Liverpool boss Slot on title celebrations, Trent future and Chelsea challenge (Full Presser)

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Liverpool boss Arne Slot on celebrating the title this week, the future of Trent Alexander Arnold and the challenges they will face from Chelsea Melwood, Liverpool, UK

Transcript

00:01Can't see it?

00:08Arne, first of all, congratulations again.

00:10What's the celebrations been like, what messages of congratulations have you had

00:14and how much are you looking forward to lifting the trophy and the parade to come as well?

00:19There's a lot of questions in one way.

00:22Of course, a lot of messages.

00:25Yeah, nine out of ten times they were the same.

00:30But I come from a good heart and it's always nice to get these messages.

00:35I've tried to answer all of them, not by sending big messages back,

00:39but I've tried to answer all of them.

00:44It's been amazing, especially Sunday.

00:47Maybe for all the Liverpool fans, but for many of them one of the best days of their lives

00:53and I think it was the same for me.

00:56The way the whole day went, arriving at the stadium,

01:00how intense the fans already were,

01:02then during the game going 1-0 behind so it even felt like,

01:05oh, they're not going to give it to us, we have to work for it.

01:08Scoring the goals, yeah, seeing how much it meant to the players,

01:13but also to the fans was, for me, really special to be a part of.

01:19Who was the most famous person you got a message of, congratulations?

01:24Yeah, I assume that's Jürgen.

01:29What did he have to say?

01:32What did he have to say?

01:35Yeah, what most of them said, congratulations,

01:38now you know how special of a club it is,

01:40now you are part of history as well, these kind of things.

01:44He was really happy for me, for the players, for the staff, for the fans,

01:49like we all know Jürgen.

01:51So, yeah, maybe I forget a few, but I think he was the most famous one.

01:57What opportunity do you see now in the remaining games,

02:00and how do you refocus after that big celebration last weekend?

02:04It's nice that we play some very strong teams with Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton and Palace,

02:13so that gives immediate challenge to those games.

02:17It's the end of the season, but we also have to look at this as the start of next season already.

02:22But yeah, it's Chelsea away first, we played them earlier on in the season,

02:32and I'm completely surprised, not shocked, but surprised if I look at the gap we have with them at the moment,

02:39because at that moment of time they were the better team on the pitch.

02:43But we found a way to win, and that is a quality that we didn't need a lot,

02:48because mostly we were the better team on the pitch.

02:51But in that game, yeah, we had to suffer more than any other game maybe.

02:57So to be so many points ahead of them is a big compliment for everyone here at this club.

03:03As you mentioned, just looking ahead to next season as well,

03:06can we just take a check on Trent and when you hope for that situation to be resolved?

03:11Four weeks to go.

03:15If there's any news on that, I wouldn't say you were the first one to know,

03:22but the people in front of me would probably hear it all together,

03:26and as long as there's no news from us, that is not the place to talk about this situation.

03:33Hi again, just in terms of Chelsea, obviously they played last night in Europe,

03:38did you watch that game, what did you take from it?

03:43Parts of it, I saw them taking a lot of players off at half-time,

03:48so talking about quality, semi-final in Europe,

03:51taking so many players off and just bringing a bunch of new players in with the same quality.

03:56But that's the Premier League, we all love that, all teams have so much quality,

04:01we can all do this, that's also the nice, that's why this league is so popular.

04:07So, very good team, they mostly showed this for me against us,

04:14to play so good in our stadium tells you how much quality they have.

04:20Just for me as well, you're on 82 points at the moment, you could get to 96,

04:25which would have been enough to have won the title over the last four years previously.

04:30How important is it to try and get the maximum that you can between now and the end of the season?

04:36Nah, we are going into these four games trying to win them all of course,

04:42that's what we always want, that's what every player that we wear at Liverpool should aim for,

04:48winning a game of football.

04:50I would judge us more on the amount of points we have now,

04:54compared to teams that won it in the past four games before the end,

04:59because there's definitely a difference if we're still competing now than the games we play now,

05:05because my line-ups will be different towards the one we've had mostly during the last ten months as well.

