Gakpo opens up on Liverpool 'embarrassment' as Slot feels the heat after poor run

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool's players held “honest” conversations after feeling embarrassed following back-to-back 3-0 losses that have left manager Arne Slot in his most difficult period since joining the club, forward Cody Gakpo said Tuesday.

Liverpool has slumped from the high of being crowned Premier League champion in Slot's first season in charge to the low of losing eight of its last 11 games, despite spending $570 million in a remarkable summer outlay that included signing Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak for club-record fees.

The Reds head into a Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday on the back of a 3-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest in the league on Saturday, which followed a defeat by the same score at Manchester City before the international break.

“After the game, it was kind of an embarrassment,” Gakpo said of the result against Forest, "because we lost 3-0 at home in front of own fans, which is not good. We know they are here to help us in every tough situation, but we have to give them something back as well.

“It was not a good feeling but the days after that we were just ... I don't want to say angry but we try to speak together and really to be honest to each other (about) what we have to do better to perform better on the pitch. We also know we have to stick together and that's what we will try to do.”

At Anfield, Gakpo will be facing the team where he played from 2018-23 and which leads the Dutch league by six points in its bid for a third straight top-flight title.

It promises to be another test for Liverpool's creaking defense, which has conceded 20 goals in 12 games in the Premier League. Only four teams have let in more.

“The amount of goals we have conceded and the amount of goals we have conceded from set pieces (nine) is close to ridiculous for a club like us,” Slot said.

With right backs Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley currently sidelined and back-up central defender Giovanni Leoni out for a year with ACL damage, Slot said he is down to five senior defenders in his squad in the middle of a congested run of end-of-year fixtures.

One of them isn't even fully fit, with Joe Gomez — who can fill in at right back or center back — battling a knee problem.

It means Slot is having to play Ibrahima Konate every game, despite criticism from fans and pundits toward the France center back for his recent displays, and deploy key midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai as an emergency right back at times.

Asked whether Gomez would be available against PSV, Slot said: “Normally I wouldn’t go into detail maybe that much but he had an injection last week on his knee. So, that means that’s normally not because you don’t feel anything.

“Apart from maybe me making the decision to play Dom or someone else in that position, this is also to do with him not being completely fit. Although, he is in the group tomorrow, as he was on Saturday. But (he) wasn’t able to train last week every single time.”

Liverpool's Champions League performances have been markedly better than those in the Premier League.

A 1-0 win over Real Madrid last time out was a third victory in four games for Liverpool in the first stage, putting the team in eighth place in the 36-club standings.

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Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, right, and Ryan Gravenberch react after Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White scored his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, center, attends a team training session at the AXA Training Centre, Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, ahead of Wednesday's Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

Liverpool manager Arne Slot attends a press conference at Anfield, Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, ahead of Wednesday's Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

From left, Liverpool's Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister, Hugo Ekitike, Federico Chiesa react after Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White scored his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

GUTACH, Germany (AP) — At the edge of a trail in Germany’s picturesque Black Forest region, waterlogged steps sink into ankle-deep water and mud, requiring careful footing. An ocean away, a sandy trail in the ponderosa forests of northern Arizona demands treading just as deliberately when walkers reach a line of tree stumps arranged as stepping stones.

The pathways are located nearly 9,700 kilometers (6,000 miles) apart but share a notable feature: they were designed for visitors to use without wearing socks or shoes.

Barefoot trails exist around the world, inviting people to get closer to nature through sounds and sensations. Feeling cool mud squish between toes, stepping on pine needles and exploring meditation caves, scent stations and dark rooms transform a routine walk into an immersive experience.

Walking shoeless on varied surfaces also may contribute to emotional well-being and overall foot health, according to podiatrists and barefoot enthusiasts.

Below, more about where and why some people are bringing themselves down to earth one step at a time.

Theories about the benefits of going barefoot have gained popularity among runners and other athletes in recent decades, as well as with environmentalists and as an alternative mental health treatment, but the idea has been around for well over a century.

Sebastian Kneipp, a 19th century German Catholic priest and early pioneer of naturopathy, promoted nature exposure, water therapy and barefoot walking as exercise and a way to stimulate circulation and support overall health, including immune function. He recommended walking barefoot over “dew-wet grass” or snow and is said to have called shoes “foot-bending machinery.”

