Liverpool's Slot on Community Shield final with Palace, Nunez departure and transfers (Full Presser)

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Liverpool manage Arne Slot previews their Community Shield final with Crystal Palace, the impending departure of Darwin Nunez and the latest on transfers and their new signings AXA Training Centre, Liverpool, UK

Transcript

00:01Long time no see.

00:05That's not completely true, because I do see you on the screen.

00:13No, no, definitely not.

00:14Arne, first of all, obviously our hearts have gone out to you all through such a difficult time,

00:25bitterly there will be more tributes to Diogo, such a lovely life.

00:30How have the tributes that have gone before as well impacted you guys here?

00:36First of all, the tragedy impacted us of course most,

00:40but again, it impacted far more his wife, children, parents.

00:45But it impacted us definitely as well,

00:49and the tributes that have been done since were all very emotional and impressive,

00:56so every time we were somewhere started off I think in Preston,

01:01and in Asia as well it's been emotional but impressive as well.

01:07We obviously now look towards the game,

01:12but also look at things off the field,

01:16because Darwin, it seems, is on his way out,

01:19can you use your thoughts on his departure,

01:21how necessary it will be to replace him,

01:24and could his replacement be out on the east side?

01:27These are a lot of questions anyway.

01:30As you know from me, and I think every manager works like this,

01:35you never talk about players that are not yours,

01:37so I can talk to you about Hugo, which we've signed recently and has done really well till now.

01:44I, we are very happy with the squad we are having,

01:51and there's every reason to be happy about that,

01:54because we won the league last season, OK, players left,

01:57but we've brought players in as well, and youngsters are doing good.

02:01So at this moment of time Darwin might leave indeed,

02:08but things are not signed yet,

02:11so you need to wait maybe a few days before that's completely done,

02:16but there is indeed a chance that he's going to leave.

02:20Do you think there will be more incomings between now and the end of the transfer window though?

02:24Because I appreciate that Ryan, Andy Robertson and Nando can all play at centre-half,

02:28but it appears that you could also still do with a centre-half.

02:32Do you feel you need to bring in another option at centre-half as well?

02:35No, what you just said, they can definitely play there as well,

02:39and you forget to mention Joe Gomez.

02:42Unfortunately he has a minor injury at the moment,

02:46but he will be back with the team very soon,

02:48so we still have numerous options that can play there.

02:52But as always, what I always say,

02:54it's the same boring answer as with players that we might bring in or not.

03:00I'm really happy with the players we are having,

03:04and we have numerous players that can play in that position.

03:09And a chance now to win your first trophy of the season?

03:11Yeah, which is nice if you can start the season with the chance of winning something,

03:17because normally you have to play numerous games before you can win something,

03:23if it's the League Cup, FA Cup, let alone Premier League or Champions League,

03:27normally you win something in the end of the season.

03:29And now we have a chance to win something in the beginning of the season.

03:32Unfortunately, we face a very good Crystal Palace,

03:36that have been very difficult to win against for us,

03:40because we played 1-1 against them in the last game of the season,

03:44and they showed in the last final, and in the semi-final by the way as well,

03:48how hard it is to win a one-off game of them.

03:51So I think most of the players that they have are still there.

03:57So, yeah, even more reason to know what a difficult team it is to play against.

04:07What did you learn from your last trip to Wembley?

04:13Obviously it didn't end with the trophy,

04:15but I'm just wondering how does this link to this one,

04:17and are you looking back to what happened against Newcastle?

04:20Not looking back because it's a different system that Newcastle is playing,

04:24but maybe the way Newcastle played that final could be quite similar

04:30to the way Palace might play this final,

04:35so Newcastle used almost every free-kick they got,

04:39no matter where it was on the pitch, to bring it into our box.

04:43And that's a style of play Palace also uses,

04:46so they also like to bring the ball out from the back,

04:49but they also are a fret in set-pieces and long throw-ins and all these kind of things.

04:53So there are maybe a few overlaps, is that the way you say?

04:57Yeah, overlaps between the two teams,

05:00but I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow,

05:04but Newcastle was going man-f-man all over the pitch,

05:08high up the pitch, high press normally,

05:11but maybe they will change it for tomorrow.

05:13Crystal Palace goes to a low block and defends in and around their own 18-yard box,

05:18and that is for every team very difficult to find gaps and to create your chances.

05:24So goals are in every game very important,

05:29but I think on Sunday one goal is worth a lot.

05:34There's a lot of excitement around 16-year-old Rio at the moment,

05:39and he was on the school sheet, Anfield got an assist as well.

05:42How do you as a manager go about supporting him, I guess,

05:46because there's already such a spotlight on him at such a young age?

05:50Yeah, and that is sometimes also difficult,

05:53and you never know how an individual handles that situation,

05:56but it was a year ago when Trey Neone scored a goal,

05:59I think against Sevilla, when he was also maybe 17, very young.

