to do is address what goes well and does not go well.

"In other games we have sometimes conceded sloppy goals and today the big difference between the other games is not conceding a set piece and all of that is helpful.

"If you want to win a game of football because almost every Premier League game at the moment is about set pieces."

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