Arne Slot on Liverpool latest ahead of short trip to Everton for final league Merseyside derby at Goodison Park
06/12/2024
AXA training centre, Liverpool, UK
06/12/2024
AXA training centre, Liverpool, UK
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00:00Jürgen, good afternoon.
00:07You're not going to ask me about Mo's contract, are you?
00:09That's a start.
00:10I'll ask you about Mitchell's!
00:12There has been a report this week that he's been offered a contract with Virgil,
00:17what can you tell us, if anything?
00:20What do you think the answer is going to be?
00:21I know what the answer is, but I've always got a jack-of-all-trades!
00:24Your boss is always telling you, you have to ask that to him!
00:28Maybe tell your boss that you always get the same manager,
00:30so it's a bit boring for the people to listen to this press conference.
00:33You tell your players what to do, so my boss tells me what to do,
00:36so if your players don't do what you ask them to do...
00:39But I hope I give them better tips than the ones you get.
00:44Obviously you've taken part in derbies before,
00:47it's Feyenoord-Sparta, isn't it?
00:49And obviously Kostka is Feyenoord against Ajax, isn't it?
00:52So what are you expecting from your first league Merseyside derby,
00:55particularly as it's the last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park potentially?
01:00Yeah, I think it's going to be special for everyone,
01:05for all the fans that are involved, for the players that are involved,
01:09and as well for the managers.
01:11To be part of this game is already special,
01:13then to be part of the last one at Goodison Park makes it probably even more special.
01:17But, yeah, it's only a nice experience if the result goes your way,
01:23so that is what we are focusing on most for this game.
01:29Would it be added satisfaction to take all three points because it's the last one at Goodison Park,
01:35or is it purely just about three points because of where you are in your season?
01:40I never speak about three points before a game,
01:44you can only talk about this after the game,
01:46especially if you face a team like Everton that have done so well in the last three or four games,
01:51three clean sheets, a very good game during the week against Wolves.
01:55So, yeah, we know we have to be ready for a tough game against a good side,
02:03against a well-managed side as well,
02:05and probably the fans will be loud,
02:09I would say maybe just as loud as the Newcastle ones,
02:12but probably these ones are even going to be louder,
02:14so we have to be prepared for everything for this game.
02:20And just in terms of who you might get back, is it only Alisson potentially?
02:24Is he even ready yet?
02:26And just how's Cuiv as well?
02:28I know the disappointment at the end of the game against Newcastle,
02:33but he's got priority credit in the bank already for what he's going to see.
02:37No, definitely. It was on 1-0 where Joe Gomez made a mistake,
02:42and they went 1-1 towards him, he saved it, that could have been the 2-0,
02:46so he saved us in that moment, so maybe he saved us a point,
02:50because if we were going 2-0 down, you never know what could happen afterwards,
02:54but things would have been even harder for us.
02:58Unfortunately for Cuiv, and that is the position he's in,
03:01if you make a mistake as a goalkeeper or you make a misjudgment,
03:04it's very difficult for someone else to cover it up for you.
03:08He's done that a few times for us, if someone else makes a mistake,
03:11a player, he's always there to help us.
03:13Unfortunately, we as a team are not able to help him,
03:16mostly if he misjudges a ball, because he's our last player.
03:20But I think he's in a good place, although he's disappointed like all the others,
03:26because we dropped points from a winning situation one minute before the end.
03:32But he can go into this game with a lot of confidence, let that be clear.
03:37Are they not ready yet?
03:39Not ready yet, no, but he will be ready very soon.
03:43Arno, going into this Merseyside derby,
03:45you've got a lot of players on your squad that have experienced the atmosphere,
03:48know what it's all about, so to what extent do you lean on them going into a game like this?
03:55Not particularly because they've played that game,
03:58but as a manager you always lean on your players
04:01because you can make up a good game plan or a great game idea,
04:05but it always depends on the players if they are ready to work very hard
04:09and to play at their best.
04:12So you always lean on your players, not particularly in Everton away,
04:17but in every game you play.
04:19What do you know about the Merseyside derby?