His philosophy inspired trails and paths across Europe, where they are sometimes known as Kneipp paths, and to a lesser extent in the United States. In Asia, reflexology trails made of stones, pebbles and grass are intended to stimulate acupressure points on the soles of the feet, a concept linked to traditional medical therapies.

Germany's Park mit allen Sinnen, which in English translates to “park with all senses,” reflects a broader focus on wellness tourism in the Black Forest, which covers more than 6,000 square kilometers (2,317 square miles) and where visitors can breath mountain air, soak in thermal baths and visit spas offering treatments that incorporate local plants and herbs.

The park charges an admission fee. Its website says that meandering barefoot over the 2 kilometer-long (1-mile-long) trail's different surfaces "is ideal for exercising your back and spine, and at the same time, it’s a perfect foot reflexology massage in the fresh air.”

Leah Williams, the owner of The Barefoot Trail park near Flagstaff, Arizona, opened a manicured trail of the same length near Route 66 two years ago after a family trip in Europe. Tickets are required, though Williams operates the park as a nonprofit charitable foundation.

Williams said her mother, who is from Germany, encouraged her to go barefoot as a child climbing trees and playing in the forests and creeks around Seattle — a practice Williams carried into adulthood and passed on to her own children. While living in the Netherlands, her family visited a barefoot trail in Belgium.

“I loved everything about it. I saw all ages, and I loved seeing older people at the park because you don’t see that here in the United States," Williams said. "I thought, ‘Wow, when I get back to the United States, I’m going to build one of these parks myself.'”

She offers educational materials for schools, summer programs and camps to children who visit the park.

“Being good stewards of nature is really our job as human beings, and we have taken 13 acres (5 hectares) of land at our park for our community enjoyment, ... for local, statewide and regional enjoyment,” Williams said, her eyes moist with emotion.

Most people don't walk outside barefoot regularly, and exposing their tender feet to different textures, temperatures and types of contact can take getting used to.

“You should see people’s faces when they start walking,” Williams said, chuckling at the thought.

While many parks with barefoot trails encourage users to walk the paths sans shoes, naked feet are not required. Guests with neuropathy, diabetes or other foot conditions are welcome to keep their shoes on at the parks in Arizona and Germany.

Some barefoot trails are designed to engage multiple senses.

At Park mit allen Sinnen, a sign that reads “Please be quiet” in German identifies a spot described as a meditation cave. Inside, a long bench faces tall windows overlooking the forest, and soft music plays through hidden speakers.

Elsewhere at the park, visitors can squeeze red bulbs to release the scent of papaya or apricots, or place their hands inside a box filled with wild boar fur.

Austria, Denmark, France, Hungary, Switzerland and the U.K. are among other European countries with barefoot trails. Some are meant for local residents and not tourists, so finding them can prove difficult. Searching the terms “barefoot” or “barefoot paths” in the local language might help.

In Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, some public parks have pebble trails, which are walkways with smooth stones cemented into place that can be used for reflexology and foot massage.

Similarly, there are so-called wellness parks and informal barefoot hikes on regular trails in the United States. But because of how rare they are in the U.S., Williams plans to expand the The Barefoot Trail concept elsewhere.

The foundation recently received about 8 hectares (20 acres) of land in a commercial and residential area of college town Lawrence, Kansas, to develop a park similar to the one she opened in Arizona.

“The park will be one of the components of a larger commercial space being developed,” Williams said. “It’s about integrating those natural environments into people’s daily lives and providing those safe spaces for people to enjoy.”

Mumphrey reported from Flagstaff, Arizona.

A sign at the Park for All Senses, known locally as Park Mit Allen Sinnen, is displayed, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Gutach, Germany. (AP Photo/Kelvin Chan)

The Park for All Senses, known locally as Park Mit Allen Sinnen, is seen, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Gutach, Germany. (AP Photo/Kelvin Chan)

A path of tree stumps lines a portion of a barefoot trail near Flagstaff, Ariz, on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cheyanne Mumphrey)

A sign nailed to a tree stump indicates where the foot washing station is at the end of a barefoot trail near Flagstaff, Ariz, on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cheyanne Mumphrey)

Shoes hang near the entrance of a barefoot trail near Flagstaff, Ariz, on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cheyanne Mumphrey)