- 18/05/2025
Liverpool boss Arne Slot on title celebrations and his trip to Ibiza this week, transfer rumours and the challenge of a Premier League clash with Brighton and Hove Albion
Melwood, Liverpool, UK
Melwood, Liverpool, UK
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00:00It's afternoon.
00:02Normally it's always the morning.
00:04That's why Finney is already free.
00:08He's feeling gone.
00:10He only works in the morning.
00:12Alan.
00:14Hello, Anna. Had a good week?
00:16Till now I had, yes.
00:20Good to see you.
00:22I know planning for next season, I'm sure, has been ongoing for some time now.
00:26Various media outlets this week are reporting that there is a release clause
00:31in the contract of Jeremy Frimpong at Leverkusen and Liverpool are prepared to meet it.
00:36Is he the type of player that you would see as a replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold?
00:43I think, again, it's going to be a boring answer.
00:46For a whole season it was about contract extensions of free players.
00:51And now we are arriving in a time where everybody wants to know which players we're going to bring in.
00:55And the answer is going to be the same.
00:57We don't talk about the players we want to bring in in public till the moment they've signed for us.
01:04And then you can ask me everything about them.
01:06What I can tell you is that we already have Kroner-Bradley.
01:09We can play really good in that position.
01:12Joe Gomez has played in that position multiple times.
01:16So it's not like when Trent is leaving I have no clue what to do anymore.
01:22But as a club we're always looking at interesting players that can strengthen our squad.
01:28But that's the general answer, not talking about an individual.
01:34Just on an individual in Trent Alexander-Arnold, does he figure in your plans for these final two games?
01:41Have you had to have a chat with him about last week's experience and the mixed reception?
01:47As you know, I wasn't here the last few days.
01:53Neither was Trent.
01:56Neither was Trent, so I haven't spoken to him yet.
01:59Today is the first day we come back together.
02:01We feel this is also a very good lead-up to our game on Monday.
02:06I've said before that it's quite difficult for a team that already won the league to train so many days in a row.
02:13If you've already won something, you need to find the balance between days off
02:17and prepare very well for the next game.
02:19So we train today, tomorrow and Sunday.
02:21It's three days in a row to be very well prepared for Brighton.
02:25Keep in mind that these players never had a few days off during the season
02:29because we were in the FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League,
02:34and of course the Premier League for a long time.
02:36So where are the teams that maybe had a few days off during the season?
02:39We hardly ever had that.
02:41That's not an answer to your question, but I wanted to make clear that...
02:46And then an answer to your question, if Trent is involved, yes or no,
02:49that is why I told you this, because it's the first day we train after a few days off.
02:54So it's quite early for me now to say what the team would look like,
02:58and what the squad would look like for Monday.
03:01Are you able to answer this one then?
03:03Is it a little harder in terms of motivating the players at this time,
03:08because the main job has already been completed?
03:11I think the honest answer is yes.
03:14Although I cannot look in all of their heads,
03:16but I think it's clear to everyone if we would still compete for the Premier League,
03:23then they would have been a few days off as well,
03:25but probably we wouldn't have gone somewhere else.
03:29But because I don't think we're the only team,
03:31if you play on Sunday and next week is Monday,
03:33that you give them a few days extra.
03:35But yeah, I think the honest answer is that there is a difference,
03:39but if I look at the way we played the Arsenal game,
03:42I saw a team that wanted to compete against Arsenal from the first, second till the last.
03:48Even when we were having some problems in the second half,
03:52they were able to come back into the game,
03:54so that tells you the mentality is still very good.
03:56But it was a home game.
03:58And what is the main thing for us is,
04:00it doesn't matter if we won the league yes or no,
04:02if you play Chelsea away, Arsenal at home and Brighton away,
04:04these are difficult games to play.
04:06That's why I was also so happy that we were already enough points clear
04:12to clinch the title against Tottenham.