04:21What have people around here told you about it?
04:23People told me about it, but I think the main thing I have to know is their playing style,
04:27what we can expect.
04:30You need to be aggressive if you go over there, because they will be aggressive as well,
04:35but you have to be aggressive in a smart way,
04:38because last season we were very aggressive when we went out there,
04:42because I watched the game back yesterday,
04:45and after half an hour I was a bit surprised because Liverpool had the ball most of the time,
04:51but there were ten fouls made by the Liverpool players and only one by an Everton player,
04:56so we have to be aggressive but in a smart way,
04:59especially because they are a big threat in set-pieces as well,
05:05so every time we give away an unnecessary free kick, that is not smart.
05:11So, yes, be aggressive, but in a concentrated and smart way.
05:16Given what you said there, how do you approach this game?
05:19How do you set your team up and send them out?
05:22I think we want to be aggressive on the front foot every game we play,
05:27that's not going to be different now, but we always make a game plan
05:31where we try to adjust the threats the other team has and where we think we can hurt them,
05:36so that is the way we're going to look at this game as well.
05:39But every game, if you want to have a chance to win, you need to be very aggressive
05:44and you have to run a lot, and that is one of their strengths as well.
05:47They are a very, very hard-working team.
05:50So, yeah, if you want to talk about tactics, you first have to match their work rate,
05:57and that is what we can, because we've shown that in all the games we've played till now,
06:01that we are a team that works really hard as well.
06:03But that's also what we need if we go to Everton,
06:05because the team works really hard and the fans of Everton will probably help them work even harder.
06:13Everton have got form for targeting goalkeepers they perceive to be maybe a bit weak for set-pieces,
06:19they did so against Tottenham last season with Pecario and scored from a set-piece.
06:24Do you think, given the nature of the third goal on Wednesday,
06:27that you're expecting some of the same from Everton tomorrow?
06:32I don't think Everton is the only team who is trying to block a goalkeeper or the best header.
06:39I think if we were here five, six, seven years ago,
06:43nobody spoke that much about set-pieces, and we're five, six years later
06:47and now almost everyone is talking about set-pieces and the importance of set-pieces.
06:52Everton is definitely a team that can score from a set-piece,
06:56but we have some players that can score from a set-piece as well,
07:00so we are focused on the ones we have to defend,
07:03but we also think about the ones we can get,
07:05because big games, so the ones against City, Arsenal, Chelsea and all the others,
07:12are a main thing in those games are set-pieces,
07:15so a Merseyside derby is a big game, so set-pieces is a big part of that as well.
07:21It could be quite extreme weather tomorrow,
07:23winds of 65mph forecast throughout the day,
07:26is that much of a consideration for you?
07:29Not at the moment, but the moment it is like this,
07:33you always have to take this into consideration in the choices you make.
07:38I'm not talking about the line-up, but I'm talking about the execution of actions of the players,
07:44so if you have the wind in your back or not,
07:47that can have an influence on certain actions you have to make.
07:52So if it is like this, we take this into account,
07:55but again, there are many things we take into account before we start a game,
08:00but this could be one of them.
08:05I'm trying to make this a little bit different.
08:07When you came on in Newcastle,
08:09I know it's a bit more on top of the rental case,
08:12what you do, what you have in the squad,
08:14but can you explain how him being in the side changes the dynamic?
08:22First of all, I think Gerrard plays quite a good game.
08:25From what's been told to me, not everybody is agreeing with me,
08:30but if you just look back at the game,
08:34then you saw that in his one-three-ones he had no problems,
08:39and the few times that Anthony Gordon was a threat,
08:42he was not involved in those moments.
08:47But if Conor is available, I think he's a similar type to Trent.
08:53When he plays as a right full-back, he's also someone who tries to attack the goal,
08:57wants to make the underlaps and the overlaps,
08:59like you saw against Real Madrid, for example, where he almost scored.
09:02But if you play with Gerald, it's a different type of player,
09:05so he's then more like the way Ben White fills that position,
09:11he's a bit more behind the ball, playing the ball through the lines
09:14instead of underlapping, overlapping all the time.
