- 7 weeks ago
Liverpool's Arne Slot on transfer business, title defence and their Premier League opener with Bournemouth
AXA Training Centre, Liverpool, UK
AXA Training Centre, Liverpool, UK
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00It could have been a trophy better, but...
00:03Lana, I asked you about centre-halves last week and it seems that you might be able to bring two in.
00:10First of all, Giovanni Leoni, what can you tell us?
00:14That the clubs have agreed a deal, but he hasn't signed for us yet,
00:18so the moment when he signs for us I can go into more detail.
00:25And the other one is, of course, the answer you always get from me.
00:30Are you able to talk about that a little bit more broadly,
00:33and say what expectations you have of possibly getting hold of Mark A?
00:37No, because he's not our player,
00:42and unfortunately he was the captain of the team where we lost against last Sunday.
00:49So, no, if you want to have any talks about him,
00:53you should go to Palace, to Gladstone, and ask him his opinion about it.
00:57Well, obviously the focus is on the start of your tight defense,
01:00so how ready do you feel you and the squad are now going into the start of the season?
01:04As ready as we can be.
01:06So I think I've emphasized last week on the fact that we've lost three or four starters,
01:13and unfortunately Ryan Gravenberg was not able to play last week and is not able to play this week,
01:19so that means that if you exclude the goalkeeper from the ten outfield positions,
01:25five were different than the main starters we had last season.
01:29And if you then look at the quality we bring on the ball, I'm very happy with that.
01:34Without the ball it's eight out of ten times also very good,
01:38but the aim at this club is not eight out of ten times, it's ten out of ten times,
01:42and that is the fine-tuning we still need to find defensively.
01:46And that went in pre-season one time better than the other one,
01:51up against Bilbao I was really pleased with our defensive performance
01:55because we didn't give away any chance at all out of open play,
01:59but we did concede two set-pieces.
02:01Against Palace we conceded the main chances when we lost the ball ourselves.
02:09So it's been ups and downs where the downs were not so low,
02:15but I think there is the main part for us still to improve,
02:19which is normal, I think for everyone in pre-season it's normal that there's still room for improvement,
02:24let alone if we not only lost three or four starters,
02:28I think we've lost five to six players that played quite a lot of minutes for us last season,
02:33and we brought in four I think, four new ones,
02:36so then it's normal that there's a little bit of adaptations,
02:39but we are definitely ready for the league to start.
02:43Taking all that into account, given what you achieved last season
02:46and how difficult it is to go back-to-back with Premier League titles,
02:49what are your expectations for the season?
02:52Yeah, but the reason why that is so difficult lays mainly in the fact
02:56that there are so many competitors that can also win the league over here,
02:59so to win it once is already very special,
03:02let alone if you can win it twice in three, four, five years,
03:05or as we did twice in five years, and City did even better than us in the last few years.
03:11So that's unbelievable if you're able to do this in this league,
03:14and probably this year it's going to be harder than every year before
03:18because every team brings in new players,
03:22but our main competitors definitely did as well.
03:25In that regard, obviously this time last year you had a huge challenge ahead of you,
03:31coming into a new league, starting at a new club, replacing the open club,
03:34everything that went with it.
03:36Is this season in your mind, personally for you, an even bigger challenge than this time last year?
03:41No, you forgot to mention that you take over a team and you only have two weeks to prepare,
03:46because there was a Euros and a Copa America.
03:51I think every pre-season, every season has its own challenges,
03:55so last season it were the challenges you were just talking about this season,
03:58the challenge is that we've lost many starters and we've brought in very good and talented players again as well.
04:08And the challenge is always, not only yourself, but also the teams you face now.
04:13We're starting with Bournemouth, which was last season probably the most intense team in the league,
04:17I mean in terms of running and also in their playing style, but that goes hand in hand.
04:25And then afterwards it's Newcastle and Arsenal, so that sums up this league, I think, and the challenge we have.
04:32What do you expect from Bournemouth on Friday?
04:34What I just said, intense. They made it really difficult for us last season, we beat them 3-0,
04:41where you feel like, what is he talking about, about difficult.
04:44But if you look at the game, they had the first big chance of the game, they scored a goal which was fractionally offside,
04:50and then we three times, I wouldn't say counter-attacked them, but we were very fast in moving the ball from back to forward,
05:00and all of a sudden at half-time we were 3-0 up, and then I thought, which I always thought when I was playing manager in Holland,
05:06this is going to be 4-5, 6-0.
05:08But the mentality Bournemouth showed in the second half, they just kept on going,
05:13and that's the mentality they had throughout the whole season afterwards as well.
05:17So they also lost some players, they also brought in good new ones, as they've shown in the last few years,
05:27that they can always bring in good new players.
05:30So in a way it was even more difficult for us, so very good team, good manager, and a challenge for us on Friday.
05:40But looking forward to it, because the evening game at Anfield is something,
05:45everyone is looking forward to it, I think.
