Liverpool boss Arne Slot on the fitness of Trent Alexander Arnold, Virgil Van Dijk, Alisson and Diogo Jota and their Premier League clash with Southampton this weekend
Melwood, Liverpool, UK
Melwood, Liverpool, UK
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00:00Alisson, how ready is he to return and how careful have you got to be with him given he's had these injuries before?
00:16We're careful with everyone, especially when it comes to muscle injuries,
00:20but he's back in training with the goalkeeper coach,
00:25he's not training with the team yet, but that is expected to be done soon.
00:32And then let's wait and see where he is in terms of match fitness.
00:37But he's getting better and better, but not ready to play Sunday.
00:42Trent, Virgil, Jota, Javier, Chiesa, how are they as well?
00:49When you started with Trent and Virgil I was expecting a different question!
00:53Do it one more time.
00:57Trent first of all, then there's Virgil, obviously he was sent back on medical grounds,
01:02Jota we knew was due back round about this time-ish, Javier as well, and Chiesa.
01:09Yeah, Virgil is all good, he's training with us today.
01:16Trent isn't training with us yet, but he's getting there, so we expect him to be back with us soon.
01:23Then we've got Javi, he's training with us again, so that's the positive thing.
01:28He's been out for many weeks, but he's on a training round again with the team,
01:33so that's a positive thing for him.
01:36Jota is still apart from the group, same as Federico,
01:41he was coming back into the session maybe in one exercise today,
01:45so they're all expected to be back within now and a few weeks,
01:50but the last part of recovery is always the most difficult one,
01:55so let's wait and see, but Virgil is completely OK.
01:59Did I forget anyone?
02:01No, that's everyone.
02:03Obviously five points clear at the top of the table at the moment,
02:06that can swing very quickly, in theory at least anyway,
02:09you've got Manchester City to come in the next two league games as well,
02:12so how much do you enjoy the position you're in, leading from the front now?
02:17It would be a bit strange if I told you I'm not enjoying being in the position we're in now,
02:22but we also understand it's only 11 games now.
02:28So a lot of games have to be played, and we all know that the teams we face in this league
02:35are able to have the same run of games as we have,
02:39so if we want to stay where we are we have to keep bringing the results in,
02:43which is not going to be easy starting on Sunday,
02:46although everybody maybe feels like they are bottom of the league at the moment,
02:51but they don't play at all like this.
02:54They made it very difficult for the teams that are top three, top four, top five.
02:58Their playing style is very interesting, it was a joy to watch their games,
03:03because they have a very interesting and nice way of playing.
03:07So it's going to be a difficult one, especially after the international break,
03:11which is always a difficult one for everyone,
03:14and the first two times we played at home, now we play away.
03:17So another challenge, and like we said, we like to be where we are,
03:23and if we want to stay there we have to keep on winning games.
03:26Can I just ask you about how you view the long-term challenge now as well,
03:29now that we know Pep Guardiola is going to be sticking around at Manchester City
03:32for another couple of years?
03:34Yeah, that's good news for City, first of all.
03:38And also good news for the league,
03:41because I think everybody wants to have the best managers possible around,
03:46the best players over here, and he's definitely one of the best managers,
03:50maybe the best manager of the league.
03:54If you look at what he did in the last three years,
03:57four-time champions in a row, I think.
04:00So it's fair to say that he's maybe the best manager in the league.
04:04So that is a good thing, but on the other hand,
04:07they have so many quality players that if he would have made the choice to leave the club,
04:11I wouldn't have expected them to end up at the bottom of the league next season.
04:16But, yeah, good for the City fans,
04:20and interesting for us as managers to keep on facing one of the best managers football has ever had.
04:30You've got an incredible run of fixtures coming up, Real Madrid, City, other games as well.
04:34Will that have any impact on your team selection at Southampton this weekend?
04:39We indeed have an incredible fixture list coming up, starting with Southampton.
04:44And that is always by far the most important game.
04:48And if you want to enjoy or go into the games, the other two you just mentioned,
04:54the best thing you can do is always with a win.
04:57So it has no effect at all on my team selection in the other two games.
