Slot on Liverpool latest ahead of massive top of the table clash with Man City
28/11/2024
AXA training centre, Liverpool, UK
28/11/2024
AXA training centre, Liverpool, UK
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hello, good afternoon.
00:02Good afternoon.
00:04You good?
00:06I am, yeah. A bit cold outside, but...
00:10Yeah, that's what it looks like outside.
00:17Arna, last night Jude Bellingham said you're the best-performing team in Europe,
00:21so where do you rank your side when it comes to the best in Europe at the moment?
00:26Yeah, if he talks about results in the Champions League,
00:29so if you are number one in the Champions League in the league table,
00:33then it's true that when it comes to results,
00:37we have been in the last five games the best-performing team,
00:41but I said it yesterday night, already the best team in Europe is still Real Madrid,
00:47because they won the Champions League last season,
00:51and the one that's going to win it this season can say they are the one that's done,
00:57but at this moment of time it's only five games in for us.
01:02We did touch on it last night as well, obviously the injuries to Conor and Ibrahima,
01:06is there any update as to where they're at?
01:09They're still being assessed, so it's difficult to see where they are.
01:13I know where they are, but where they are in terms of the injury...
01:18So let's wait and see, but it's never a good sign if Conor had to take him off,
01:24and Ibo didn't walk off the pitch as he should after such a fantastic game,
01:30he should have made a round and clapped to the fans,
01:36but unfortunately he couldn't, so that's not a good sign.
01:39Obviously you're eight points clear at the minute,
01:41Manchester City appear vulnerable given the run of form they're on,
01:44you could go 11 points clear, at the same time obviously the gap could narrow to five points,
01:49so how significant, how defining a moment could this potentially be in the type of ways for you?
01:55I think in general if you play one of your competitors it's always an important moment
02:01that has not so much to do with the amount of points they have or we have.
02:06These teams have always been in the last few years very close to each other,
02:10so those games are always very important, just like the ones against Arsenal,
02:15just like the ones against Chelsea.
02:17But those ones are only important if you win against all the other teams,
02:21so that makes it that almost every game is very important to win,
02:26for them but also for us.
02:29Just to check, Arne, with Gennady and Conor Bradley,
02:33are you ruling them out of this game or do you think they've got a chance?
02:36No, I just said they're still being assessed,
02:38it's so close after the game yesterday night and I just came off the training pitch,
02:43so I can't tell you exactly where they are,
02:46so we have to wait and see where they are this weekend and after that.
02:53Would Trent be fit enough to start, do you think?
02:55Yes, he would.
02:57In terms of City as well, Vinny mentioned about the run of form they're on,
03:01do you think that makes your job easier or harder for this particular fixture?
03:06No, I don't think anyone in the last eight or nine years,
03:10or maybe even longer, would have said City at home or away.
03:14The word easy never comes up to my mind if I think about City!
03:18Easier!
03:20Oh, OK. Still, easy inside, easier.
03:25So, no, not at all.
03:28And I know everybody's looking at their results,
03:31and I've seen them as well, but if you face them, and that's what we do,
03:36you analyse it, and I've seen, for example, against Brighton,
03:40they were 1-0 up, could have scored 2-0 or 3-0, didn't,
03:43and then got beaten 2-1.
03:45Against Tottenham, after 20 minutes they could have been 2-3 goals up, weren't.
03:51And against Feyenoord, that has not happened many times,
03:55they were 3-0 up, completely dominated the game,
03:58and then all of a sudden in the end it was 3-3.
04:00So they are still a very, very good team,
04:03and one of the reasons why I think Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world,
04:09or one of the best managers in the world, I think the best though,
04:12is that he always comes up with solutions for his problems.
04:17And his problem now might be that Roderick is out,
04:21but we all know, at least I think, that he will come up with a problem
04:26that the run of form will go again.
04:29Hopefully after Sunday.
04:32Hi, Hannah. It looked last night like the players were pretty pumped by the atmosphere
04:36in the first half, and that came along with three yellow cards,
04:40and there was a moment where Curtis Jones signalled to his team-mates
04:43to maybe keep their heads.
04:45Is that something you are focusing on ahead of this game,
04:48and what could be a similarly quite intense and good atmosphere
04:51that you need to try and get your players to watch out for those yellow cards?
04:56Especially if you have a yellow you have to watch out for the next one,
05:00but I think one of the three was Ryan Ravenberg,
05:03who made this only a simple tackle,
05:06or not for a yellow, but then he did this,
05:09and the referees are quite keen on giving a yellow for that.
05:12And the first two fouls we made he also gave a yellow.
05:16I think these games you have to be on top of your game in every aspect,
05:21so you have to play fair and good duels,
05:24and sometimes that can lead to a yellow card,
05:27but if you have received one you have to be smart,
05:30and that's what I saw with Ryan, that's what I saw with Darwin as well,
05:34because the one Darwin conceded was also in the set-piece
05:38and they were just struggling a bit,
05:40and the referee found it necessary to give yellow cards.
