New Liverpool boss Slot on first game against Ipswich and the prospect of transfers (Full Presser)
Liverpool boss Arne Slot on his first Premier League game in charge against Ipswich and the prospect of incoming transfers
Melwood, Liverpool, UK
Melwood, Liverpool, UK
Transcript
00:00Almost at the middle, after that.
00:12Benny.
00:13Hi, good to see you.
00:15All OK?
00:16All OK, yeah.
00:18You have the opportunity this weekend to become the first Liverpool head coach
00:22in the Premier League era to win that first competitive game in charge,
00:25so how are you feeling out of your first Premier League game
00:29Excited, of course, but it has nothing to do with what you just said,
00:33but I think after a pre-season it's always, for a player and also for a manager or a coach,
00:39it's always nice to start the season, because this is what you've worked for
00:43in the last few weeks.
00:45I know you've been asked about transfers quite a bit during this summer,
00:50but I have to ask you at the moment, the fact that Zoubamendi ultimately decided
00:55to stay at Sochi, how much of a disappointment is that for you,
00:58and how likely is it that you are going to add to your squad
01:01before the transfer window closes?
01:03I mean, we see the link obviously with Mahmoud Ashurriyeh at Valencia now as well.
01:07There are a lot of questions in one,
01:10but I've said many times already that I think our squad is really strong,
01:15and it's not so easy to find players that can help us
01:18or can even strengthen the squad.
01:22Zoubamendi was one of them, to be fair, but he decided not to come,
01:26and then we go forward with the ones we have,
01:30and those ones have done really well in pre-season.
01:33We're in a good place, and like I said many times before,
01:37on the background Richard is trying to strengthen the squad as he can,
01:43but unfortunately Zoubamendi decided not to come.
01:47He did every effort, he tried everything to bring him in,
01:50but if a player doesn't want to come, it's obvious that he is not coming.
01:57In terms of that squad that you have,
02:00what do you see as the realistic aims, the realistic targets,
02:03once again for Liverpool for football this season?
02:06I think at this moment the whole team stayed together,
02:09we lost Joao Matip and Thiago, and Adrian is a goalkeeper of course,
02:14but the rest of the team stayed together, and that's also a very positive thing.
02:17We are always talking here about transfers,
02:20but it's also a very positive thing that we kept our players.
02:23They are in a good place at the moment, I said many times already,
02:27Jurgen left the team in a good place and we're trying to build from there.
02:31Last season was also a season where they could win a trophy with this team,
02:37so we are hoping and aiming for the same this season,
02:41it's not going to be easy, because there are a lot of good and strong teams in the Premier League
02:46that also strengthen the squad, but we're looking forward to the challenge.
02:50Among the team of keeping players, Trent, Mo, Virgil van Dijk,
02:53any developments as regards their contract situation,
02:56and how likely do you feel they will commit beyond next summer?
03:00I don't think this is the place to talk about contracts,
03:04but I can assure you that they are in the squad tomorrow.
03:09Arno, when you're coming off a pre-season that's been so analysed,
03:14intently watched from the outside,
03:16how excited are you to get the first game under way that actually means something?
03:20For me the games in pre-season meant something as well,
03:24although you don't get points for it,
03:26but I think it's important to prepare the team for the Premier League.
03:29Now we are excited to start the season against a promoted team
03:34that did really, really well in the last few years under their manager,
03:37and it's interesting to see what's going to happen tomorrow.
03:42How hard is it to prepare for a match against a team
03:46that have had a 22-year absence from the Premier League?
03:51Not harder than if you had to prepare them for a team
03:54that was in the Premier League for 22 years,
03:57because we also saw their games from last season,
04:00we saw their games in pre-season,
04:02so I don't think that's more difficult
04:04than if they would have been in the Premier League for a long time.
04:07It is true that a newly promoted club,
04:10there's a lot of positivity around a club like this.
04:15As people told me, every game in the Premier League is going to be an intense game
04:21and there are no easy games,
04:23and that is something we can expect tomorrow as well.
04:28A promoted team that only had a lot of positives in recent years
04:33will come up against us, really looking forward to it.
04:37But we are really looking forward to the game as well.
04:42Arne, what excites you most about this big job ahead?
04:47You've come to Liverpool after establishing a reputation in Holland,
04:51but one of the biggest clubs in the world, playing in the best league in the world,
04:56you've got the Champions League to look forward to,
04:58challenging hopefully on four fronts.
05:00What excites you most about it all?
05:03I don't think it excites me the most is the right word,
05:07but as a manager, wherever you are you try to do the same thing,
05:10you try to implement your playing style to the players.
