Arne Slot on Premier League leaders Liverpool's trip to Fulham
03/04/2025
AXA training centre, Liverpool, Uk
03/04/2025
AXA training centre, Liverpool, Uk
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00:00Jürgen, we understand that the PGMOL have acknowledged
00:05that James Tarkowski's yellow card last night should have been changed to a red.
00:09How do you react to that, and what do you think of the effectiveness and consistency of VAR
00:13when the officials' bosses turn around and question a big decision in a big game?
00:20I think it's always good that if they think they've made a mistake they acknowledge that.
00:27And we all know that mistakes are being made in a football match by us, by me, by referees,
00:33and it's good that they acknowledged the mistake, but I think it was so clear what I said yesterday,
00:42that so many pundits that are not Liverpool fans, all of them were clear about it as well.
00:48So it's good that they acknowledged it, and let's go on to Sunday.
00:53I should also add that obviously I had a lot of complaints about the goal and potential offside,
00:58but at the same time it seems to me that's more the way the law is written
01:01rather than a mistake by VAR.
01:03Yeah, I agree, because I conceded a goal like this when I was at Feyenoord against Atletico Madrid.
01:11Actually, then the linesman raised his flag, but then VAR interfered saying,
01:16yeah, but the player that was offside didn't interfere with the situation.
01:20I disagreed with that completely.
01:23As I said yesterday, I disagree with the rule, because I don't like the rule.
01:29Now, OK, it was in a moment where Everton were playing in a low block,
01:33but most teams that are offensive want to have a high press,
01:37they want to go to the halfway line to play some players in an offside position,
01:41and then when the goalkeeper kicks it long, Virgil and Nebo go for a duel
01:45with a player that's in an offside position.
01:47And I always tell the linesman that it's offside,
01:49and he always tells me that he doesn't interfere with the play.
01:51So, the rule was executed in the way it should, which was good for us,
01:58but I don't like the rule.
02:00How close do you feel to clinching that title now?
02:0312 points clear, a maximum of 13 points needed.
02:06In theory, if results go your way, you could be title winners
02:09before you face that run of Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal.
02:12Yeah, in theory so many things can happen.
02:16Again, we felt yesterday how hard it is to win a Premier League game,
02:20because, yes, we won it, yes, we are very happy with it,
02:24but I think David Moyes again deserves a lot of credit for how his team was lined up,
02:29how difficult they made it for us, how difficult they made it for every single team
02:33since he arrived over there, nine games in a row and beat them.
02:37Now, it's nice for us that we beat them, because we know how hard it is.
02:42So, yeah, that also tells you that we have eight games to go,
02:46it's every time a challenge, starting Sunday against Fulham,
02:50and we're having a very good season as well.
02:54So we are not working on theories about how many points this is, this, this,
02:59we are taking the challenge of Fulham on for Sunday,
03:03where we have to be at our best again, like yesterday, to get a result.
03:08A couple of things to check, just Ali's fitness, how likely is he to be available,
03:12and how likely is Curtis Joe to continue to fight back as well?
03:16That also depends on if players are coming back, the last one,
03:20which, of course, Trent and Joe will not be back in the upcoming weeks.
03:23Connor, we have to wait and see if he's ready to be with the squad for Sunday.
03:30And then, of course, Curtis is an option, because he did well,
03:33but I think Gerald did well a few times in the position also,
03:37so let's wait and see which decision we make on Sunday.
03:41And with Ali, it's simple, it's a concussion and you have to tick all the boxes.
03:46And the moment he does, he will be in goal,
03:48the moment he doesn't, we are following the protocol.
03:54In terms of Fulham, you probably remember the game in December
03:58where they came and gave you a real good go.
04:01What memories do you have of that game in particular,
04:04as to how difficult a side they have to face?
04:08The memory I have of that game is that they should have had a red card in the first half as well.
04:15But they didn't get it, and that did cost us points.
04:19But the main memory I have about that game was that we played incredible with 10 men.
04:28And if we can have the same effort intensity with 11,
04:34then we give ourselves a chance to win the game against Fulham.
04:39But I also remember the first 10 or 15 minutes that Fulham started off really well,
04:44when it was still 11-3-11.
04:47So they are a good team, they have definitely more than a few frets,
04:51that's the both I remember.
04:54It was a great game of football where in the last few minutes we got a few very good chances,
05:01and I think Virgil was one of them, that could have scored the winner.
05:05Was it also the game that Jota scored the same goal as he did yesterday?
05:09Yeah. So, many memories about that game.
05:13And in terms of your approach, you talk about not thinking too much about the title being so close,
05:21is it just having to take that usual mentality of one game at a time,
05:25forget everything else, just concentrate on one game every single time?