05:47Hi there, Arne.
05:49Your defensive record last season was absolutely incredible.
05:53In the pre-season so far, I know you haven't been particularly happy with some elements of it,
05:58how do you resolve those issues when you're looking for that defensive solidity in front of your back four,
06:05when you're going to be without a game?
06:10Yeah, and don't forget we missed out on McAllister as well,
06:14the last part of last season, and he hardly wasn't able to play in our pre-season,
06:20only now recently he's played a few games, played a few minutes.
06:24But it's not that I'm not happy about certain parts,
06:28I'm telling you just a second ago that the standard here is 10 out of 10,
06:32so it's not one or two things we don't do well, no, in general we do all well,
06:37but well is not good enough.
06:39And there we can, we have to go one step up in certain aspects,
06:44not in all aspects, in certain aspects.
06:46And then there's also something like, like I said against Bilbao,
06:49we were really good defensively, but conceded two set pieces.
06:53And the games before, we also had mixed teams,
06:57so then you can also accept a little bit better that maybe timings between players
07:02were not as good as when you played the starters that have played so many times together.
07:07So there are reasons for it, like I just said, mixed teams,
07:11new players coming in, Virgil being sick against Bilbao,
07:15Alisson not being there, Maka being injured, Ryan not able to play,
07:19and new players brought in.
07:21But all of this is definitely not an excuse when we start the league Friday,
07:26because we will 100% be ready on Friday.
07:30Integrating new players into the Liverpool way of doing things
07:34is all part of pre-season and early season as well.
07:38And a lot to like about Jeremy Frimpong,
07:40what we've seen in him so far,
07:42he played really well at Wembley in parts,
07:44but he's a different type of full-back to Trent Ali-Taker-Arnold,
07:50who's a complete one-off,
07:51and a different type of full-back to Conor Bradley.
07:55And do you have to try and make sure
07:58that somebody as adventurous as Frimpong is,
08:01when he's dribbling,
08:02that he doesn't impinge on Mo Salah's ability to get into those key areas
08:06and kind of neuter his effectiveness?
08:09In my opinion, Jeremy and Conor Bradley are similar types,
08:15by the way,
08:16although Jeremy is maybe better in the 1v1s than Conor is.
08:21But I think Jeremy and Conor can both attribute to Mo's output,
08:27because if you play against these two,
08:30you know you have to be aware of these two as well.
08:33So it normally gives Mo even more space to get the 1v1s,
08:37because if we isolate Jeremy in a 1v1,
08:40it's difficult for the other team,
08:41and if we isolate Mo in a 1v1,
08:43it's difficult for the other team as well.
08:45So maybe last season they could give a little bit more help,
08:49because Trent was a little bit more behind the ball,
08:51which was also dangerous,
08:53because when Mo brought it back,
08:54Trent could deliver one of his famous crossers.
08:57So it's different types,
09:00but I think both types,
09:04and Trent proved it together with Mo,
09:07Trent brought the best out of Mo,
09:09and I think that the same thing is going to happen with Conor and Jeremy,
09:17with Mo in that regard.
09:21Sven Tölner, Sky Germany.
09:23Hi Arne.
09:24Talking about Florian,
09:25still a young guy,
09:27first time away from home,
09:28one of the biggest clubs in the world,
09:31that enormous transfer fee on his back.
09:35How is he handling all that on and off the pitch?
09:39He might be young,
09:41but he already won a lot.
09:43Factually we can see him as a young player,
09:48but in terms of his experience that he's already having,
09:51I don't see him as a young player.
09:53He won the league in Germany,
09:54won the Cup,
09:55played for his country numerous times,
09:57and apart from that,
10:00his mentality is maybe his biggest strength,
10:04and that says a lot,
10:06because if you see him play you're like,
10:07are you serious because he's so creative,
10:10but how mentally strong he is,
10:12and he doesn't get distracted at all by a transfer fee or anything else.
10:19So I think good players always find a way to play well in good teams,
10:25and he is a good player and he plays in a good team.
10:28He doesn't need any help of yours?
10:31Yeah, he does, like all the others,
10:34but we have a very good player care department,
10:38so I'm not looking for houses together with him or these kind of things.
10:43But on the pitch and on the training ground and in videos,
10:46he needs help for him to understand the way we want to play.
10:51That's not 180 degrees different than Xabi Alonso,
10:54the system is different but we want to be intense,
10:57Xabi Alonso wants to be intense,
10:58he likes to dominate the position.
11:00Xabi would try to bring him in positions we want to try to bring him in,
11:05so a lot of things are the same for him.
11:07But it's true he has to adjust to England,
11:10to the league, to the intensity,
11:12and to his new teammates as well.
11:16But I think if you saw the games,
11:19his adjustment went quite well,
11:22better than even expected and we already expected a lot.
11:26You mentioned Grunberg earlier,
11:31he was one of your regular fixtures last season,
11:35played such an important role.
