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