05:29Yeah, because I said so many times, apart from we've played 30 games now,
05:34maybe there were three or four games where the score was so clear
05:38that in the last 20 minutes it wasn't a problem anymore.
05:42Almost all of our other games have been really tight.
05:45So that probably tells you as well how big of an accomplishment it is
05:50that we are 12 points clear at the moment and that we are doing so well,
05:54but because it doesn't come from itself, it's not like the team that won the league in the last four times,
06:02where so many times 20 minutes before the end or at half-time we were already 3-0 or 4-0 up.
06:07That's not our season. That's why I have to give so much credit to our players,
06:16because if you every time have to fight with a one-goal lead or you were one goal down,
06:22it's probably even harder than being 3-0 or 4-0 up at half-time.
06:27Jota getting the goal against Fulham, we saw the goal he scored against Everton as well,
06:34how impressive and important is he?
06:37I mean, he's had injury problems this season, but he's an instinctive striker,
06:41but also when he has time to think about the situation, he's able to cope with that as well.
06:47Yeah, I think that's one of his most special qualities, that most players,
06:53if they come in a situation where they think they can score, they get a bit mixed up in their head,
07:00but he can stay really calm in those moments, recognise where he has to shoot the ball,
07:07recognise where the defenders are, what the goalkeeper probably expects,
07:11which corner he's going to go to, and then he chooses the opposite one.
07:14So he's calm in the moments he has to shoot, Mo is an example of this as well,
07:19and that's one of his biggest qualities, I think.
07:22What I've seen this season is that he started off really well,
07:26but we missed the best possible Jota maybe for five or six months,
07:32so he's been out for three or four months, but it took him quite a while
07:36to get to the level he was at before he got injured, and that's not only with him,
07:42I see this with almost all of our players that had an injury,
07:46that it takes a while to go back to Premier League level.
07:49So they are fit, they train, but the difference between good and excellent is only a small margin,
07:58and therefore apparently you need to have a run of games to come back to excellent again.
08:04Hopefully he will have that just at the right time now, between now and the end of the season.
08:09You've got a succession of matches now on Sundays with a gap in between each one,
08:14how much of an advantage is that for you?
08:20Looking back at the first eight months you would say it's a disadvantage,
08:23because how well did we do by playing every three days?
08:28But I think there must have been a few moments during the season
08:32that we had one week rest as well, and I assume because we only lost once,
08:37we probably won that game as well, so I would have loved to play the quarter-finals
08:44of the Champions League, but unfortunately we faced Paris Saint-Germain.
08:48And now this is our situation and we accept it.
08:51That's also a challenge, because players stay fit in the programme of playing two times a week,
08:57now they have to put even more effort in during training sessions,
09:00where during the season when we played so many games,
09:03training sessions were more to keep them alive, to bring them back on their feet.
09:08And now they have to work a bit harder in training sessions as well,
09:11that's a challenge for them.
09:14Because you're not able to work as hard as we do against Everton or Paris Saint-Germain
09:19if you don't work hard enough during the week,
09:21and that's the challenge we face now in the upcoming six or seven weeks.
09:26Hi, Arne. There was obviously an incident yesterday with no red card,
09:30but in general, what have you made about the stamina of the record
09:34and the VAR in the Premier League?
09:37I think everywhere around the world mistakes are being made,
09:40this is something in the league where I come from,
09:43and we're all aiming for a league without mistakes,
09:48I'm aiming for a season without me making one mistake in the line-ups I make.
09:53But unfortunately, this will probably never happen,
09:56not with me and not with referee decisions.
10:00So we also have to accept, which is sometimes very hard,
10:05as you noticed after the away game at Everton for me as well,
10:09and I got the idea that David wasn't as happy yesterday after the game,
10:14but he was a bit smarter than me,
10:16he went inside instead of staying on the pitch.
10:21Probably experience.
10:22So, mistakes are being made.
10:25I know, for example, Holland, I follow the Dutch league in Holland,
10:28there's so, so, so much criticism on the referees over there,
10:31so I think it's something, what is inside this world,
10:36wherever we can, and by we I don't mean you, but social media,
10:39if there's a possibility to be negative, everybody wants to be negative,
10:43not everybody, but eight out of ten people.
10:46So then if a referee makes wrong decisions, everybody will fall over it.
10:49If I make the wrong line-up, everybody will fall over it.
10:53So I think it's quite an OK season for the referees in England, actually.
10:57Mistakes are being made.
10:59But the most important thing is that it doesn't influence the league table,
11:03and the only answer to that is at the end of the season,
11:06if we see the league table and if we feel it has influence, yes or no.
