- 3 months ago
Liverpool boss Arne Slot on the challenge of facing Brentford, their recent poor form and the latest injury news.
AXA Training Centre, Liverpool, UK
AXA Training Centre, Liverpool, UK
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00:00Parma, can we start with the latest on the injury, Isak, Grim-Pong, how are they?
00:05Gravenberg, are you ready to come back? And how far away is Alisson?
00:12Jeremy is not in a good place.
00:15What I mean with that is that he's definitely not going to play today, tomorrow or next week.
00:20Hamstring injury, so that's going to take a while.
00:24Alex, not too bad.
00:28Question mark for the weekend, so let's see where he is then.
00:34And that's the same to be said about Ryan, he didn't travel with us,
00:40so today we are in again, yesterday we were in as well, but we had a day to travel.
00:45Let's see where he is today and Alisson is not in the squad tomorrow.
00:50That's also going to take a little bit longer.
00:53Obviously Alexander and Jeremy, the big minor assist, had come out the other night,
00:58but perhaps one of the big positives was Florian Burtz with a couple of assists.
01:03How big a moment do you feel that could be, just in getting settled here at Liverpool,
01:08and beginning to see the best levels from him?
01:11Yeah, I find this always a bit funny because his second assist, we call that an assist,
01:18and the 1-1 we scored against United, that's not a goal involvement for him,
01:22where I felt that was more difficult to do what he did against United than what he did for the 5-1.
01:31But the assist to the 4-1 was good, but I think his general game was something I,
01:40and I think the Liverpool fans liked, and we've seen more of that already.
01:44But as always, if you lose a game of football, and you do the same things when you win it,
01:50then the focus is on the negative things, and if you win a game of football with 5-1,
01:55because he scored two set pieces, then all of a sudden everybody is talking about
01:59the few good attacks we had during the game.
02:02And I said many times against United and against Frankfurt,
02:05from open play we generated the same amount of chances.
02:10But the difference was that we didn't concede a set piece, but we scored two set pieces.
02:15When you're trying to gel the side though, when you've had the signings that you've had come in,
02:20how difficult is it to then settle on what you would say is your best starting line-up?
02:24And I suppose where does Mo figure in respect to that, given the way his season's gone so far?
02:30It's not only about the new signings and that changes things,
02:35I think it's about having a lot of very good players, so what is your best line-up?
02:40I think a lot of things go into that.
02:43The team you face, the tactics the other team plays with,
02:46the form of the player, the connections between the players.
02:50So I think if you look at all the big clubs in the world,
02:55they all have more than 11 players that can play a game.
02:59And for me it has always been something I expected after the many changes we've had during the summer,
03:06that it could go also even after we won seven games in a row.
03:11I always felt like as a team you need to grow and if you need to grow and if you have to adapt to each other,
03:16you can also have moments in the season where things are a bit more difficult.
03:20Especially if the fixture list is as it was, because when we've lost four,
03:26I said to myself three of them were away and then I was looking at the schedule and I thought,
03:30another two away games coming with Frankfurt and Frankfurt on the fixture list.
03:35So these things also take into account that you can have a little bit more difficult.
03:40It's always normal if you have a lot of changes that things go well,
03:43but we have to find a way of growing together and then when things click,
03:49we need to be the best team we can be.
03:51Is it a difficult moment for Mola?
03:53I think it's been a difficult moment for all of us.
03:57No one is used to losing, for all the players that have played here for so many years.
04:04And even for the new players as well, because we started the season with seven wins,
04:08so you start to lose once, that's a difficult moment for everyone,
04:11but let alone if you lose twice, three or four times.
04:17You mentioned about negativity, possibly externally,
04:21so how do you block it internally, how do you keep that focus on only the positive things
04:27rather than the potentially overwhelming negative things coming from outside?
04:32I don't think I would use the words negativity,
04:36but what I mean with that is that there is more focus on,
04:42let's say the second half against Frankfurt,
04:45I think everybody said what a control, they just keep ball-possessed.
04:48When we were trying to do the same thing in the first half against United,
04:52because you cannot go, if there were 11 players behind the ball in one pass,
04:56ideally you can, but it's not so simple.