05:13We're not going to change everyone, but there will be a few players that come into the team,

05:19there will be a certain rotation in the upcoming games.

05:22That's not to say that we're going to lose them,

05:25we still have a lot of trust in the players we're going to play now as well.

05:30I think it would be more honest to the judges and opponents that we have now,

05:34compared to the ones that have won the league in the past,

05:37where they still had to fight till the end.

05:40And I think, if I'm correct, that we are on the same amount of points

05:44as many other teams that have won the league recently, four games before the end.

05:49So is that the thinking for you now, in terms of having a look at the squad players,

05:55as you alluded to, to think perhaps more for next season?

05:58This season as well, because I think some of them deserve to play already earlier this season,

06:08because they've trained so well, they are good enough to play for this club.

06:12But I mainly chose the same players, and I think this is also a moment to see where they are,

06:21also looking towards next season maybe a bit already,

06:25but definitely also because they deserve to play this season.

06:30We've been speaking a lot to fans this week who seem to really love the way you celebrated,

06:36both on pitch and afterwards as well, at Anfield on Sunday.

06:41I just wonder, do you feel like your connection with the Liverpool supporters

06:44went up a notch after the celebrations unfolded?

06:47If that was still possible, because from the first day I'm here,

06:54I feel that they support me and the team, but definitely me as well.

06:59I think if you win something together, it's the same with me, with the staff,

07:06with the team, with the fans, the players with each other,

07:10it always goes up a notch when you win something together.

07:15It's a game of football, but even more if you win a trophy together,

07:18that always lifts you to a new dimension.

07:22Harvey Elliott said this week that he wants to stay and fight for his place,

07:28he's not perhaps had as many minutes as he'd have liked this season.

07:31Is he someone that you feel has got a big future at Liverpool?

07:34First of all, it's very important that players who are here with us like to stay,

07:40that's a big compliment to everyone working here.

07:44And Harvey is one of the players that haven't had as much playing time as he maybe deserved.

07:50But like some others, he's in competition with so many good players,

07:54that many have chosen for other players, also partly because he was injured for a long time.

07:59And I've been honest with him, the first part after he came back from his injury,

08:05he wasn't the same as he was before his injury.

08:08But the last few months he's back to his old level again.

08:12But there was no need for me to start with different players,

08:16but I think if you look at the amount of minutes he had in the last one or two months

08:20and the time before, you can see it goes up already.

08:23So that tells you that I like him more now than I did when he came back from his injury the first month.

08:33I don't think they have anything to prove to me because I see them every single day in a training round

08:49and I've seen them playing for us in the past or this season.

08:53No, Federico not in the past, but he has had a great career at other clubs as well.

08:56So I don't think these players have to prove the quality players they are.

09:00But I think they want to prove for themselves that they are good enough to play for us,

09:10and I already know that they are, and probably they themselves know this as well.

09:14So no, I don't think they have a point to prove, but I do think they would like to play.

09:22But as I said, it's not now that all the ones that have played all the games

09:26are not going to play anymore and all the other ones are going to play now.

09:29I did this once before, a blim of a way, and I got quite a little criticism by you, or didn't I?

09:36So I don't think, and that is probably then also not an honest chance.

09:43So we will mix it up, but it's not going to be four games with the same line-up as we had against Tottenham.

09:50You mentioned earlier that you're already starting to think about next season,

09:55which this season you never did, you always think about the next game, next game.

09:59So how much advantage does winning the league this four games to go give you

10:03in terms of looking forward to next season, in terms of planning and everything?

10:08There are so many things that have influence on next season.

10:12Is it an advantage, yes or no, that some teams go to the Club World Cup?

10:17I think the main advantage of winning the league is that till now if I spoke to players,

10:26new players that we wanted to bring in, I always told them that our fans are really special,

10:31that it's special to play at this club.

10:33I think that was maybe not even necessary to tell them in the past,

10:38but after Sunday I don't think I ever have to tell anyone again how special our fans are.

10:43Because that was unbelievable, not only because of how much emotions there were,

10:49but them not coming onto the pitch.

