Liverpool boss Arne Slot on Curtis Jones and Diaz form ahead of Villa
08/11/2024
AXA training centre, Liverpool, Uk
08/11/2024
AXA training centre, Liverpool, Uk
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00:00We miss her?
00:07Shani's there.
00:09Ah, OK.
00:10I've not played.
00:16At last no questions about contracts then.
00:19Well, how about that.
00:22JĂĽrgen, you've been talking about the start you've had so far,
00:2816 games, 14 wins, one draw, one defeat,
00:31and of course dispatching the Bundesliga champions is a very good way to continue that as well.
00:36Have you been surprised at just how well this start has been for you and Liverpool this season?
00:41I don't think surprise is the right word to use, because I knew the quality of our team.
00:47But quality is one thing, but to be consistent is the second thing.
00:51And I'm not surprised in this, because from the moment I started working with them
00:57I saw how much energy they put in on a daily basis,
01:01and that is, I think, the reason why you can be consistent.
01:04If you do the work on a daily basis, every day, you can be consistent,
01:10and sometimes a bit of luck comes with that as well.
01:15Most of our results were, I think, deserved, but some of them were a close call,
01:20and then you have maybe a bit of luck as well.
01:25But in general, not surprised, because of the quality I already thought was in the team,
01:31and when I started working with them I also saw how much effort they put in to get these results.
01:37And after Villa and Southampton, this intense period continues,
01:42you've got Real Madrid, Man City, Merseyside Derby in there as well.
01:46With this sort of challenge that's coming up,
01:49how are you managing the expectations within the squad, especially after this stop?
01:54Before, I'm not trying to manage expectations with the squad,
01:58because we don't talk about expectations.
02:01We do talk about expectations, and the only expectations I have
02:04is that they put the same effort in on a daily basis like they've done
02:08for the past three or four or five months, and probably for the last six or seven years,
02:11but I'm only here for three or four or five months now.
02:14That's the only expectation there is, that they work every day as hard as they can
02:19to get our habits, what we want to see on the pitch, in the best possible way.
02:24And with that, normally results come as well, but I'm not asking them to win every game,
02:30I'm hoping they do, what I do ask from them is that they put the effort in on a daily basis,
02:35and that's the only thing we focus on.
02:39I think the players first of all, after Saturday, think about the national team,
02:44and when they come back then we focus on the games you were just talking about.
02:49You talked about effort there, I know you mentioned intensity as well.
02:53We've seen some really improved performances,
02:56that's the right word, from Luiz Diaz, for example, and Curtis Jones on a different level.
03:01What are you doing with those individuals specifically to bring this extra level out?
03:07With Curtis, maybe it's not me who did it, because he became a father,
03:11and I had nothing to do with that!
03:14Ah, no!
03:19You never know if that plays a part or not, but since the moment he became a father
03:26he started putting great performances in,
03:32and he already did this in the first few weeks we worked together in pre-season,
03:37I was like, wow, quality player, but then his performances dropped a bit,
03:41but since the moment he became a father he's outstanding again.
03:46It might have to do a bit with that, but in general I think it has to do with the way the team plays,
03:52because every player that comes in has a good performance,
03:56and that probably tells you a lot about the quality of the team, how they play together.
04:00That then, as a result of that, individual performances are good as well.
04:06So parents are what makes you a better player, perhaps?
04:09In his situation it seems like this, so let's wait if that is true.
04:17Arnaut, just to build on something you asked there, in terms of the expectation,
04:21you spoke about what it's like with the players amongst the squad,
04:25the wider Liverpool group, the fans, all the noise around the club.
04:30The start that you've made has been historic, it's been remarkable,
04:34so do you try and keep a lid on people's expectations of you and your team,
04:38or do you allow people to dream a little bit?
04:43I always feel and think that what the outside world is talking about
04:48is not always what comes inside the training ground,
04:52like the AXA or at my former clubs at Feyenoord.
