Arne Slot has confirmed that Liverpool are evaluating the possibility of appointing a new set-piece coach following the departure of Aaron Briggs. The head coach paid tribute to Briggs, who left the club on Tuesday, while acknowledging that Liverpool's struggles from dead-ball situations have been costly this season.
At the time of Briggs's exit, Liverpool had conceded a league-high 12 goals from set-pieces, including seven from corners. Slot suggested that improvement in that area could have significantly altered their league position. "If we would have done a bit better in set-pieces we would have had five, six, seven points more," he said.
Slot was unable to bring in Etienne Reijnen from Feyenoord in 2024 owing to work-permit issues, and declined to say whether he would make another approach for his fellow Dutchman. He added that the club are "looking at the situation" to determine what is best, but said he could not share any news until a decision is made.
Reflecting on Briggs's contribution, Slot said: "First of all, I want to thank him for the one-and-a-half years we worked together because he's been a part, and a big part, of us winning the league last year. He's a very good human being, a very promising, young English coach." Slot expressed confidence that Briggs would find a new challenge, saying he "deserves to get multiple chances again".
Liverpool travel to Fulham on Sunday, with Slot waiting to see if defender Joe Gomez will be available. Gomez was due to train with the squad on Friday, but the match will come too soon for midfielder Wataru Endo.