10:52The amount of times I see teams winning the league and there's a pitch invasion,

10:56after two minutes everyone was like, yeah, what are we doing here, let's go inside.

11:00But they all stayed in the stands, the way you say it,

11:05and the celebrations were incredible, but not even after the game, also during the game.

11:10So winning the league, having these fans, I think this is a big attraction

11:16to every player we want to bring in, and that's definitely helpful.

11:23But if it's helpful that we won the league now already for next season,

11:27that is so hard to tell you.

11:30Considering the progress English teams have made in Europe,

11:36what does that say about the strength of the Premier League,

11:39considering Manchester United are 14th and Tottenham 16th,

11:43if they may be contesting the Europa League final?

11:47Yeah, but I think the number 14 and 16 of the Premier League have so much more fans

11:52than the number one in Holland, for example.

11:57So it's not a complete surprise that teams, and we have many other in the Premier League,

12:03have so many more fans than everywhere around the world,

12:06every other place around the world except for Paris Saint-Germain,

12:08except for Barcelona, Real Madrid and a few others.

12:11It is not a surprise that English teams go all the way into Europe,

12:14especially in the Conference League and in the Europa League,

12:17because they are in a different league when it comes to money,

12:21compared to the other teams that play there.

12:23In the Champions League it's more balanced, I think,

12:25so it's a big achievement from Arsenal that they are still in the semi-final.

12:29So yeah, it tells you how much money there is in this league

12:34and how strong this league is, but we all knew this,

12:39we didn't need this season to know that the Premier League is probably by far the best league

12:44and the most competitive league in the world.

12:48There are not many leagues where the number 15, 16, 17 now,

12:52because of a coincidence it's them, United and Tottenham normally are not there.

12:57But even the teams that are normally there have players that can play for the number one,

13:02the number two and the number three as well,

13:04and you don't see this in any other league, I think.

13:08Hi Arne, you mentioned that Chelsea were the better team in the first game,

13:13and they had some real joy tactically,

13:15probably giving you more tactical problems than anyone else this season.

13:18Do you enjoy these kind of tactical battles

13:22and do you expect a similar examination on Sunday?

13:25Yes, because Chelsea play the same style as they played at Anfield,

13:32and they've played the same style as always 3-2, 4-1 or the way you want to call it,

13:39they always bring one of their defenders into the midfield,

13:42and they did this in our game as well.

13:45That wasn't a surprise because we've seen them playing,

13:48I think it was somewhere around the 11th game or when we played them, yeah.

13:52So we knew that they did this but we didn't defend that well enough,

13:57or they were just outstanding, that's also a possibility.

14:01I do feel that that was one of their better games during the season.

14:05But yeah, apart from tactics they have so many good players in their squad,

14:11that that is the biggest thing you have to fight against, not the tactics,

14:16it's always the players you have to play against.

14:18Speaking of the players, Alexis McAllister has been nominated for Premier League Player of the Month,

14:23but I think he's probably been a little bit underrated over the course of the season,

14:26he's not someone who's been spoken about as much as some of the other players.

14:30How important he is to the success you've been able to get this season?

14:34I don't think he's underrated by me because he played maybe every game,

14:39or close to every game.

14:41Maybe the few times he didn't play that was because he either needed rest

14:45or he got a knock so he couldn't play.

14:50Very important player, game intelligence, so comfortable on the ball,

14:55but what makes him even more special to me is normally players

15:00that have so much game inside and are so comfortable on the ball

15:04are not as aggressive and intense without the ball

15:08and he is one of the few players in the world that combine this.

15:12So great game intelligence, great on the ball, but tenacity,

15:17that's the word you use here, without the ball that is in our midfield,

15:22he stands out in terms of tenacity.

15:25Can I just ask, is there any update on Conor Bradley?

15:30Is he going to be available for the weekend?

15:32He will train with us today, so that's the first start,

15:35and let's see how he does.

15:37So we expect him to be available, I don't know if that means that he's going to be available,

15:41to start, but if all goes well today and tomorrow, he will probably be in the squad.

15:50Thank you. Thanks, Anna.

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