04:16At the start of the season you mentioned about wanting to improve away form.
04:22I know everybody speaks about the power of Anfield,
04:25but this could be a record-breaking season in terms of if you beat Brighton,
04:30it's the 12th away when I think only four times in Liverpool's history.
04:33Has that ever happened?
04:35And that would also mean as well that you'd be the first team full stop in Liverpool's history
04:39to have scored in every single away game.
04:42Does that mean anything to you?
04:44Do you feel that is a sign that you have therefore improved away from home?
04:48Yeah, it definitely means a lot to me, I didn't know the exact numbers.
04:53But yeah, I think one of the first games we played away,
04:58I've mentioned distant players, I've showed them their away form
05:01in a team meeting in one of the away games,
05:03and I think this we have to improve as one of the things we have to improve,
05:08not the only thing, if we want to be able to be there in the end competing for the league.
05:13And that's what we did really well throughout the whole season,
05:18our away form has been good, but our home form has been quite good as well.
05:21And that's the only way in a difficult league like this to challenge,
05:26because so many good teams, so many teams are able to win more games in a row.
05:32So if you want to win the league over here,
05:35you need to have both good away form and good home form.
05:39And in terms of Brighton, they are still fighting for a European place as well.
05:44In terms of the competition between the both of you,
05:47looking at a positive from the lads going away together,
05:50does that help bring them maybe a little bit more personally together
05:54on top of what they've already experienced this season?
05:58That's the nice part of your jobs.
06:00If we win it, you will tell me this.
06:03If we lose it, we will get the blame for being a few days off
06:07and our hat was somewhere else, blah, blah, blah.
06:09This is all the nice part of your job.
06:11For me, Chelsea away is one of the most difficult away games in the season.
06:15Brighton away.
06:17I do think you know what Arsenal did there, what City did there.
06:20So if we are not able to get a result over there,
06:24for me that has nothing to do with players enjoying a few days off.
06:29But this will probably be the story in the media.
06:32Or you would disappoint me because in Holland
06:34this would definitely be the story of the media now.
06:37But maybe you guys pick a different idea.
06:40For me it's clear...
06:41It's a positive thing.
06:42That's why if we win it, then it's going to be brought as a positive thing.
06:46So there's only one truth.
06:47But as a journalist, you can look at it from both ways.
06:50And you can be positive or negative about what we've done.
06:53What we know is, we felt that this was a good way
06:56of preparing ourselves for the game on Monday.
06:58Because the boys deserved a few days off.
07:01It's been a very long season for us.
07:03And we feel, we think, three days lead up towards the game on Monday
07:06is more than enough time to be physically well prepared.
07:10If we are mentally well prepared for a very difficult game
07:14against a team that can play really well,
07:16that is something that has nothing to do with us being somewhere else
07:20or over here.
07:21But that does have maybe something to do with that for us,
07:24apart from winning a game of football, there's nothing else at stake.
07:28I'm sure everybody will be positive.
07:30Till now they've always been, so let's wait and see.
07:34Mike?
07:35Arne, during the summer at all football clubs
07:39there's player trading and I don't expect any names or patron
07:43about what's going to be happening, but there are ins and outs.
07:46Is there still an element of make your mind up time for you
07:49with regard to some of the players that haven't played as many games
07:54as they would have liked to have done?
07:56In terms of balancing that out with players that would be on your list
08:01of potential incoming signings and those of the people involved in incoming transfers?
08:08You mean if I'm planning to play certain players,
08:12to judge them one more time for next year?
08:15Is it still making your mind up time or have those sort of judgements already been made?
08:20Nah.
08:21I don't think it would be fair to any player if you worked with them for a whole season
08:25than to change your opinion on one or two games that are coming up.
08:29So I think our opinion has been made up over 10 to 11 months,
08:35and some of them play even longer.
08:37All of them, except for Vidrokoe Kiesa,
08:40who already played longer over here at this club.
