- 5 months ago
Arne Slot refuses to discuss Isak as revealsn Liverpool latest ahead of Newcastle trip
21/08/2025
AXA training centre, Liverpool, UK
21/08/2025
AXA training centre, Liverpool, UK
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00:00It appears that you're targeting reinforcements in the forward line and in the back line,
00:04so Alexander Isak and Mark Gay, what can you tell us about the situations
00:09regarding the potential for them to at least become Liverpool players before the front line?
00:14What I can tell you is not a lot.
00:17And if someone else is going to ask that question, it's going to be the same answer.
00:21So, as I've said so many times, and it's been shown on Friday as well,
00:28I could even impact the game on Friday with the players we had on the bench,
00:31Federico came in and scored a goal,
00:33so it would be much nicer for us to talk about the players we have and for me.
00:39But I can also understand that you have to ask this question,
00:42but your superior probably told you, and I know what his answer is going to be.
00:47I told my superior.
00:49Or you!
00:51At the same time, what are you expecting going to Newcastle?
00:55Because obviously a lot of things have been said off the pitch,
00:58so that could potentially add to the atmosphere as well as maybe Newcastle's motivation.
01:03Yeah, nothing to do with anything that's in the media a lot,
01:09but I think if you go to Newcastle you know what to expect.
01:13We've played them three times last season, and twice their intensity levels were above ours.
01:22So in the away game, especially the first 60 minutes, they were so, so, so intense,
01:28they were fully deserved at the lead, and in the League Cup final they were more intense than us as well.
01:34So I don't think they need anything to add for them being intense if they play at St. James' Park, is it?
01:41Yeah, they play at St. James' Park, so, yeah, apart from the intensity, it's a very good team.
01:48They have also a team that can make it a fight, if you want to call it like this.
01:53They have players for this, but they also have players that are so comfortable in the ball.
01:56It's one of the best teams in the league, and one of the most difficult away games that you can have in a season,
02:02especially, as you say it here, under the lights, yeah, under the lights, so, yeah.
02:09And what difference can Ryan Gravenberg coming back make to your overall solidity?
02:14I think a lot, at least if he's the same player as he was last season, that could help us a lot.
02:21If you just simply look at the second goal we conceded,
02:24they could just go from one side, from the 18-yard box to the other side without being attacked,
02:30which was smart because Virgil and Ibu needed to go back because it was a 4-versus-2 situation,
02:34but I think if you look back at last season and everything, single time he played,
02:39Ryan would have been in that position.
02:41And for him not being there, and us playing with very good players,
02:47but very attacking-minded players, not that, for example, hurt us in that goal,
02:54and that wasn't the first time where we lacked a player in that position in a counter-attack for the other team.
03:00So, normally, if he brings his normal level, it would definitely help us to have him back again.
03:06Just a word on the fitness of the squad, is there any news about Fringkong and Rafi's fitness?
03:15Yeah, Conor trained for a few minutes with us today, for the first time,
03:23and the medical team was completely right about Jeremy to tell me that I had to take him off,
03:32because he's out till the end of the international break,
03:36and that happened in the game.
03:39So, I think I got criticised a bit by taking him off, didn't I?
03:44Yeah, and I've already said immediately after the game that it had nothing to do with how we played,
03:50but we felt that he had an issue in his hamstring,
03:54and with we I don't mean me, but the medical staff, and they were completely right,
04:00so a good goal to take him off, otherwise he would have maybe been out for longer,
04:05and we expect to have him back after the international break.
04:08And the most recent signing, GFI, how has he looked in training,
04:13and when did you think he could be involved?
04:18No, he's a good-looking guy, as most Italians.
04:24He's trained with us three times now, I think.
04:29If you look at his transfer fee, you can expect that he's already quite grown up for his age,
04:37and that's exactly what I saw.
04:40So he comes in as an 18-year-old, just playing with his new teammates,
04:45as if he's here for longer.
04:47Impressive if you look at how tall he is, fast, comfortable on the ball.
04:52So, yeah, there's a reason why we paid the transfer fee as we did,
04:57because we see him as a bright prospect.
05:03Is that a good English?
05:05And he had already three good sessions,
05:07but it also tells you something about the team.