04:58And when then Ibu waits a bit longer, waiting for the right option to find,
05:02then it's, ah, they need to hurry up more, they need to hurry up more,
05:06and then he finds Alexandrezak in between the line and he finds Dom.
05:10So that is the difference what Scoreline does to the opinion of people.
05:14And what I need to do is showing them every single time what do we do well
05:18and what do we do wrong, if we win or lose.
05:20So my meetings are similar, maybe on a small percentage you include certain things
05:27if you lose a few more or if you win a few more,
05:29but I told them every single time from open play,
05:32we are the team that generates the most chances from all the teams we've played.
05:37But we've also conceded more than I like,
05:39but that also comes from the fact that we every time have to chase the game.
05:42Because when we were 3-1 up against Frankfurt,
05:45we didn't concede a chance anymore.
05:48So these are things I tried to tell them,
05:52as well as I tried to tell them that the main, main, main difference
05:56between this season and last season is the playing styles we face.
06:01So I've looked in my, when we were a few days off,
06:04I've looked at the fact how many long balls we already had to defend.
06:07178 in seven games.
06:09And then United came and we had to defend 59 long balls.
06:13That's different than the first half of last season.
06:17Not as the second part of last season, but as the first half.
06:20The way to unlock it is a moment of magic,
06:23which we had in the first half of the season a lot with Mo,
06:27or a set piece, which we had at Frankfurt as well,
06:31because that again was a low block,
06:33but two set pieces unlocked the game for us.
06:37So this is what I tried to explain to them.
06:39And when I tried to explain this in the media,
06:41what I tried to do after the game,
06:43it was actually more of a compliment for the other manager
06:46that he found the right answer to our playing style.
06:51But I think, if I'm correct, if you informed me correct,
06:55that wasn't how people looked at it.
06:59I suppose more importantly for you,
07:01I know you can get all the information into your players mentally,
07:04but I also know there's a lot of emotional players in there,
07:07in terms of getting the heart as well.
07:09Vinny talked about how Mo might be feeling right now.
07:12So how do you get that bit as well as that bit?
07:14Do you need to?
07:15Are you happy that that's all sorted with them,
07:18and it is just now to find a way to stop them?
07:22No, these are one of the things that you have different conversations with your players,
07:28if you lost four times and if you won four times.
07:30So if you then go into the game, into the fifth one,
07:32the focus might be on, we need to win, we need to win, we need to win.
07:35Yes, that's definitely what I would like us to do,
07:37but there's a way how you win games of football and focus on that.
07:41And so you do have conversations about if you won four times in a row,
07:46other things can be the challenge that players think,
07:49ah, we don't have to run that much anymore because we are so good.
07:53So that was last year, the challenge.
07:56And if you lose a few times, then you need to keep telling them
07:59that they are on the right track.
08:02If you simply look at, judge them on, chances conceded, chances created.
08:10But that we are at this moment in a period where if we do one thing,
08:15one small detail wrong, we immediately concede a goal.
08:18So we have to make sure we do ten out of ten times things perfect,
08:22where nine out of ten times is not enough at this moment of time.
08:26Normally nine out of ten times is enough to win a game of football.
08:29But you can arrive in a period where every time the other team gets
08:33his first chance, it's a goal.
08:34It happened against United, it happened against Frankfurt.
08:37And at some moments are a bit unlucky, like having a player on the floor
08:44and then with ten men conceding a goal, these kind of things.
08:47So then if you are in a period of time like this, you need to aim for ten out of ten.
08:52Nine out of ten is not enough, so give this five of five percent more.
08:55When you talk about the long ball stats there and how many you have had to face,
09:02is it then people have found out how to play Liverpool or is it better squads?
09:07And do you now think, well, we might have to change how we play?
09:10Why I said for the first time what I said after the United game,
09:17because before that I still felt like if I...
09:20Because people ask me, why was it difficult today?
09:23Then if that is your question, I have to answer it, why it's difficult.
09:26And the answer lies in the tactics of the other manager,
09:29which is a compliment to him.
09:31But why I didn't do that before, because I was like...
09:35It's quite obvious that they all do it for a long time now,
09:39but I'm not 100 percent sure if every manager that we're going to face
09:44in the upcoming weeks knows this.
09:46But at a certain moment it's so clear, everybody does this.