06:04So they have an incredible chance to work and be every day around players like Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah,

06:13and all these others, to see what they do, to be ready to perform every three days,

06:18and that is a step these players definitely have to make,

06:21which is completely normal if you are 16 or 17.

06:23It's already nice if they can play once a week at a good level,

06:27and we just try to develop them in the best way we can,

06:31but we also have to take care of them because new players that come in that are 24, 23, 22

06:38already experience that the intensity levels are quite high,

06:42either during the games or in training sessions,

06:46let alone for players that are 16 and coming through the academy.

06:49So we are aware of that, but it's been a promising start for him,

06:55like for Trey Neone as well, because I think Trey also played a very good game at Anfield three days ago.

07:04Just picking up on what you were talking about Sunday,

07:08you've played a lot of different teams in pre-season,

07:11but are Palace actually the perfect opponent to set you up for the season,

07:14such a mature side, set style of play, they'll threaten you in multiple different ways?

07:20Yeah, that last thing they indeed do, counterattacks, set pieces, long ball to Mateta,

07:29so they have also the individual quality of their forwards who can create out of nothing something,

07:35so very good team, and it indeed gives us, but that's I think what Bilbao did and Milan also already did as well,

07:43and the Japanese team, by the way, also gave us a lot of competition,

07:48and that's definitely what Palace is going to do, because they kept their team together,

07:53so they just hit the ground running again probably after being a few days off,

08:00and they're still the same team, so a team that performed really well,

08:05especially in the end of last season, and so yeah, a good challenge for us to start the season with.

08:14And considering how much you had to acclimatise to last summer and how late players arrived,

08:18just how valuable from a coaching point have you found this pre-season?

08:23That's completely true, the good thing about last season was that the whole squad stayed,

08:29so they knew each other very well already, now a few players have left,

08:34we brought a few players in, so that always takes a bit of adaptation as well,

08:38because the players we've brought in, some of them have different qualities

08:41than the qualities we already had, so they need to adjust to their new teammates,

08:46but I, we have to adjust to them as well, and it's a good thing,

08:50we could have worked already for four weeks now, I think,

08:53so yeah, that's the pleasing part of not having a World Cup or another tournament in the summer,

09:01that you can work with them from the start.

09:04Hi Arne, I wanted to ask you a little bit about the attacking depth of the squad,

09:08first out of the season. Last year in the Premier League,

09:12you were able to make five senior attackers in 32 of the 38 league games,

09:16and six senior attackers in 13 of the 38 league games.

09:20I wonder what importance that depth, not only on the pitch but on the bench,

09:25had to the success last season, and are you trying to replicate it again this year?

09:31I don't know what senior players exactly means,

09:34does that mean that you play for your country or you have a certain age,

09:37or because a player like Rio showed in the last few games he played for us

09:43that at senior level he can have an impact as well,

09:47so I think, we think, we already have a lot of attacking power in our team,

09:54so when I think about Cody Kakpo, Federico Chiesa, Hugo Higetike, Mo Salah,

10:01Jeremy Frimpong, who can play as a right winger, Florian Wiets, who can play as a left winger,

10:06so I already feel I have a lot of attacking options in my current squad.

10:12But as always, as a club, we are always looking at the chances in the market,

10:17but that can also be in the midfield or in the last line.

10:21Also, with obviously last season Mo Salah being so consistent in his appearances,

10:28they didn't really give a lot of opportunities for someone like a creator.

10:31This year, obviously, we've got the FN Cup of Nations coming,

10:34so there's going to be a little bit of time then, Mo Salah isn't around.

10:37Are you going to be thinking about that in terms of squad building and recruitment,

10:40or does, as I say, this give more opportunity to someone like a creator?

10:44Yes, we definitely thought about that, and we brought in Jeremy Frimpong

10:49because we think he can play as a right full-back,

10:51but I also think and feel he can play as a right winger.

10:54So, yes, I thought about the fact that we're going to miss Mo,

11:01I think as a maximum six games, but that's quite a lot in the Premier League,

11:06especially if you see how well he did last season.

11:09So, yes, signing Jeremy Frimpong was for multiple reasons,

11:13but one of them was also that he could replace Mo if Mo is not there,

11:20but there are other options for me to replace Mo with as well.

11:25But Jeremy is definitely one of them.

11:28Sorry.

11:29He will be in the squad, yeah.

11:42He only played, he was out for two months, I think, or longer,

11:46because we didn't play him in the last four games of the season.

11:49He trained with us since a week now, played 30 minutes, 45 minutes,

11:54so that's not a situation where you would start a player or play him for 90 minutes.

11:58Starting is possible, but definitely not for 90 minutes.

12:02Yeah.

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