05:10If you come to this club, if you come into this team,
05:12you feel at ease from the start,
05:14because it's a very good and nice group to start your Liverpool career in.
05:19How bit of concern is that right-back area for you now?
05:25Because you mentioned Conor Bradley doing some training,
05:27Joe Gomez has had his injury problems as well,
05:29now Jeremy Frimpong.
05:30All of a sudden it looks like you were well-stopped in that area,
05:34but are you concerned about the fitness
05:36and how the records have been with the others that might be fit?
05:40Jeremy has a very positive injury record.
05:44Conor has been out once or twice last season.
05:47Yeah, these things happen in a season.
05:50We only have at the moment two injuries,
05:52unfortunately two for the same position.
05:54But the good thing is that some of the players can play in that position as well,
05:58Wata played in that position for a few minutes,
06:01Dominic Sobislai already played in that position,
06:03so there are other options we can explore.
06:06Joe Gomez is definitely one of them,
06:08but for him to already play 20 minutes,
06:13that was already quite a lot.
06:15I wouldn't say he had a setback,
06:17but he wasn't able to train three days in a row completely with the team,
06:21which is completely normal if you're out for so long
06:24and all of a sudden the manager needs you for 20 minutes.
06:27But he's training with the team,
06:30so let's see where he is on Monday,
06:32if he can be involved in the team or if he can even start.
06:35But there are other options we have as well in this position.
06:38It's just that you cannot prepare for two injuries in one position,
06:42it would be stupid for us to have three full-backs or five left-backs,
06:45although we have three left-backs at the moment.
06:47So we're unlucky that the right full-backs are injured.
06:52And you briefly mentioned it before, Kies, what a moment for him,
06:56coming off the bench to get his goal against Bournemouth.
06:59Do you see him as having a bit more of a role to play this season?
07:03I know injuries hampered him last season,
07:05do you think he'll have a more significant role in your team this time?
07:07Yeah, if he's more available then he has already more chances to impact our results
07:16or his playing time.
07:18So yeah, but then it's about him staying as fit as he is at the moment.
07:23So I see a totally different Federico now than through large parts of last season,
07:29which is completely normal because he missed out on the whole pre-season,
07:33and then comes into a Premier League rhythm in terms of amount of games
07:38and in terms of intensity.
07:40So he's in a much better place now, and as we can all see,
07:45when we needed a goal and I looked at the bench,
07:48I only had him and Rio, a 16-year-old, as attacking options.
07:52So for me, although Rio did really well in pre-season,
07:56it was quite a normal choice to make to bring him in and he delivered.
08:06You obviously don't want to talk about specifics in terms of players coming in,
08:09but you mentioned maybe that lack of options in terms of attacking players coming on.
08:13Is it going to be a busy couple of weeks in terms of adding to your squad depth
08:17before the window closes?
08:19No, I don't think so, because then I should be unhappy with the squad we're having
08:24and I'm very, very happy about the squad we're having.
08:27So I've always said maybe having two per position is ideal,
08:33but I prefer less than more,
08:36because you have to disappoint so many players every single time
08:39for them not even being in the squad, let alone not playing.
08:42So yeah, really happy with the squad, but as always,
08:46if we think we can improve in a certain position and there's a player available
08:51that can really make us better, which you could see with Giovanni Leone,
08:56then this club has always shown that they bring these players in.
09:01But only if everything is what we want, so the right transfer fee,
09:06the right player, the right position and the player that wants to come to us.
09:11Hi Arne, you've spoken previously about the difficulty of changing so many players
09:17in the starting XI and perhaps the influence that's maybe had
09:20on some of the defensive structures.
09:22It's rare to have ten days between games in the Premier League,
09:26even at this stage of the season.
09:28How helpful has that been to be able to get more time with the players
09:31on the training pitch and maybe kind of drill some of the structures a little bit more?
09:35No, of course it's helpful, but we did have a good pre-season,
09:40we had six weeks, compared to last season where we only had two.
09:45We had six weeks as well, but only two with most of the players.
09:49So we've had our time to train already,
09:51and I think that's also what you could see against the Bournemouth game,
09:54because if you look at data and running stats it was the most intense game
09:59that is played in the weekend.
