Liverpool boss Arne Slot on Trent Alexander Arnold’s future, contract talks with Mo Salah and Virgil Van Dijk and what he expects from the Merseyside Derby against Everton
Melwood, Liverpool, UK
Melwood, Liverpool, UK
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00:00Jürgen, good to see you.
00:02Good to see you as well.
00:04Obviously, during the international break,
00:07reports have surfaced again about a possible move
00:10for Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid in the summer,
00:13and with that, obviously fans are wondering
00:16what is the likelihood that he will stay beyond this season,
00:19so what's your understanding now of Trent's situation,
00:22what change has there been, if any, in his position regarding his future,
00:26and therefore, what has he told you?
00:28His situation is, unfortunately, that he's injured,
00:32otherwise people would have probably spoken about him
00:35that he had one or two brilliant performances for the England team.
00:39But he's injured, and for him that means that he's fully focused on his recovery,
00:45and for us that means that we're trying to help him to be back as soon as he can.
00:50And for the rest, of course, for eight months it went a bit up and down,
00:56maybe with all kinds of talks about him, Virgil or Mo,
01:00but we've never been focused on those talks,
01:03we've always been focused on what we have to do.
01:06For Virgil and Mo, it's trying to win the Merseyside Derby,
01:10and for Trent it's making sure he's fit as soon as he can.
01:14Just to push you on that a little bit, given those reports,
01:17does that affect you at all, and does it concern you
01:20that this could be the end for Trent here at Liverpool?
01:24No, no, no, because it's a situation that is there for eight or nine months now,
01:31and I think all these three players have performed so well under these circumstances,
01:37so no, it doesn't affect me at all.
01:39I think there was a bit of noise about us losing against Badi Dijon,
01:43losing against Newcastle as well.
01:45I always try to be rational and try to judge the situation in Newcastle,
01:53and the police and instrument situation.
01:56I don't think this has happened many times,
01:59that from the nine serious games a team plays in Europe,
02:02because I didn't take the PSV game serious, because we were already qualified.
02:08When you win eight and you only lose one,
02:12that you're out before the last eight, before the quarter-finals,
02:18I was a bit more frustrated about the final, because I think we deserved to lose that one.
02:25And that is, for the first time, I think we deserved to lose a football game.
02:30We were not tough in terms of defending, we were not good with the ball,
02:35so there were not many things to like about the final.
02:39It's the first time this season as well that you've lost back-to-back games,
02:42so what job have you had to do to pick the players up,
02:45and how has that been impacted by the international break?
02:47Yeah, they immediately went to the national teams,
02:50and all of them played important games over there,
02:53so when we came back I did come back to both situations,
02:58but I think for most of them they didn't forget,
03:02because they know what happened and they are, like me, disappointed for us,
03:07not winning our first trophy and being out of the Champions League.
03:12But we are also realistic, like I just said.
03:15You played nine games in Europe, you won eight,
03:19and you were, you could call it unlucky, going out with penalties.
03:25I think we've tried everything in that game to go through to the next round,
03:30and I can't blame any player at all for that game.
03:34For the final, we were also outworked, and that's not what I like.
03:38What are you expecting from this Merseyside derby,
03:41compared to your first experience of a Merseyside derby?
03:44I expect the same, but with one difference,
03:48that every time the Everton players do something well,
03:53they don't get the cheers and the reactions from 50,000 people.
03:58I don't know how many can go in, in Cootis and Park.
04:02But our players will get that reaction after every tackle they make,
04:06after every pass they do, and that is a different emotion.
04:11But football-wise, I expect the same,
04:14because this is what Everton have done in the last ten games,
04:19when David Moyes is in charge.
04:22They didn't lose one football game in the last nine Premier League games,
04:27so it would be a surprise if they are going to do something different.
04:31And we are top of the league,
04:33so it would be strange if we are going to change something as well.
04:37That last meeting obviously got a bit heated towards the end,
04:41have you given any thought into avoiding getting dragged into anything like that
04:45again in any future games?
04:47Yeah, I'm hoping I will act differently next time, but I can't promise.
04:51But what I'm also sure about is that I would be so, so, so surprised
04:57if I ever will experience eight minutes of so many controversial decisions
05:02in our disadvantage again.
05:06So, yes, even if it happens, I hope I act differently, but I can't promise.
05:14But I don't think I'm going to experience that again.
05:18But you never know, football is unpredictable.
05:22After a disappointing result, sometimes a manager or players say,
05:26we want to play again as quickly as possible to get it out of our system,
05:29but it's been 15, 16 days since Wembley.
05:33What's the feeling here? Are you now desperate to play?
05:36Is that the censure you're getting?
05:38I definitely am, because it's been 15 or 16 days or even longer
05:42before I last managed a game, but many of our players played one week ago
05:47important games for the national team.
05:50But everybody can understand the position we are in at the moment,
05:55that we are all looking so much forward to the upcoming nine games.