05:43So, we have to be on top of our game, we have to be aggressive,
05:48but always in a good way.
05:50But maybe Curtis, I don't know, we have to ask him,
05:53not only without the ball, but also with the ball,
05:56be a bit more calm and use your head a bit more,
06:00because that's what we did the second half even better than the first half,
06:03which led to two goals.
06:05I know we've spoken about injuries, and in previous games,
06:08I know it's been brought up with you about injuries of the opposition
06:11and players that they might be missing,
06:13do you feel that your injuries have been a bit underplayed so far this season,
06:17given that you seem to have overcome them very well?
06:20I think in general people only talk about injuries if the results are not there,
06:25so it's a good thing that nobody talks about our injuries,
06:28that means that we got our results in.
06:31But the moment you start to lose, it's about kick-off time on a Saturday afternoon,
06:36or it's about injuries, or we always come up with certain ideas,
06:40especially in the media, why we didn't win,
06:44but nine or ten times it's about the quality of the players from the other team
06:47or their game plan.
06:49We do have some very important players for us being injured,
06:53but if the replacements do so well, it's normal that people don't talk about it that much.
06:59But, yeah, it is true that missing Alisson,
07:04who has been a starter for this club and been so important for this club for so long,
07:08missing Djokovic, missing Trent in the last two games,
07:12those are players that have had an impact a lot on the results in recent years.
07:17But it's a good thing that we don't talk about, I think.
07:22You said that you want to restore Alisson once he's fit again.
07:26What's Kelleher's future at this club, given how he's performed?
07:29Are you confident that he will be happy to revert to being number two,
07:33or do you expect him to want to move on?
07:35I'm expecting every player that he wants to be the number one,
07:39so not only in the goalkeeper position, in every position,
07:42and it's always up to the player if he can accept his role.
07:45But at this moment Kweef has accepted his role from the start of the season till now,
07:51in a great manner, when he didn't play but also when he did play,
07:56so it's far too early to talk about what can happen next season.
08:01I want every player that they want to play every game,
08:06it would be completely wrong if he would have come over to me and said,
08:10I like it that I'm on the bench today.
08:13That's completely normal with him and all the others,
08:17but then it's always about the attitude if you don't play,
08:20and that has been outstanding, for example, from Lucio and Maka last Sunday,
08:24when they weren't selected in the first XI, and then they come in really strong.
08:28Yesterday I saw the same again with Dominic Subbersly and Cody Kakpo,
08:34so they should have the eagerness to play,
08:38but if they don't they have to act in a normal way, and that's what they all do at the moment.
08:43Hi, Arjen. One of the hallmarks of Man City's current run
08:46is that they have been conceding goals late in games,
08:49I think it's six goals in the last 15 minutes across the last three games,
08:52and that's something the Liverpool haven't done all season,
08:55so what are your team doing so well to avoid that eventuality?
08:59Not playing Tottenham yet.
09:02Because they're a very good team as well, great playing style.
09:07No, it always depends on the circumstances,
09:12and them conceding three against Feyenoord probably had a lot to do
09:16with the substitutions they made, and being extremely unlucky,
09:21so if you saw the first goal and the second goal,
09:24the goalkeeper hit the ball towards the post and then it fell to Santiago Jimenez.
09:28So during a season these things can happen to every team,
09:33same with injuries, and we've seen this at Arsenal,
09:36with Odegaard being out that didn't help them,
09:39with Rodri being out it didn't help City,
09:42so I'm hoping we are not facing those same problems,
09:45but if it does then we have to make sure it doesn't hurt us that much.
09:49But it's always difficult for every manager everywhere around the world
09:52if one of your star players is injured,
09:55and when it comes to goals conceded it's also the circumstances,
10:00being 2-0 down and then maybe taking a lot of risk,
10:03and conceding is different than being 1-0 up and trying to keep a clean sheet.
10:13Arne, Man City have been struggling in recent weeks in the league king goals,
10:16do you expect a change to Guardiola's system
10:18to combat the loss of defensive players like Rodri?
10:21That's what I just said.
10:23I wouldn't be surprised if he comes up with another brilliant idea,
10:27I think he was the one who started playing the inverted full-back,
10:31then he was the one who started to play the centre-back as a number 6,
10:35so I don't think it's a surprise for anyone if he again comes up with something
10:39no-one has ever thought about before to make his team even stronger,
10:43and that's probably one of the reasons why he inspired so many managers around the world.
10:48When he came up with it we all thought it was crazy,
10:52then he did it and we all thought,
10:54let's try to do the same, because it's a brilliant idea.
10:57So I wouldn't be surprised if he comes up with something new again,
11:02but, yeah, let's wait and see, because many things have been done in football now.
11:12If there's anyone in this managerial world that can come up with something new,
11:18it's definitely him.
11:24.