09:51And even now I've heard that when we played Frankfurt,
09:55there were talks between their staff and Glasner, who worked there of course,
09:59and he explained to them their way of playing, which is normal that these things happen.
10:07So yes, we have to adjust and that's what we've tried to do.
10:11That's also what I've told the players and I can say this here as well.
10:15The last two times we faced a 5-4-1 against Palace and against United,
10:20we've created more chances than we did every single time we faced a 5-4-1 last season, low block.
10:26And the reason for that is that we've tried to adjust a few things in our playing style as well.
10:32And against Frankfurt we again faced a 5-4-1, where I adjusted maybe even more.
10:38But that's not to say that was the reason that we created so much,
10:41because we created already a lot against United and against Palace as well.
10:45So yeah, we have to find answers to that and we're not the first team that happens.
10:51This happens, City experienced this for so many years.
10:55And they are very, very, very good at playing in these tight spaces.
11:02And this is something that we need to do even better than we're already doing.
11:07Curtis Jones completed 122 passes, I don't know if you know that.
11:12Apparently it's the most by Liverpool player in the Champions League game since 2003-04 season.
11:18I just wondered how much he has come on in the last 12 months and how integral is he to what you want to do?
11:23Yeah, I'm not so surprised that he touched the ball a lot,
11:26because I positioned him and Dom a bit lower because we missed out on Ryan.
11:31And we faced again a team that was playing in a very low block and didn't press us at all.
11:36So yeah, if you then free one up, you start to pass the ball,
11:39because just waiting for them to come and then find a moment,
11:43that's always nicer than when you're 1-0 down and you face that low block,
11:46because then you need to take more risks.
11:48Curtis, since I'm here, I think his playing time went up.
11:53There's a reason for that, because I like how he progressed.
12:00But still, with him and the same questions you can ask about every player,
12:06he's in competition with five to six very good midfielders.
12:10But it's good to see that he played a good game against Frankfurt, definitely.
12:16Carl?
12:18Just to go back to Mo, he's obviously coming under a bit of scrutiny in the moment,
12:23just because of his current form.
12:25But as you said, he's getting the chances.
12:27So how do you explain the imbalance between the chances he gets and the return he's getting?
12:34How do I explain that?
12:36Yeah, I mean, it's not like he's not having the chances,
12:39he's just probably not having a lot of luck or he's just probably a little bit of sharpness.
12:44I don't know if that's sharpness or not.
12:48It's so difficult for me to say why this is.
12:51I could come up with a few reasons, which I'm not sure if that is the reason,
12:54but I think in general in football players miss chances.
12:59And Mo is a human being as well, so we're not used to him missing chances,
13:06let alone a few games in a row, but these things can happen.
13:10What could have to do with it, I have no clue if it does, but I could come up with it's easier
13:15maybe to finish a chance if you're 3-1 up than if you're 1-0 down.
13:19But maybe that's completely not true for him, but could, could, could.
13:24But I think the main thing is that Mo has always scored his goal for our club.
13:29And the last thing I worry about is Mo starting to score goals again,
13:35because that's what he's done his whole life.
13:38And that's what I expect him to do in the upcoming weeks and months for our club as well.
13:43On the down the right side, there's probably been more changes this evening,
13:48you have three different right backs you've played this season,
13:51and there's no changes.
13:53Do you think that has had any sort of impact on the game he plays?
13:59It could, not particularly maybe the right full-back.
14:03It could, by the way, because maybe his whole Liverpool career he played with Trent, maybe, yeah.
14:09So it could, but like you just said, I think he's been in promising positions often enough for him to score goals.
14:19But maybe with Trent even more, I don't know.
14:23But I think in general, for every player, if you have quite a few changes in your squad during the summer,
14:33then everyone needs to find new connections again.
14:37And that goes normally like this a little bit.
14:42And Mo is not an exception to this, because he's also a human being like all the others.
14:50So it might have something to do with that.
14:53But yeah, like you've seen now again, that in an ideal world, you play every single time with the same team.
15:00That's not realistic for a team that plays every three days.
15:04But even if you would want to, it wasn't possible because Jeremy Frimpong has been in and out with injuries a few times.
15:10Connor Bradley has been in and out with injuries.