04:55We are there to do our work and to become a better player on a daily basis,
05:00or to keep having the same level.
05:03We are not inside this building, OK, the screens are on and we see all the time
05:08all this news coming along, but never on the news it says,
05:11Liverpool is doing great, Liverpool is doing great.
05:14We are just here to do our work, and it's not that this is the first time
05:19that this club is where it is at the moment.
05:22I think for most of these players it's a normal situation,
05:26and I don't think they get carried away at all by us being top of the league at the moment,
05:31because they know how small the margins are when it comes to our results,
05:35and also how small the margins are when you look at the amount of points
05:39we are ahead of the other teams.
05:41And what about the fans, do you ask them to keep their feet on the ground,
05:45or are you quite happy for them to get excited and wonder about what can come?
05:51If the end result is them being excited to bring the atmosphere they brought
05:56in the second half against Brighton and the whole game against Liverpool,
05:59I'm hoping they will keep being excited for as long as they possibly can be,
06:03because that atmosphere helped us in both games a lot.
06:06So, yeah, maybe that's your answer.
06:11Lee Carsley said that Curtis Jones is one of the best players he's worked with in terms of ability.
06:17How far would you go with that, and what makes him such a good player?
06:23What makes him such a good player?
06:26He has a lot of qualities on the ball.
06:29When he has the ball he's never afraid to do something special with it.
06:35Sometimes that led to a situation where, in my opinion, he touched the ball a bit too much,
06:41because sometimes he's a bit too overconfident.
06:44But confidence is an important tool, and that's what he has,
06:48and he combines this at the moment, and probably for a longer period,
06:53but as long as I'm working with him, with an incredibly hard work rate.
06:57And we can trust him in defence as well, you saw how well he played against Cole Palmer.
07:01So he's quite complete, but for him now, and I used this word a few days ago,
07:06it's all about consistency.
07:08Because if you're a quality player, I think they're all quality players,
07:12and to have a good performance once in a while, that's not a big accomplishment.
07:16But the best players in the world show up every three days,
07:19and if he wants to continue progressing, that's what he has to show now.
07:24Every three days, the player he's been for us in the last few weeks.
07:28Andy Robertson has been the first choice left back at Liverpool for a few years now,
07:33you've been given Simmercast a few starts lately,
07:36is there much of a gap between those two for you?
07:39I think my line-ups tell you what I think about this,
07:44I think we have two very good full-backs, and we play many, many games.
07:49I think both of them need their games,
07:54because it's also a position where a lot of effort is being asked.
07:58If you look at the players that have played most games,
08:01it's most about our centre-backs, and they don't run the most,
08:05if you compare that to full-backs or midfielders or wingers.
08:09So there are multiple reasons why our full-backs or midfielders are sometimes rotated,
08:14but definitely also has to do with the quality of the players,
08:18and the difference, at least in my opinion, between the quality of these players.
08:22So, for me, I have two very good left full-backs, Andy has started a lot,
08:27Kostas has started a few times, let's see who starts so suddenly.
08:32Hi, Arne. In terms of the contract situations,
08:36you're obviously going to have an equal,
08:41so from your point of view, would you like them to stay beyond the next one?
08:45LAUGHTER
08:49It would be strange if I have no input, although I'm a head coach now,
08:53and sometimes it's convenient to say I'm a head coach, I'm no longer the manager.
08:57So talk about contract situations with someone else.
09:00I think in general contract situations are talked about by the people who should talk about it.
09:05I'm one of them, but I should not talk about this in public,
09:09so I do talk about this with Richard,
09:12and that's the place where we have to talk about it,
09:16and not in front of a microphone with you guys.
09:21Karl?
09:23You've tried a few options in your central attacking,
09:28you've had one, you've had two, you've had a false nine.
09:32Is that situation you see will continue to be fluid in terms of who plays there?
09:40That depends also on the availability of the players.