06:01So, yeah, players are refreshed, in my opinion.
06:05But it wasn't all negative, we've played a final,
06:08so we've managed to play a final against a very good Newcastle team,
06:12and we had one great game and the other game we defended really well
06:18against PSG, which was, in my opinion, the best game in the Champions League so far.
06:23And we got beaten by a very, very, very good team,
06:26but what a game we played as well.
06:29So, yeah, you can always look at the result,
06:31which was not the way we wanted in two games,
06:34but I was proud of our performance against Paris Saint-Germain,
06:38it was maybe the best game we've played this season.
06:42But, unfortunately, we lost it on penalties.
06:48Hi, Arne, you described the previous three matches as being Cup finals.
06:53I just wondered if you take that attitude into this game
06:56and into the remaining league games you have,
06:58despite the fact you've got a good lead at the top of the Premier League?
07:03Yeah, but in the final stages of the season, every game matters.
07:08And, yeah, if I now again say it's going to be nine finals,
07:13yeah, it is for every team, but it was a bit because we played the final.
07:17I use the word we played three finals in a row,
07:20because Paris Saint-Germain was also a knockout game.
07:23But, yeah, these games are very important for us, the upcoming nine,
07:28starting with the following one, and that's Everton.
07:31Not only because it's the Merseyside derby,
07:33also because we are in such a great position in the league.
07:36I just wonder about Chiesa as well, he obviously scored in the Cup final,
07:40and I know you've said before that you've struggled to see too much of him in training,
07:44given how many games you've had.
07:46I just wonder, given the impact he had off the bench last time,
07:49do you see him having more of a role in the team
07:51between now and the end of the season?
07:53Yeah, it wasn't only that I didn't see a lot of him during training sessions,
07:57because we had so many games, it was also because he was,
08:00more than he wanted, more than we wanted, injured.
08:03But it was good to see that he impacted the game when he came in,
08:08that is what has happened a lot this season already,
08:11that when players come in they impact the game.
08:14The assist was from Harvey Elliott,
08:16who has impacted the game a few times now in the last three or four matches.
08:20So it's good to see that all these players are ready,
08:23and that is partly my job, but also partly the players' job,
08:27to stay ready for the moment we need them.
08:30He's in competition with Mo Salah, and I don't think you can deny
08:34that Mo has quite a good season.
08:37So that makes it sometimes tough for him,
08:40but we know we can trust him the moment we need him,
08:45and not only him, it's also the likes of all the other ones
08:48that maybe haven't played as much as Mo and Virgil,
08:52but we can trust them every time we need them.
08:57Arna, as the last international break of the season,
09:00is it any different from your perspective?
09:02Does it offer a slightly unique chance to maybe ramp up any plans for the summer?
09:07No, the only difference is that the first three were after maybe two months of work,
09:14this one was after four months of non-stop work.
09:18So I liked this one the most, for the simple reason that it was four months in a row,
09:25so it was my first experience playing in the winter as well.
09:30So this one I liked the most, I needed it the most maybe as well.
09:36But there's no difference between back then and now.
09:41If you want to achieve something in the Premier League, in the League Cup,
09:45in the FA Cup or in the Premier League,
09:47you need to compete with the best teams in the world,
09:50so the Premier League teams or the Champions League teams.
09:53So there's no room for going a gear down, you always have to be on top of your game.
09:59You have to be that in September, you have to be that in October,
10:02in March and definitely also in April and May.
10:06You suggested there how much you're a bit tuned towards playing again,
10:09and also I imagine, as you've spoken, there was disappointment from how it finished.
10:13Do you have any strict rules personally with yourself?
10:16Do you allow yourself a bit of time to reflect and then switch up
10:19and start building back up again?
10:21Yeah, of course you reflect.
10:23You reflect on the first eight or nine months,
10:25you reflect on the last part before we had the break.
10:29And like I said, I think I'm mostly rational sometimes.
10:33After certain eight minutes I'm a bit emotional!
10:38But mostly I'm rational.
10:40Then you also reflect, and I think I said it immediately after we lost the final,
10:46that it wasn't only negatives in that week, we also extended our lead to 12 points.
10:52So that tells you that we did really well in the league.
10:55That we lose against one of the best teams in Europe with Paris Saint-Germain
11:00was far from ideal, but if I have to go out of a tournament,
11:06I prefer to go out against Paris Saint-Germain,
11:09I prefer to lose against Newcastle, which is a great team,
11:12and I think it's an embarrassment and close to a disaster
11:16if you lose against Plymouth Argyle.
11:19I do respect them a lot, but they are not of Paris Saint-Germain quality,
11:23or Newcastle quality.
11:25So if you have to leave a tournament,
11:27then do it by being beaten against two very good teams.
