New Liverpool boss Slot on first game against Ipswich and the prospect of transfers (Full Presser)

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Liverpool boss Arne Slot on his first Premier League game in charge against Ipswich and the prospect of incoming transfers Melwood, Liverpool, UK

Transcript

00:00Almost at the middle, after that.

00:12Benny.

00:13Hi, good to see you.

00:15All OK?

00:16All OK, yeah.

00:18You have the opportunity this weekend to become the first Liverpool head coach

00:22in the Premier League era to win that first competitive game in charge,

00:25so how are you feeling out of your first Premier League game

00:29Excited, of course, but it has nothing to do with what you just said,

00:33but I think after a pre-season it's always, for a player and also for a manager or a coach,

00:39it's always nice to start the season, because this is what you've worked for

00:43in the last few weeks.

00:45I know you've been asked about transfers quite a bit during this summer,

00:50but I have to ask you at the moment, the fact that Zoubamendi ultimately decided

00:55to stay at Sochi, how much of a disappointment is that for you,

00:58and how likely is it that you are going to add to your squad

01:01before the transfer window closes?

01:03I mean, we see the link obviously with Mahmoud Ashurriyeh at Valencia now as well.

01:07There are a lot of questions in one,

01:10but I've said many times already that I think our squad is really strong,

01:15and it's not so easy to find players that can help us

01:18or can even strengthen the squad.

01:22Zoubamendi was one of them, to be fair, but he decided not to come,

01:26and then we go forward with the ones we have,

01:30and those ones have done really well in pre-season.

01:33We're in a good place, and like I said many times before,

01:37on the background Richard is trying to strengthen the squad as he can,

01:43but unfortunately Zoubamendi decided not to come.

01:47He did every effort, he tried everything to bring him in,

01:50but if a player doesn't want to come, it's obvious that he is not coming.

01:57In terms of that squad that you have,

02:00what do you see as the realistic aims, the realistic targets,

02:03once again for Liverpool for football this season?

02:06I think at this moment the whole team stayed together,

02:09we lost Joao Matip and Thiago, and Adrian is a goalkeeper of course,

02:14but the rest of the team stayed together, and that's also a very positive thing.

02:17We are always talking here about transfers,

02:20but it's also a very positive thing that we kept our players.

02:23They are in a good place at the moment, I said many times already,

02:27Jurgen left the team in a good place and we're trying to build from there.

02:31Last season was also a season where they could win a trophy with this team,

02:37so we are hoping and aiming for the same this season,

02:41it's not going to be easy, because there are a lot of good and strong teams in the Premier League

02:46that also strengthen the squad, but we're looking forward to the challenge.

02:50Among the team of keeping players, Trent, Mo, Virgil van Dijk,

02:53any developments as regards their contract situation,

02:56and how likely do you feel they will commit beyond next summer?

03:00I don't think this is the place to talk about contracts,

03:04but I can assure you that they are in the squad tomorrow.

03:09Arno, when you're coming off a pre-season that's been so analysed,

03:14intently watched from the outside,

03:16how excited are you to get the first game under way that actually means something?

03:20For me the games in pre-season meant something as well,

03:24although you don't get points for it,

03:26but I think it's important to prepare the team for the Premier League.

03:29Now we are excited to start the season against a promoted team

03:34that did really, really well in the last few years under their manager,

03:37and it's interesting to see what's going to happen tomorrow.

03:42How hard is it to prepare for a match against a team

03:46that have had a 22-year absence from the Premier League?

03:51Not harder than if you had to prepare them for a team

03:54that was in the Premier League for 22 years,

03:57because we also saw their games from last season,

04:00we saw their games in pre-season,

04:02so I don't think that's more difficult

04:04than if they would have been in the Premier League for a long time.

04:07It is true that a newly promoted club,

04:10there's a lot of positivity around a club like this.

04:15As people told me, every game in the Premier League is going to be an intense game

04:21and there are no easy games,

04:23and that is something we can expect tomorrow as well.

04:28A promoted team that only had a lot of positives in recent years

04:33will come up against us, really looking forward to it.

04:37But we are really looking forward to the game as well.

04:42Arne, what excites you most about this big job ahead?

04:47You've come to Liverpool after establishing a reputation in Holland,

04:51but one of the biggest clubs in the world, playing in the best league in the world,

04:56you've got the Champions League to look forward to,

04:58challenging hopefully on four fronts.

05:00What excites you most about it all?

05:03I don't think it excites me the most is the right word,

05:07but as a manager, wherever you are you try to do the same thing,

05:10you try to implement your playing style to the players.