05:03But what does have an effect is the playing style of Southampton,
05:07the players coming back from South America, how fit are they,
05:12the injuries that we have, the players that are coming back.
05:16So that is the only thing that has something to do with the team selection,
05:19not at all the games that come afterwards.
05:22You mentioned the top against bottom in the Premier League.
05:25Does the strength of the Premier League show that Southampton could still be a capable team?
05:31I would say much more than a capable team.
05:34I've seen them already playing against City, against Arsenal and against Wolves.
05:40Those are three games I've seen already,
05:43and with two more days coming up I'll probably see one or two more.
05:47And they've shown that they are very, very capable of playing teams like us.
05:53I think it was against United where they had a penalty first.
05:57So they've been, in my opinion, a bit unlucky,
06:00but their playing style has been excellent and they've been into almost every game.
06:05They could have got a result in almost every game they've played.
06:09So I know everybody is looking at Madrid and City as difficult,
06:15but in my opinion Southampton is going to be a difficult one as well.
06:20Arne, we've had the last international break of the calendar year.
06:24When the players come back, what are the different factors that govern your selection process?
06:31Obviously if players pick up knocks they can't play,
06:35but do you speak to the players, is it down to the medical staff,
06:38do you make your own assessment?
06:40How does it all work out to facilitate what would be your starting XI?
06:45It's a bit of everything you just said.
06:47You talk to the players, you want to hear from the medical and the performance staff,
06:53what they feel about it, then you listen to your own technical staff,
06:57and then you look at the opponent you play and see what is the best team to select.
07:01So it's a bit of everything, but that's not different to any other game.
07:05The only difference there is now is that you always wonder
07:10how the players that have played in South America,
07:13how they come back with, normally, a jet lag as well.
07:19That's the only difference maybe between team selection,
07:23what is the only different argument in the team selection now than for all the other games,
07:28because in all the other games you also look at the players,
07:32get the information from your staff members, and look at the opponent.
07:37Ebrahim Ikenati is probably enjoying the best spell of his Liverpool career,
07:43not just in terms of his form in matches, but injury-wise,
07:48because in the past he's had problems with injuries.
07:53He didn't make your first starting line-up, but he's been in pole position pretty much since then.
07:59How have you enabled him to become more consistent
08:04and to be the player he's been wanting to start as a performer this season?
08:10First of all, it's always about the player, how much effort does he put in to stay fit,
08:17and second of all, you've got a performance staff and a technical staff
08:21to do the best possible thing for him to keep him fit.
08:24But if the player doesn't buy in himself, it's almost impossible for us to keep him fit.
08:29But we have our ideas about how to keep a player fit, and he bought into that,
08:34so till now that has gone really well for him, but for a lot of players till now.
08:39The first game he didn't play, and there was a reason for that,
08:44because if you look back at our pre-season games,
08:48they weren't his best games at the moment, but to be fair to him,
08:53he came back, like so many others, quite late because of the tournament.
08:57We were already training for a few weeks,
09:01Jurel did really well in pre-season, so I thought it was, in my opinion,
09:06a logical decision to play Jurel.
09:10But at half-time I think I made the decision that we needed Ibu,
09:14and the reason why he went from the United game, which was his first one after him not playing
09:20for a long time, because he didn't play at the Euros,
09:24and in the end phase of the season he didn't play for Liverpool as well.
09:28But he not only bought into getting fit and doing everything for this,
09:34but every time we had a meeting with him it was...
09:38I would maybe not do justice to all of the players,
09:41but he was the one that I could just see that he wanted to learn,
09:45wanted to listen and wanted to improve.
09:48And that's what he did, in my opinion, and that's why his improvement,
09:52compared to the first game he played in pre-season
09:55till the first game he played at Ipswich, was already a massive difference.
10:01Arno, just picking up on Southampton's style there,
10:05Russell Martin doing it at the bottom of the table,
10:08just wondering, have you ever had to implement your style differently
10:12depending on different levels you've worked at,
10:15different types of players, groups of players you've worked with?