08:42So I think we know quite well the quality of our players.
08:46So the game against Brighton or the game against Palace
08:50is not to make up our mind or to change our mind in what we think about next season.
08:56No, no.
08:57How difficult is it in a general sense when you're looking to alter the squad,
09:03alter the balance, bring your players,
09:05when perhaps to bring those players in you might need players to go
09:10for financial reasons, for the size of the squad,
09:12when you have to have maybe difficult conversations with players and with players' agency?
09:18Is that really difficult or does that just become part of what you have to do?
09:23Is there a brutal element to that?
09:25No, first of all, then you assume that we are going to bring in new players.
09:29And I've said many times already that we as a club are very happy with the players we've got.
09:34But it's part of our decision, but in some situations players that haven't played a lot
09:41are not looking forward to another season not playing a lot.
09:44So there is always an ongoing process and we have to make sure that we are prepared if we can strengthen the squad.
09:54This club has always done that, no matter if we have 19, 20, 21 or 22 players.
10:00If we feel we can strengthen the squad, we do so.
10:02But it's difficult to strengthen this squad because there is a reason why we won the league.
10:06And that's because we have so many great players.
10:09So it's an ongoing process where we are talking about.
10:14And I think this club has shown so many times in the past that they will make the right decisions.
10:21And we've made the right decision last season as well not to bring in a player at all, except for Federico Chiesa.
10:28And that worked out quite well.
10:30Or not?
10:32I think it did.
10:34Yeah, you can also talk about the balance of journalists, about us being knocked out in the last 16 in the Champions League.
10:42So you can also look at it in a more negative way, if you want to.
10:45You mentioned Chiesa there, he's also had a difficult season.
10:52I just wonder how much of a judgment you've been able to make on him considering he hasn't had much time.
10:58And does he deserve a bit more time in the next season to properly assess?
11:05In terms of the quality he has, he would deserve more playing time at this football club or the club he's playing for.
11:14Because he has the quality to play for us.
11:16But unfortunately for him, he's in competition with Mo Salah when it's about the right wing.
11:21And I think he could also play as a left winger, but there's Cody Kakpo and Lucio Diaz.
11:26And I don't think I'm wrong if I tell you that all three of them have had a great, great, great season.
11:33And for him starting one or two, maybe even three nil down, because the moment he came in,
11:39he wasn't as, by a long time, not as fit as the other players were.
11:43So that then, of course, doesn't help in the beginning and before he was as fit as the rest.
11:50Yeah, the other ones did so well that there was not a lot of reason for me to change.
11:54And even to be in a squad then becomes difficult if Darwin Nunez and Djogo Jota are there as well.
12:00But is he good enough to play for us? Yes, he is.
12:03But apparently I've always felt that Lucio Diaz, Cody Kakpo and Mo Salah deserved the confidence I had in them.
12:15And I hardly ever changed that set up between the three of them.
12:20You spoke about the importance of the break you've given the players just to get away from football.
12:26I just wonder how important it is for them to be able to celebrate what they've achieved in the season.
12:32I guess the opportunities to achieve what they've achieved don't come along that often
12:37and the opportunity to celebrate it together don't really lend itself to a football season.
12:43Not true, normally, especially in this league, but in general, even in Holland,
12:47the last game is really special, you should watch it.
12:50It's about the last game, and normally in this league it's also about the last game.
12:55And if you want it done and you want to go after the season,
12:58then wives, girlfriends, children are like,
13:01yeah, come on, I haven't seen my dad for such a long time,
13:04let's go on holiday now with the family, which I can completely agree.
13:07So we were having the great position that not only we've won it earlier on already,
13:13but also we've played on Sunday and then the next game is on Monday.
13:17So, like I said, even if we wouldn't have won it yet,
13:21they wouldn't have had four days, but they probably would have had two or three then as well.