15:13Let alone McAllister, who missed out on pre-season, and Alex.
15:18So I think this might be one of the reasons why we haven't been as consistent as we were last season.
15:31Sorry.
15:32Hi, Arne.
15:33I wanted to ask you about some of the tactics and the kind of changes you made.
15:38You mentioned the front book game, you made a few adaptations.
15:41I was just thinking about some of the new players and having them in the building for a little bit while longer now,
15:47having to train with them, play with them, understand what some are good at and maybe not so good at.
15:52Have you been influenced to try new things based on what you've seen from them,
15:57or are you more looking at what your opponents have given you?
16:02A bit of everything, I would say.
16:05But it was maybe the first time also that there was an opportunity to play with Alex and Hugo both,
16:10because of Alex missing out for so long and we thought this was the first time that he was ready to play twice in a row.
16:23So that is also an extra reason.
16:25But yeah, you always look at the opponent you face against Frankfurt,
16:29I thought that they might be a bit vulnerable in and around their centre-backs
16:38when it comes to pure speed, fast.
16:42And if there's one thing you can say about Alex and Hugo is that they are fast,
16:46especially after seeing the first goal Hugo scored.
16:52So yeah, I don't think we did so many things different.
16:56The only thing we maybe changed was instead of playing with a nine and ten behind each other,
17:01they were closer to each other with two number nines.
17:04We still had one winger on the left side with Cody Kakpo,
17:07and our right winger Florian Wiets, who I hardly played as a right winger,
17:11had more of a free role, but small margins were, I think, different to that.
17:19For the rest, I think we've mainly played similar to how we've played last season,
17:25with maybe the difference that certain new players bring different characteristics.
17:33Michael?
17:35Can I just ask about Kevin Kelleher?
17:37It's obviously the first time he's come up against him on Saturday.
17:39And we were obviously disappointed to lose him in the summer,
17:42but are you pleased that he has actually gone on elsewhere,
17:45become a number one for a Premier League club,
17:47having been at him before for so long?
17:49Yeah, maybe a goalkeeper is an exception, but in general I don't think it's a healthy situation
17:58for a player to be on the bench longer than a year,
18:01or miss out on many games in a year and then go into a next season.
18:05It's so hard for them to keep giving everything on a daily basis.
18:09So that was also one of the reasons why we thought it was best for Girard Kwanzaa,
18:13for Javi Elliott, to find another club.
18:17For Cuif, like I said, the goalkeeper is a bit of a success,
18:21but he did it for so many years that he felt it was time for him to start playing.
18:25And he's shown that he's right, because he does really well.
18:30But although I haven't worked with him, we're also going to face Jordan Henderson,
18:35who, as I've been told, is the only Liverpool captain that lifted every trophy.
18:41Six trophies.
18:42Six trophies, so not every, so six?
18:44Those ones we win in.
18:46Some competitions we win in.
18:48OK, OK.
18:49So, and I don't know if that's funny, but in Holland they cannot stop
18:56about talking about how much Ajax is missing Jordan Henderson.
18:59So, that tells you how important he was for Ajax,
19:04and how important he's been for Liverpool,
19:06and how important he now is for Brentford.
19:10The last one, sorry.
19:11Sorry.
19:12Emile Kirk has started every league game so far.
19:15What's given him the edge over Andy Robertson since he arrived,
19:18and what do you mean to Kirk at the start?
19:20What's given him the edge over?
19:23I don't think that's the place for me to say this over here.
19:28Because then I have to say something about Robbo as well.
19:31The reason why we brought him in, that I can tell you,
19:34is that he's bringing a lot of energy to the game, keeps going up and down,
19:39and he's very well in defending the 1v1 situations against his wingers as well.
19:46So, defensively solid and a lot of energy making the overlaps.
19:51For me, he's been a bit unlucky that Cody has used mainly his biggest strengths
19:57of coming inside and hitting the target, but we've shown Cody as well that there were a few moments
20:03that maybe playing the ball towards Emile would have been a better option.
20:08So, again, an example of two players playing together that need to find their connection
20:12even better than they already do.
20:14So, yeah, that's why we brought him in.
20:18I think that's a better answer to your question than starting to compare him with Robbo.
20:23Yeah.
20:25Fine.
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