11:33It's rare you hear managers say that their players are refreshed
11:37after an international break, usually it's concerns about travelling and stuff,
11:41but considering what you said about how they played in the final
11:44and people talking about fatigue setting,
11:47has the international break provided an important reset for the players,
11:52just to have a bit of a break from the rigours of all that?
11:56Yeah. So then I try to be rational again,
12:00and if I look at the Paris Saint-Germain game,
12:03I don't think in the eight or nine months I've been in this job
12:06I've seen my players work that hard as they did, for 120 minutes.
12:11So maybe that was also the reason why we looked tired in the final,
12:17but again, maybe I don't give the right credit to Newcastle,
12:21because they made it so difficult for us because of their game plan.
12:25So now we all say, yeah, we lost this because we were tired.
12:28But I think when we were fit and Newcastle played the way they did,
12:31it would have still been a very, very difficult job for us to win that game,
12:36because the Newcastle players were so ready for it and played such a great game.
12:40So I don't think we were tired for the simple reason
12:44that against Paris Saint-Germain we were incredible in terms of work rate
12:48and in terms of intensity.
12:51And they are maybe a bit more refreshed than after a normal international break,
12:56because normally we play on the weekend and now we play on Wednesday.
13:00So most of them had a few days off as well,
13:03for the first time in months that they had three or four or five days off.
13:07So that is maybe the reason why I use the word refreshed.
13:14Does it help them mentally to get away from the relentlessness
13:19of playing Champions League and then Premier League?
13:22The international break is a little bit less intense
13:25maybe in terms of the preparations and how they play.
13:28Is it a mental break as much as a physical break?
13:31Yeah, but the mental break comes more from that you go to a different environment
13:35with different team-mates.
13:37And for that reason it was maybe a good moment after you lose two games,
13:41if you then stay at your club you either have to win the next game,
13:45but if you go to your national team things are new again
13:49and it's the same if you go from Premier League to the Champions League,
13:54it's a different tournament, it's a different league.
13:58So maybe that helped as well.
14:01I know, for example, the Dutch team played Spain two great games,
14:05England had also two games, maybe not the nicest one to play,
14:10but they won both of them.
14:12So it's always nice if players go to a different environment
14:15and then come back with us after a good experience,
14:20because, for example, Lucio Diaz had two goals, Cody Cacpo had a goal,
14:24so a few of our players showed themselves in a very good way again.
14:31Hi, Arne. The set-piece strategy didn't exactly go to plan
14:35when attacking or defending, and if you look in the league this season,
14:39Liverpool had 26 per cent of their goals conceded come from set-pieces,
14:43which is actually the fifth highest in the league,
14:46and going up against an Everton team who scored 41 per cent of their goals
14:50from set-pieces, which is the highest, including the opening goal at Goodison.
14:54I'm not going to ask you if you've changed anything,
14:56because you're not going to tell me,
14:58but have you spent more time working on set-pieces this week
15:01than you would do maybe in a normal week?
15:04It's funny, because I try to use data as well,
15:07but I always try to use it in my own advantage.
15:10So you tell me that 26 per cent of the goals we've conceded are from set-pieces?
15:14In the league this season.
15:16But we're also defensively, when it comes to corners,
15:19the best team in the league when it comes to set-pieces and corners.
15:23So it tells me more that we hardly concede goals,
15:27and then if we do concede, a part of it is set-pieces,
15:30and then, because we only conceded three or four, I don't know exactly the number,
15:34it's already 26 per cent.
15:36But from all the teams in the Premier League,
15:39we have the best record in defending corner kicks.
15:43At least, that's my data.
15:47But we are aware of the fact that we again face a team like Newcastle,
15:52with Everton, that is a team that is very strong in set-pieces,
15:56because we conceded the first goal in the Merseyside derby from a set-piece,
16:01and we conceded a goal against Newcastle from a set-piece.
16:06And I've said many times that in big games,
16:09and the Merseyside derby is one of them,
16:11the big Champions League games, a final is one of them,
16:14you cannot win a big game if you have a negative balance in your set-pieces.
16:19And our main competitor at the moment, Arsenal,
16:22shows us on a weekly basis the importance of set-pieces.
16:27We are focused on it.
16:29We want to do better in our attacking corners,
16:33but I'm hoping we can keep our record
16:36as being the best team in the league defensively by defending corners.
16:44Just checking to see who's on and grabbing a bit of action.
16:47Alisson, are they OK? And how far away is Conor Bradley from him?
16:51Ryan is OK, although we have to train one more time.
16:54But he's OK. Ali trains with us as well.
16:57The last check has to be made, I think that's this afternoon,
17:02after the session, if he's available to play.
17:07And Conor is training with us again,
17:12but we have to make a decision on whether he's playing,
17:18and if playing means coming in or starting,
17:21that's something I keep to myself.
17:23But he's only had a few sessions after being out quite long with repetitive injuries,
17:29is that the way you say it?
17:31So we have to make a smart decision with that as well.
17:35Thanks, Arna.