11:13But it's normal that it does,
11:14because mistakes are part of our lives, also from referees.
11:23Just on Curtis, he's played so many different roles this season,
11:28how valuable is that for you as a manager,
11:30and also what does it say about him that he's able to adapt to whatever you seem to ask him?
11:34Yeah, that's very useful for me.
11:37Of course me and Richard talk a lot about this season and about next season,
11:43and it's nice to have versatile players, if versatile is the right word to use,
11:47so players that can play in multiple positions.
11:50Is that versatile?
11:52Yeah, OK.
11:54And Curtis is definitely one of them.
11:58He has a skill set that he can defend, he can attack,
12:04and that's why he can play in so many positions.
12:07And he has this mentality that if you give him a challenge, he likes to be challenged.
12:12And yesterday was a challenge for him, because it wasn't his normal position.
12:19And some players hate to be challenged, they want to stay in their comfort zone,
12:23but Virgil is... Oh, Virgil!
12:25Curtis is the type of player that wants to be challenged, if you challenge him.
12:31If you tell him he's playing against the best English midfielder under-21 or something like this
12:35and I want to see how you do against that, then he's up for the challenge.
12:42I didn't ask him to stand up against Beto after the game,
12:45was it Beto or someone else?
12:47But he likes those challenges as well.
12:49Oh, that was Decorre, OK.
12:51After the away game.
12:53So, good to have him, now it's up to him if I play him again on Sunday,
12:59that it's not a one-time show yourself,
13:02because consistency is the thing that brings you from good to great.
13:06And that is now, if I play him again, what he has to show on Sunday.
13:11Hi, Jürgen. One of the big factors in the first game at Fulham was Anthony Robertson,
13:17he had two assists in the game, spent a lot of time running at full-back,
13:21which was something that Curtis didn't really have to deal with last night,
13:25Carlos Sarkozy tended to drift inside.
13:27Is this something that you cram into your thinking when you're trying to decide?
13:31You mentioned the fact that Curtis likes the challenge,
13:33you mentioned the fact that it may be kind of mine, I'm not necessarily the fit,
13:36are you thinking more about what Fulham can do,
13:38whereas with Curtis in the derby it's more about what you can do going forward?
13:43I thought you were going to ask me that, I was talking about the wrong red card,
13:48because they needed to have a red card for a challenge on Ravenberg,
13:51and we got one, which is under a big debate, if that was a red card.
13:55But OK, let's continue about your question now.
13:58He is definitely a threat, he's definitely a threat.
14:02I saw this when they played Arsenal, he's having a great season,
14:07and I saw this when they played us.
14:09But the good thing about a left full-back that wants to attack
14:13is also that he takes the risk of leaving Mo in a position where he can hurt the opposition as well.
14:21That has happened multiple times this season, where full-backs do attack,
14:28and then in transition Mo can hurt the other team.
14:33We have to make sure that we take care of that part if they attack,
14:38because I think he was involved in the second goal, if I'm correct.
14:43So, yes, we have to have a good answer about that full-back,
14:48but the other one likes to attack as well, especially if they play with five.
14:52So, yeah, we have to find an answer to that, but every team brings you challenges.
14:56Everton brought us many challenges yesterday as well,
14:59and Fulham will do so also.
15:04It's a unique situation with both Liverpool and Arsenal
15:08facing Everton and Fulham in consecutive games.
15:11Did you get a chance to really pour over the Arsenal game?
15:14Because obviously they played three fractures you hadn't done in a game before.
15:18Were you able to draw a few insights into what you might be able to face on Sunday?
15:24It is a unique situation, and that's why I think it would have been more fair
15:28if all four teams would have played on the same day.
15:33But we have more than enough rest for the Sunday game, so it's not a problem for us.
15:41But I do feel for Everton that they play on a Wednesday night
15:45and have the early kick-off on Saturday.
15:48The good thing is that they play at home,
15:50and I know how much their fans can influence the game.
15:53So, it's a unique situation. I did watch the game,
15:57because it's always an interesting game to watch, and we play Fulham,
16:04so it would be weird if I had not watched that game.
16:08But after 2-0 I went to Manchester United-Forest,
16:15which was also a nice game to watch.
16:23New fitness issues coming out of last night's game,
16:26anyone had a problem, did you think anything was wrong after coming back into the team?
16:32Yeah, the boys still didn't come in yet.
16:36I hope that because Maka and Magalhaeser finished the game it's all good with him,
16:44but sometimes adrenaline or just keep on running can help you,
16:48and then when you have a night of sleep you can come back and feel,
16:52so maybe I do feel something now.
16:55But I hope and expect everybody is ready to play on Sunday again,
16:59from the ones that were on the pitch yesterday.