09:44When we had Darwin and Djoko available, we always played one of those two.
09:50At the moment Djoko was no longer available,
09:54and in my opinion, because we played so many games and Darwin didn't play in the first games,
09:59it was too much for him, so that's why we started to come up with other ideas.
10:05To be honest, I liked especially the last idea,
10:09which I think every Liverpool supporter did, with Lucio scoring three goals,
10:13two as a nine and one as a winger.
10:16That's always interesting to see, but Lucio is also a very good left-winger.
10:22At this moment we've got four attackers available for three positions,
10:27so we could come up with another idea again,
10:32but if Djoko comes back and Darwin is back,
10:35then we've got two number nines available again,
10:38and in the beginning of the season I always chose one of these two.
10:42But, like I said, Lucio did really well and it was, even for me,
10:47maybe a bit of a surprise to see how well he did.
10:50Of course, I played him there for a reason, I expected him to do good,
10:54but that he did so well, that was even a surprise for me.
10:59You mentioned Djoko there, any idea when he'll be back?
11:07Yeah, we expect him back after the international break.
11:10Now, after the international break it's six or seven months to go!
11:14But the first weeks after the international break we expect him back.
11:19What is his injury?
11:21Yeah, I always say in Holland there's privacy about this,
11:25and I don't know how it is over here, but like I just said,
11:31he will be back one or two weeks after the international break.
11:36Hi, Jordan. After Leverkusen you mentioned that managers seem to come to Anfield
11:40and change their game plan a lot.
11:42Thinking about Aston Villa, they've got such depth in their squad,
11:45not only in personnel but in terms of style,
11:48when you think about the difference between maybe a John McGinn
11:51or a Leon Bailey in the right wing,
11:53as you come to a right-back or as you come to a centre-back.
11:56With the team with so many options, but also in a bit of a bad moment at the moment,
12:00how hard is it to try and game-plan for all the different permutations?
12:05If you ask me now, I would say it's not that difficult,
12:08because Unai Emery has played in a similar style for years now at Aston Villa.
12:14It's almost always the same formation,
12:20but it sometimes depends on the player that you can have different characteristics.
12:25But his style of play, his idea about football has always been the same.
12:31Saying this, that also was the situation with Xabi Alonso,
12:36who we studied for I don't know how many games,
12:39but never once he came up with the idea of playing Boniface as a left winger
12:44and playing without a number 9, that he hasn't done at all before we played him.
12:49But that's maybe also a compliment.
12:52Most managers feel that we have a very good team,
12:56so they think they have to change their game-plan,
12:59not their playing style, but their game-plan a bit.
13:03If you ask me now, do you expect Unai to change a lot?
13:07I would not expect that, because he never did this,
13:11not if he played City and also not when he played Liverpool in the past few years.
13:16But in terms of personnel, he can change a bit, like you just said,
13:20he has a different option in the full-back, a different option in the wings.
13:23But it's always been a 4-4-2, and he's been playing for many years now.
13:34Just on Luis Diaz, his goal conversion rate has gone from 9% last season
13:38to 29% in the league this season,
13:40have you done any particular work with him on improving that?
13:44That means he shoots ten times on goal and scores three,
13:48is that the conversion rate you mean?
13:50It just means he's much better from a goal this season.
13:53That's what we all say, that he has better numbers than he had last season.
13:56I have no clue why that is, the only thing I can come up with
14:00is that the team provides a lot of chances for these players as well,
14:04because if Diogo is playing he scores, if Darwin is playing he scores,
14:10if Lucio is playing as a left-winger he scores,
14:13but Cody also scores as a left-winger.
14:16So that tells me that the team is providing goals for these great individuals,
14:22and these players all have the qualities, that's why they play for Liverpool.
14:26If they are in promising situations they can score a goal.
14:30That's what I make of it, but it's difficult for me to compare it with last season,
14:36the only thing I can tell you is how I see it this season.
14:43.