While Arne Slot‘s implementation of a new system mightn’t be going to plan, he hasn’t been helped by the individual mistakes of several Liverpool players.For a manager with a set of players who can do things with a football that us mortals can only dream of, their job becomes less about instructing and more about facilitating.They are there to put the system in place that will get the best out of the players already in situ – just nobody tell Man United that.Now, this isn’t always done with a view to immediate success, hence why coaches need time to work with players.However, when things go wrong consistently, the question of ‘is it the system or the players?’ comes up as regularly as a clock chimes the hour.It is a topic akin to the chicken and egg debate; one usually doesn’t come without the other and there is no simple answer.What we can be sure of, though, is that no matter your thoughts on Slot’s tactics this season, some of Liverpool’s players are failing to do the basics. Liverpool didn’t win their duels against ChelseaCody Gakpo was far from the only poor performer on Saturday, as Liverpool became the first Premier League champions to concede two or more winning goals in injury time since Arsenal in 2004/05.However, the Dutchman is a good case study to see how individuals were making mistakes that Slot couldn’t account for.Against Chelsea, FotMob tells us Gakpo was dispossessed three times, misplaced eight of his 36 passes, produced zero accurate crosses of three attempted and managed just two successful dribbles from three.The left-winger may have scored, but his all-around performance was frustrating. Perhaps most concerningly, a pattern emerged throughout the team of Liverpool losing their battles.Gakpo won just three of his 10 ground duels and Florian Wirtz lost four of his six, while Mo Salah and Conor Bradley lost all five.The conclusion fans often draw from players losing too many duels is a lack of effort. That isn’t necessarily the case, though.It can be down to the angle of approach, the fatigue already being suffered by the player before going into the tackle or even the opponent they are coming up against.For example, while not ideal, you wouldn’t expect Florian Wirtz to come successfully out of a tackle with Moises Caicedo more often than the holding midfielder.However, when a pattern like Liverpool’s emerges, it requires closer observation by the coaching team. Arne Slot obsessed over duels last season For a manager who mentioned the importance of winning your duels so frequently upon his arrival, the focus of Slot’s side seems to have been lost.After Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Man United at Old Trafford last season, the head coach said of Ryan Gravenberch: “What impressed me most when I started working with him was how much he can run and then still how good he is when arrives in the duel.“And today you saw with him, Dominik (Szoboszlai) and Macca (Alexis Mac Allister), how much they were all keeping on running.“Because sometimes you’re late but then they just kept on running and arriving in the duel, so that is the one thing that impressed me most about him, how good he is without the ball.”While Slot was referring to Gravenberch in this instance, it was a principle he applied to the whole team like Jurgen Klopp before him. Why are Liverpool making individual mistakes?With less control of the game comes challenges in which players are less likely to emerge with the ball.When the team aren’t in sync, the pressing machine isn’t as effective and therefore players are less likely to come away with the ball.As for the rest of the basics, the misplaced passes and the poor touches, they are most likely down to players not being comfortable in their new roles, playing alongside new teammates and lacking confidence.Virgil van Dijk was also keen to remind us that the passing of Diogo Jota should be noted as a potential reason for individuals suffering off-days.While this can’t be quantified and grief isn’t a linear process, it is important to remember criticism should not be personal, even more so than usual.FotMob is an essential app for every fan to keep up to date with their team or follow football worldwide, their incredible new features provide all you could ever want and information you never knew you needed! You can download the FotMob App here.