13:30Because, yeah, in the end of the season you have to find the right balance
13:35in keeping them fit enough to play but also get them mentally fresh.
13:40And that's what we've tried to do.
13:43Last week, before the Arsenal game, they had a few days off as well.
13:46And this week also.
13:48Hi Arne, just on Trent Alexander-Arnold, how much of a danger is it
13:53the situation around him overshadowing the end of the season?
13:58I was already happy that no-one asked about it.
14:01So I thought, OK, we can leave this behind.
14:04Last week people talked about it to me, then of course we had the reaction of our fans in the stadium,
14:12which was different, positive and negative.
14:16Then all the pundits talked about it, the whole country talked about it,
14:19and I think now it's time to draw a line under that.
14:22Let's focus now on the fact that we've won the league and for us to enjoy the upcoming one-hour week
14:31with that feeling and not talk and be distracted that much about Trent's situation.
14:37Michael?
14:39Just back to transfers, obviously you've only got two more games left at this stage,
14:44there's not a huge amount of right now.
14:46Can I just ask, how much of your focus at the moment is actually on the games
14:49compared to transfers and thinking about the squad next season?
14:52Did you show me this week on social media?
14:55I'm coming from this morning.
14:58OK.
14:59No, no, even if you are celebrating over there,
15:03that doesn't mean that the whole day you don't think about something else.
15:06But a larger part now is already, indeed, my thoughts are into next season
15:13than it would have been if this game of Monday and next week against Palace
15:17would have been decisive for us to either finish top five
15:21or win the league or whatever we had to do.
15:23But now it's clear what we've done.
15:25So I think it's a normal situation that my thoughts,
15:28if I'm on the couch tonight or another moment,
15:32are more into next season than they would have been if it was still very important.
15:38And that's also the challenge, not only for me,
15:40but even more for the players for the Monday game,
15:43because maybe their thoughts are already more on playing for the national team
15:47one and a half a week later,
15:49where these games are probably even more important to them than the upcoming two weeks.
15:53Although what people told me,
15:56Palace at home will be a very special one to look forward to.
16:00So, yeah, probably that's the answer to your question.
16:05You think about it more, you have more meetings about that now
16:08than you would have had when it was even more important
16:12to win a game of football than it is now.
16:15My last one on the day.
16:16Hi, Arne.
16:17We saw something a little bit different from Curtis Jones against Arsenal.
16:20He was dropping a little bit deeper, picking up the ball from the goalkeeper,
16:24maybe sticking next to Ryan a little bit further deeper in the build-up.
16:27You mentioned there you're already thinking about next season.
16:30That's the kind of thing that we often see in pre-season, these kind of changes.
16:33So, do you think that this allowed you the ability to be able to make those kind of changes?
16:38Or you mentioned about motivation as well.
16:40Is he the kind of player who maybe you want to give him a different challenge
16:43to make sure he is motivated for these last few games?
16:47You mean him, that he played a little bit deeper?
16:51Because normally Michaelis plays in that position and I think he plays similar.
16:54A lot of the time, Alisson will be giving the ball to Virgil and he'll be building up.
16:58But we saw Curtis coming a lot deeper and picking the ball up from the goalkeeper,
17:02which we haven't really seen a lot from the fielders this season.
17:05No, I think Michaelis did this a few times as well,
17:10but it all depends also on the way the other team presses.
17:13And that was the good thing if you play a team like Arsenal,
17:19which is far more also the difficult thing, but you know what you can expect.
17:22And they have the quality and it's perfectly done by them.
17:28But you know what to expect,
17:30so then sometimes you give a little bit different details to your midfielders
17:35on how to do the build-up than you might do in other games.
17:40So I wouldn't see too much into that, it's just a small detail.
17:45I think what we've changed throughout the whole season,
17:47the general idea of playing was the same,
17:50but we always tried to adapt to the way the other team wanted to press us.
17:55Yes. Thank you. Thank you.
18:00You're welcome.