09:17So that makes a difference if Gerrard plays there or Trent plays there,
09:21it's not that much of a difference if Conor or Trent plays there.
09:24But Trent and Conor have had a big impact on our offensive game,
09:29if they play, that's for sure.
09:33Jürgen Klopp has been suspended for this game,
09:38do you feel that you've gotten out there,
09:42you've all had game time, so you've got options there to replace him?
09:47That's the good thing.
09:49The downside to it is that I think these players hardly make any fouls,
09:53but they're already Ryan is also one card away from being suspended,
09:58so that is something for us to be aware of, how that is possible,
10:02because we hardly make any fouls, and Magallan still won in Newcastle.
10:08You could argue, if you saw all the decisions that we made afterwards,
10:13if it was so correct that he got a yellow for that.
10:16But you know during a season that players will be suspended,
10:20and it's always a moment where you feel like,
10:22we could have used him.
10:24But the good thing for us is we've got the main four midfielders
10:29that have played with Dom, Curtis, Ryan and Maka.
10:34One of them is not available at the moment, so still three left,
10:37and Javier is on his way back.
10:39So I think that line is not our main worry at the moment,
10:44but our main worry is of course at this moment,
10:47if you look at how close they're all back up for playing time,
10:51there's only three injuries left, and that's in our last line,
10:55with Djoko being close to being back,
10:58Federico being close to being back, and the same for Alisson.
11:02So that means that only Ibu, Conor and Kostas are a bit further away from playing time.
11:10Hi, Arjen. How much extra pressure do you and the players feel being top?
11:15Another team's way to confuse is Liverpool.
11:19I think if you play for Liverpool, every day you feel pressure,
11:22because you play at a big club and everybody expects one thing from us,
11:26two things from us, that we win and that we play good football.
11:30So that's also the good thing, that these players are used,
11:35that this is expected from them.
11:37So if we're top of the league or second, third or fourth,
11:41people expect from us to win and people expect us to win in a certain way.
11:45And that pressure is always there, and I think if you play at this level,
11:49if you work at this level, you like this pressure,
11:52for the simple reason that players are able to do what is expected from them.
11:56So it's much harder if you, for example, have to stay above the relegation zone
12:01and you're in a team, like, it's quite hard for us to achieve this.
12:04But we've got the quality to do what we are doing at the moment,
12:08winning games and playing good football.
12:11And there's always pressure if you are at a club like Liverpool,
12:15like at Arsenal, like at City, like at Chelsea.
12:20Hi, you mentioned Ryan is one yellow card away from suspension.
12:24In the last three games he's had a yellow card in the first half of games.
12:28I don't know whether or not the fear of a second yellow
12:31played a part in his substitution in Newcastle.
12:34How do you speak to your players?
12:36As you mentioned, sometimes the referees' decisions don't go their way,
12:39it's about finding that line of lawful aggression.
12:42Yeah, we don't talk about the referee decisions with the players,
12:45especially not after the game.
12:47That's of no use, sometimes they're in favour of you,
12:50sometimes they're maybe against you, so there's no use of talking about that.
12:54Not over here and not with the players.
12:58When it comes to Ryan, the reason why I took him off,
13:01because he played every single game, it was almost impossible for me to take him off,
13:06because he played so well, you're like,
13:08if I take him off now, what happens with the team?
13:11It's a bit exaggerated, but you know what I mean.
13:14And this game, especially the first half, wasn't his best,
13:17like for the whole team, the first ten minutes.
13:19As a team we started to play better, he as well,
13:22but this was a game where I felt like maybe someone else can do the same,
13:27and that will rest him a bit as well, because he's played so, so, so many games already.
13:33And that's why we chose to...
13:36We were also 2-1 down at that moment, so it was maybe a smart decision
13:41to go even more offensive with Curtis as an attacking midfielder
13:44in the role as a No. 6.
13:46So there were, again, a few factors that made us take him off,
13:51but he will start tomorrow.
13:59What are you hoping for tomorrow?
14:02I don't know, I'll be feeling neutral out there.