Slot on Liverpool hammering West Ham 5-0
29/12/2024
London Stadium, London, UK
29/12/2024
London Stadium, London, UK
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Why does it sum up the two moments you've seen Fulham take a win today as well as a big win in the goal?
00:10Yeah, I like to see this because if you only rely on one player when it comes to goals that is
00:19mostly not really helpful, although it's also nice to have one that scores a lot.
00:22But then to see that others score goals, threatening the other goal as well,
00:28opponent's goal as well, is pleasing to see and it's not only the one that scores the goal,
00:35I think the lead-up towards the goals are also very positive from my point of view.
00:40What did you make of the CSKA performance today?
00:43Yeah, the way I would like to see us play in an away game.
00:47I think it's always, especially here in the Premier League, the fans come with a lot,
00:51so there are a lot of fans in every stadium where we play,
00:53so the stadium is always sold out if Liverpool comes.
00:56They don't need much to cheer for if Liverpool comes in,
01:00because if they already have an attack or a corner kick the fans are already cheering,
01:04so then you have to kill that momentum as much as you can and not give away anything.
01:09I think there were only two, three or four minutes where Curtis lost the ball,
01:13Mo lost the ball and then we conceded a corner, which probably wasn't a corner,
01:16where the fans were a bit behind West Ham.
01:19But for the rest, I think because we were so dominant,
01:23we could manage West Ham but also the crowd.
01:30Sorry for the very tiny question, but what about Federico Chiesa?
01:35Federico, I've said it many times already, we are working on two things,
01:42we are working on his men's fitness and whenever we can we try to bring him with the team.
01:48He was on the bench during the week and we thought it was better for him
01:52to have some extra training sessions instead of joining us,
01:56so it's the constant balance we have to find between getting him fitter and fitter
02:02and letting him join the team.
02:06About the team, your performance was unbelievable,
02:09do you think this is the top level you can reach or you can be even better?
02:15I think the level you reach during a game always has to do with the team you face as well,
02:21so West Ham has done really well before we faced them today,
02:25so they were in a good mood, but normally West Ham doesn't compete for winning the league,
02:32so I think you have to always take this into account
02:35if you look at how happy you are with a performance.
02:39But away games are always difficult in the Premier League,
02:42and especially here, I think last season it was 2-2 if I remember correctly,
02:46so it's not an easy place to go to.
02:49So then to perform the way we did is pleasing to see.
02:53Would you agree that in December your team has moved up a level?
02:57How pleased are you that they're playing so well now?
03:02Maybe we're a bit better, but it's not like we've increased enormously.
03:08What we did increase is scoring goals.
03:11There were games where we could have scored many more goals,
03:15but we didn't because we missed a few chances.
03:17Even today, I'm sure it was at half-time 3-0,
03:22but after 10 to 15 minutes we could have scored three easily with the quality we have.
03:27The good thing is that last week many times when the opponent had a chance it was a goal,
03:33and today they hit the bar and the post,
03:36so that is a positive to take and that's normal in this season.
03:39Sometimes you miss chances, sometimes in a period of time the other team gets a chance to score,
03:44sometimes they need two, three or four and don't score.
03:46That is what a season brings as well.
03:48It's good for us that we...
03:51Maybe for the first time, although Tottenham 6-3 stands out as well,
03:56that we have a win which was quite clear throughout the whole game
04:02that we would win this game.
04:04Because many others, it was tight until the end.
04:06Mark, the front door is open this week,
04:09so your three out-of-the-top players, Vanessa Beattie, Paul Ancelotti,
04:12your position is sort of shaken down,
04:15do you know and have control over what they do?
04:20I think I have a lot of control over what they do,
04:23if they are on the training pitch, if they are in a meeting with me.
04:27But talking about their private lives, I don't have control about them.
04:30That was the situation half a year ago,
04:33that's been the situation as long as I'm a manager,
04:35but I have control to a certain extent over them from what I expect from them on the pitch,
04:41and I'm really pleased to see what Virgil brings, what Trent brings and what Mo brings.
04:46Now the positive thing for me is that for four or five months it was only Trent, Mo and Virgil
04:51that you guys were talking about, and I assume, don't let me down please,
04:55that people now are going to talk about every player we're going to bring in in the upcoming month,
04:59and which other player is going to leave,
05:01so I get some other questions as well, and not only about these three.
05:05Who are you going to bring in?
05:07There's nothing in the media yet about who we're going to bring in.
05:11And also not in my mind, I'm very happy with the squad we have,
05:15I said this six months ago, and everybody asked,
05:18is this guy crazy?
05:20But I think the players showed that the confidence the club, and me as well,
05:28had in them was well deserved.
05:31If you look at Gerrard Kwanzaa today, he hasn't played a lot until now,
05:34a few appearances, and the way he played today shows also how important that is,
05:41that we keep working with these players,
05:43because we're going to need all of them at a certain moment,
05:46and today Gerrard played a very good game for us.
05:49It's the eighth game this season with Mo has registered a goal and an assist,
05:53which is a Premier League record for the whole season,
05:56and he's done 18 games, which is extraordinary.
05:58Yeah, but Mo and the word extraordinary is something I've heard a lot in the last six months,
06:05and he truly deserves this, and probably in the last eight years,
06:09but I'm involved in the last half-year,
06:13so I don't think he keeps surprising us, because we know what a player he is
06:17and we know he's able to do so, but apart from that,
06:21he works really hard for the team also when the other team has the ball.
06:24We can only hope that he can bring these performances in,
06:30but I would like to add that if he scores, there's also a lead-up to him scoring,
06:36so there are also other players that bring him in these positions,
06:40so if you bring Mo in these positions, he's extraordinary, definitely.
06:45In the second time you faced West Ham this season,
06:48you scored ten goals across four games,
06:50was there a particular weakness you felt you were going to exploit?
06:56No, I don't think I used the previous game to this game,
07:00they played back then with different players,
07:02I think they mostly played with their non-starters,
07:06we played that game also mostly with our non-starters,
07:08if you look at the long term of players I've played most.
07:12So I don't think there's a comparison between these two games,
07:16but the good thing for us is that we indeed scored so many goals,
07:22because that's what football is about, scoring goals,
07:25and I'm hoping the fans like what they see today.