05:13Fortunately for me, a lot of this playing style the players already knew,
05:17because many things have stayed the same
05:20and we try to adjust where we can to improve the team a bit,
05:24and this is where you're constantly working on,
05:26and that gives me and my staff a lot of energy,
05:29because the players have a lot of energy and try to implement the things we want
05:35and try to keep things the same as they were.
05:39So that gives energy to us as well, that the players really buy into it
05:43and want to make the best out of what we're trying to reach out to them.
05:48Present to them, that's maybe a better word.
05:51We've heard from a lot of the players pre-season
05:55how excited they've been by the slightly different ways you go about things.
06:02How far down the line is the first-team squad at the moment
06:06to the adaptation process that you and your team are trying to bring in
06:11as to where you want them to be now?
06:14I think everywhere around the world in pre-season
06:17everybody is really positive about everything,
06:22but it's a good thing that it's here as well.
06:25How far are we?
06:27I think I've said many times already that we're not changing everything.
06:31Actually, we don't change that much, because many things were really good.
06:35So then where are we?
06:38I think it would be perfect if after four or five or six weeks of pre-season
06:43you're already close to perfection, which is very difficult to reach,
06:49and some of them have only been in for 10 or 12 days.
06:52But like I said, many things have stayed the same
06:55and the players have stayed the same as well.
06:57So we are ready for the game tomorrow.
07:00If you talk about where we in the end want to go to,
07:04there are still a lot of things to improve.
07:07But I think if I'm here for three, four, five, six or seven years
07:12I will still give you the same answer, that there are a lot of things to improve,
07:15because it's impossible for players to reach perfection.
07:19We're always aiming for this, but there are always ways to improve the team.
07:28In terms of Trent, can you talk about where you see his best position?
07:34I think a position for a player is always related to the team,
07:38and it's also my aim to bring the best out of the player,
07:42but the first aim is to bring the best out of the team,
07:45and it helps if you also bring the best out of a player.
07:48Trent is known for playing as a right full-back for all his life, I think,
07:52and when he was a youngster he played at midfield.
07:55In the modern game you see a lot of full-backs going into the midfield,
07:59and that is what he did last season once in a while,
08:02and I saw him playing in the Euros at the midfield.
08:05I think he's capable of playing both positions really well,
08:09and then it's up to me where I think he could help the team the most.
08:32That argument I don't understand.
08:34If you don't strengthen the team you become weaker,
08:37that's a bit weird because normally you would either stay the same...
08:42And I truly believe that at the training ground
08:45you can help players and the teams to improve,
08:48and that is also what happened here in recent years,
08:51that the training ground really helped the team to improve.
08:55Maybe what you mean is if the clubs around you do strengthen the team,
09:00then maybe they become better, but it's not always true
09:04that if you bring in new players the team becomes stronger,
09:07because I also believe in general that every player in the team
09:13needs to have perspective on playing time,
09:16and if you keep bringing players in sometimes the energy in the group goes down as well.
09:21But like I said many times, we, and with me I mean Richard,
09:26are trying to strengthen the squad,
09:29and if we think we've found someone we try to bring him in,
09:33and then unfortunately the one we thought could help us said no.
09:40But we're thrilled on the background Richard is still trying to improve the team,
09:46but my main focus at the moment is fully on Ipswich.
09:51James?
09:53Arno, there's been a lot of speculation about Luis Diaz this summer,
09:56what is the situation with him?
09:58Is he someone you're counting on for the season ahead?
10:01When I walked in I said it was a screen from Sky Sports,
10:05I said it's the whole day it's about talking about football,
10:08so that there is a lot of speculation constantly in this country,
10:11that is clear for me.
10:13So it's not a surprise if I hear you saying it's also from Luis Diaz.
10:17Is there any player they don't talk about?
10:21A few, OK.
10:23His future is with us, because I like a lot what I've seen in the last ten days that he's in,
10:31and I saw the same last season, so he's had a big impact on the Liverpool season,
10:37and I'm hoping that he has a big impact in the upcoming season as well.
10:41Have you got everyone fit?
10:43Yes, we have, yeah.
10:47Salah Munoz has come into his third season as a full player,
10:50he's had some ups and downs, how do you get the best out of him?
10:54Because when he's on it, it seems tough.
10:57I thought you said first, but you said furt, didn't you?
11:01Then we have made a signing!
11:04Your question was?
11:06How do you get the best out of Salah Munoz?
11:11Bring him as much as we can into scoring positions,
11:14but again, I think every individual benefits from team performance,
11:20and if we as a team can bring our attackers, not only him,
11:26but also the other ones, as much as we can into dangerous positions,
11:29these players will score goals, that's also what we've seen in the pre-season,
11:33where we even scored goals out of smaller chances.
11:40So it's up to us to bring him or Diogo or all the other attackers
11:45as much as we can into promising positions for them,
11:48and then he, like all the others, will score their goals.