11:37You didn't have him last week,
11:38you've not got him this week,
11:40and you just have a certain set of skills
11:43that maybe other players in the team don't have.
11:45So how did you miss him last week in defensive parts of the game
11:49and how do you sort of compensate for that
11:51and not being here this week as well?
11:53I think last Sunday the chances we conceded were mainly because three times
11:58we lost the ball very simple in our midfield
12:00and they could counter-attack us.
12:02So, yeah, you could say Ryan is always taking really good care of the ball over there,
12:11but players, Ryan or anyone else in our team, can lose the ball,
12:14so in that sense I'm not sure how much we missed him last Sunday,
12:18but it's clear that Ryan has had a big impact on us last season,
12:22and it's quite...
12:24Now, it's not funny, but I can find another word
12:27that probably everybody's forgotten how he got his suspension,
12:30he got two yellow cards, the first one for a dive.
12:33Now, if there's one team in the league that is, in my opinion,
12:37by far the most honest team when they play,
12:40I sometimes blame them that they never tried to make from a foul a little bit more,
12:44like Cody in the 2-2 we conceded against Palace, he got a push in his back,
12:49but he was far too clean.
12:51So if there's any one team in the league that is very clean and never dives
12:54and never time delays and all these kind of things, then it's us.
12:57And we have a suspension now for a player diving where he got his first yellow card for.
13:03But, yeah, I've said many times that probably the midfield might even be our strongest line
13:11when it comes to the bodies we have.
13:13Unfortunately, Maka had a bit of a different pre-season than we would like him to have,
13:21but he's back fit now, so I still have a choice to make in midfield,
13:25even if Ryan is not there.
13:27On that point then, do you think your team needs to be a bit more streetwise,
13:32especially this season as defending champions in terms of how you approach the game?
13:36You say you're too honest, but do they need to be a bit more streetwise?
13:40No, I think, yeah, maybe for me to use the right words in English,
13:44you can never be too honest, but it's clear that I saw this week
13:52Feyenoord and I saw a lot of moments where players were really, really smart
13:59and these kind of things, should we use them yes or no?
14:05I'm not too sure.
14:06For me, the best game last season that I've been part of
14:09was Paris Saint-Germain against us, especially our home game.
14:14I like that a little bit more than the away game, by the way.
14:17But that was also so high intensity because both teams were just there to play.
14:21And not to try to pretend that if a fall was more or time delaying or whatever.
14:27So I'm also proud of the fact of who we are,
14:30and we won the league last season by the team we were.
14:33So let us just stay who we are.
14:37But sometimes, I think it was a great moment also in the game against Palace,
14:41and that is if I talk to the referee, I do talk about that as well, to the fourth official.
14:47Florian, they hold him clearly on the midfield, but he was so fair that he didn't fall over.
14:53And the referee said, yeah, if you don't fall, I'm not going to give you a free kick.
14:56Which is a little bit weird.
14:58And a fraction later, they fell down in a moment which wasn't even a foul,
15:02and the referee felt like, oh, he fell down, so it probably is a foul.
15:05Unless we had much more ball possession than Palace, but we made 13 fouls and they made 5 fouls.
15:11And that tells you also something about who we are.
15:14And I'm not saying Palace is different than us, that would not be the headline.
15:18But that we are a very fair team, I think that's clear,
15:24and maybe that's also the reason why we won the league.
15:26So why change something if things went well?
15:29I think he can play both roles really good, and he has his quality in both roles,
15:41and thinks he can improve in both roles.
15:44So I think what stands out with Dominic is the way he can press.
16:01So I don't think there are many midfielders in the world that you can find
16:05that are better in the intensity he can press with.
16:08But if he's at 10, I think the improvement he can make is playing in between the lines,
16:13finding the balls over there and getting not the end product in goals,
16:17but more the through balls.
16:19And if he's playing behind the ball, I think that's not new for him,
16:23but he hasn't played there a lot last season,
16:25so sometimes you need to adjust to your teammates and in your positioning.
16:30But I think he's had a really good pre-season,
16:32he didn't play his best game against Palace,
16:34but for the rest he had a very good pre-season.
16:37I imagine he must be one of the players in the squad most pleased to see Joe Gomez come back as well,
16:42because it means he's less likely to be the back-up right-back for the next game.
16:46Is Joe ready to be in the squad for Friday?
16:48I don't think if one has to do with the other, I'm not sure about that.
16:53But Joe, I have to make a decision on that.
16:57I think he only trained twice now, missed quite a lot in pre-season.
17:01But if you looked at our bench against Palace,
17:04I think there were three players that were 18 years old or younger,
17:07if Ben Doak is 19 or 20 years or younger.
17:12So there is a possibility that Joe might be on the bench,
17:18but I have to look at the numbers and who we're going to take.
17:20Thank you, guys.
17:21His Honor.
17:23You're welcome.
17:25You're welcome.
Recommended
1:14:49
0:49
1:39
2:13
0:58
16:20
Be the first to comment