05:13Fortunately for me, a lot of this playing style the players already knew,

05:17because many things have stayed the same

05:20and we try to adjust where we can to improve the team a bit,

05:24and this is where you're constantly working on,

05:26and that gives me and my staff a lot of energy,

05:29because the players have a lot of energy and try to implement the things we want

05:35and try to keep things the same as they were.

05:39So that gives energy to us as well, that the players really buy into it

05:43and want to make the best out of what we're trying to reach out to them.

05:48Present to them, that's maybe a better word.

05:51We've heard from a lot of the players pre-season

05:55how excited they've been by the slightly different ways you go about things.

06:02How far down the line is the first-team squad at the moment

06:06to the adaptation process that you and your team are trying to bring in

06:11as to where you want them to be now?

06:14I think everywhere around the world in pre-season

06:17everybody is really positive about everything,

06:22but it's a good thing that it's here as well.

06:25How far are we?

06:27I think I've said many times already that we're not changing everything.

06:31Actually, we don't change that much, because many things were really good.

06:35So then where are we?

06:38I think it would be perfect if after four or five or six weeks of pre-season

06:43you're already close to perfection, which is very difficult to reach,

06:49and some of them have only been in for 10 or 12 days.

06:52But like I said, many things have stayed the same

06:55and the players have stayed the same as well.

06:57So we are ready for the game tomorrow.

07:00If you talk about where we in the end want to go to,

07:04there are still a lot of things to improve.

07:07But I think if I'm here for three, four, five, six or seven years

07:12I will still give you the same answer, that there are a lot of things to improve,

07:15because it's impossible for players to reach perfection.

07:19We're always aiming for this, but there are always ways to improve the team.

07:28In terms of Trent, can you talk about where you see his best position?

07:34I think a position for a player is always related to the team,

07:38and it's also my aim to bring the best out of the player,

07:42but the first aim is to bring the best out of the team,

07:45and it helps if you also bring the best out of a player.

07:48Trent is known for playing as a right full-back for all his life, I think,

07:52and when he was a youngster he played at midfield.

07:55In the modern game you see a lot of full-backs going into the midfield,

07:59and that is what he did last season once in a while,

08:02and I saw him playing in the Euros at the midfield.

08:05I think he's capable of playing both positions really well,

08:09and then it's up to me where I think he could help the team the most.

08:32That argument I don't understand.

08:34If you don't strengthen the team you become weaker,

08:37that's a bit weird because normally you would either stay the same...

08:42And I truly believe that at the training ground

08:45you can help players and the teams to improve,

08:48and that is also what happened here in recent years,

08:51that the training ground really helped the team to improve.

08:55Maybe what you mean is if the clubs around you do strengthen the team,

09:00then maybe they become better, but it's not always true

09:04that if you bring in new players the team becomes stronger,

09:07because I also believe in general that every player in the team

09:13needs to have perspective on playing time,

09:16and if you keep bringing players in sometimes the energy in the group goes down as well.

09:21But like I said many times, we, and with me I mean Richard,

09:26are trying to strengthen the squad,

09:29and if we think we've found someone we try to bring him in,

09:33and then unfortunately the one we thought could help us said no.

09:40But we're thrilled on the background Richard is still trying to improve the team,

09:46but my main focus at the moment is fully on Ipswich.

09:51James?

09:53Arno, there's been a lot of speculation about Luis Diaz this summer,

09:56what is the situation with him?

09:58Is he someone you're counting on for the season ahead?

10:01When I walked in I said it was a screen from Sky Sports,

10:05I said it's the whole day it's about talking about football,

10:08so that there is a lot of speculation constantly in this country,

10:11that is clear for me.

10:13So it's not a surprise if I hear you saying it's also from Luis Diaz.

10:17Is there any player they don't talk about?

10:21A few, OK.

10:23His future is with us, because I like a lot what I've seen in the last ten days that he's in,

10:31and I saw the same last season, so he's had a big impact on the Liverpool season,

10:37and I'm hoping that he has a big impact in the upcoming season as well.

10:41Have you got everyone fit?

10:43Yes, we have, yeah.

10:47Salah Munoz has come into his third season as a full player,

10:50he's had some ups and downs, how do you get the best out of him?

10:54Because when he's on it, it seems tough.

10:57I thought you said first, but you said furt, didn't you?

11:01Then we have made a signing!

11:04Your question was?

11:06How do you get the best out of Salah Munoz?

11:11Bring him as much as we can into scoring positions,

11:14but again, I think every individual benefits from team performance,

11:20and if we as a team can bring our attackers, not only him,

11:26but also the other ones, as much as we can into dangerous positions,

11:29these players will score goals, that's also what we've seen in the pre-season,

11:33where we even scored goals out of smaller chances.

11:40So it's up to us to bring him or Diogo or all the other attackers

11:45as much as we can into promising positions for them,

11:48and then he, like all the others, will score their goals.

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