10:19Yeah, in general I think I was very fortunate that I mostly worked at teams
10:24that were expected to be top of the table,
10:27so I've worked at different levels, but at those levels
10:30these teams were expected to play in the top of the table.
10:34But, yeah, I started off with the under-14s,
10:38where we lost in the first half of the season almost every game,
10:42and we were just trying to play the same style as we try to do now at Liverpool,
10:46and we worked our way up during that season.
10:51So, yeah, I think I've worked at different levels, but mostly top of the league.
10:58And what have you learned off the back of the two matches
11:02after international breaks, Forest and Chelsea,
11:05that you'll take into Southampton?
11:07As you've already mentioned, a unique, different challenge
11:10of being away from home for starters.
11:12Yeah, but last time I said before the Chelsea game that I'm not so worried
11:16or think that much about the first game after the international break.
11:19My main worry is always the game plan of our opponents and the style they play.
11:24That makes a game difficult.
11:26I don't think that back then against Chelsea,
11:30which was also about the time we started the game, was the early kick-off.
11:34That can have a bit of influence on the game,
11:38but most influence always has our own game plan,
11:42our own intensity we play with, compared to the team we face and their game plan.
11:47That is always the biggest challenge there is,
11:50and all the other things are only smaller details than the ones I just mentioned.
11:58Arnaut, just on Trent and Alisson and Jota,
12:01do you think they would have any chance for either Real Madrid or the Man City games?
12:05That is something we have to wait and see,
12:08because I just said that the last few days of a recovery
12:11is always the one that is most tricky,
12:14because then they have to go from isolated training sessions to a group training session,
12:19and that step is always the most difficult one.
12:22So for me it's difficult to judge now,
12:25and to tell you now it's going to be one, two, three days or a bit longer.
12:28The only thing I can say is that with Alisson and Jota,
12:34I don't expect them to be available for that game.
12:37With Trent it's going to be in between.
12:43Just with Harvey, he had a frustrating start to the season,
12:46his game time was limited, then he suffered a broken bone in his foot.
12:50How much of a boost is it to have him back around,
12:53especially with the schedule you've got in the next six or seven weeks?
12:57We always want all of our players available,
13:00and it was a blow for him and for us that he got injured for such a long time,
13:04because I think he's been out for three months now.
13:07Now we also have to give him time to come back to his normal level,
13:11because I just spoke about Ibu Konate,
13:14who was out from playing football for maybe two or four months
13:19because he didn't play in the end of the season and in the Euros,
13:22and as a result of that his first game against Man Utd in pre-season wasn't his best.
13:28That is something which is completely normal for a football player,
13:31and this is something we have to take into consideration with Harvey as well.
13:34Yes, he's training with us again,
13:37but that's different than being on the top of your game immediately again,
13:41so we have to give him time for this as well.
13:44But I'm very fortunate that he's back,
13:46especially with the amount of games that are coming up in the next three or four months.
13:53I wanted to ask you a little bit about set-pieces.
13:56You've actually scored as many goals from opponents' set-pieces
13:59as from your own in the league this season,
14:01and you're going up against the Southampton side
14:03who conceded a third of their goals from set-pieces.
14:06Considering the great delivery you can call on the team,
14:10two aerial dominant centre-backs in Kanate and Van Dijk,
14:14and a pair of six-foot forwards in gap-prone units,
14:17do you think this is an area you're looking to improve on?
14:20You like data, don't you?
14:22Last time you were the one who was telling me we had 15 players for the national team.
14:28How was it this time?
14:30A few less.
14:32But again, by far the most.
14:34OK.
14:36So, yeah, set-pieces is something every team, every club,
14:43in so many leagues at the moment is taking really seriously,
14:48so that's what we do as well.
14:50I think we have great delivery.
14:52We have some players that are already quite tall and can jump really high.
14:57So, yeah, we're trying to get the best out of that part as well,
15:02because I always say if a game is tight,
15:05a set-piece can make a massive difference for you.
15:08That's what we know, what we understand,
15:11what we do like till now is that we haven't conceded much in terms of set-pieces,
15:17and that's also an important thing.
15:20So if we can score a bit more and keep the same and not conceding,
15:24then we're in a good place.