10:01So that tells you that our match fitness is where we want it to be,
10:06and where we need it to be if you need to go to Newcastle, by the way.
10:10But it's also clear that in pre-season, that's what I said,
10:16I mixed up line-ups and then it's quite normal that you don't see every time
10:21the right connection between some players or some lines.
10:26But that was already very good against Bilbao,
10:30and OK too good against Palace and Bournemouth.
10:35Another thing about having new players in,
10:37I noticed that against Bournemouth and in fact the second goal against Crystal Palace,
10:42they all came after double substitutions, quite soon after making double changes.
10:48So is maybe getting used to the reorganising and getting used to some of the demands
10:52for those new players, is that maybe going to eradicate some of those issues as well?
10:57Now, most changes I've made in a game are due to match fitness
11:03and players were not available in the whole pre-season.
11:05So Hugo Ikiteke, for example, that I took off twice,
11:08needs to make a step from Bundesliga to Premier League and missed out a part of pre-season.
11:17And you want to keep him fit for the upcoming games, weeks, months as well.
11:22It's the same with McAllister, who was not able to start, in my opinion, yet against Palace,
11:28but I think he needed playing time.
11:30It's the same why I started him against Bournemouth.
11:34Was he already on the top of his level? No.
11:37But to get there he needs playing time, so I had to take him off.
11:40Now, I just spoke about Jeremy, who comes from a different league.
11:44So, yeah, you need to take this into account,
11:48although that's sometimes difficult for a fan or a pundit,
11:52because they're like, yeah, you need to win this game.
11:54Yeah, we need to win this game, but we need to keep them fit for the rest of the season as well.
11:58And we do have players on the bench that are equal to the ones that start,
12:03so then you need to use your squad.
12:05So I see it as a coincidence that we've conceded our goals after the substitutions.
12:10But time will tell if I'm right or wrong.
12:14But on the other hand, we also scored a goal after a substitution.
12:19Two, by the way, from Federico and Mo.
12:22Last one for Carl.
12:24Hi, Arne.
12:25You've spoken about Newcastle and how difficult the atmosphere will be there,
12:29but as a club they've got a few issues at the moment in terms of,
12:32you know, they haven't got the transfers they probably wanted,
12:35their star strikers are missing.
12:37Does that make it easier for you, in a way, to go there,
12:41knowing that they've got a club of troubles?
12:44No, I don't think they're a club of troubles.
12:47They had a very good start of the season against Villa,
12:50a good game for them.
12:52I think they were able to get more out of the game than the one point they got.
12:55So it's not only difficult,
13:00or it's mainly difficult because of the players they're having there,
13:03not only because of the fans,
13:05but the atmosphere is great, like it is at Anfield,
13:07so we are used to a certain environment,
13:09but St James' Park is, if I just remember last season,
13:13when it was an evening game, by the way, as well,
13:16the atmosphere was amazing,
13:18and it will be the same.
13:20But why is the atmosphere amazing?
13:21Because the players can perform,
13:23they can add to the atmosphere by being as intense as they were,
13:27bringing the quality as they brought in that game,
13:29so that's going to be the challenge.
13:31The challenge is of course also playing in a stadium
13:34where the fans will be there for the home team,
13:36and that always helps every home team,
13:38I can tell you about us,
13:39so the last 15-20 minutes at Anfield,
13:41it wasn't a coincidence that we scored twice,
13:44because the fans helped us in that moment of time,
13:47but if you only have fans and you don't have the players,
13:49then you can forget it.
13:51So the main thing we have to be ready for are their midfielders,
13:56their last line, their free forwards,
13:59and although I assume, I'm not sure, but I assume Isak is not playing,
14:04from what I read in the media,
14:06but they still have Anthony Gordon as a nine,
14:08they still have Elanga as a right winger,
14:11and Barnes from the left,
14:13and then Jacob Murphy isn't even playing,
14:15who was very good against us twice last season.
14:18So this is the Premier League,
14:20we all have a lot of options,
14:22and Newcastle have them as well.
14:24You won your first game, 4-2,
14:28it was a great night,
14:29were you surprised by some of the precision you got after that game?
14:33Did I?
14:34What was the question?
14:35Just in terms of maybe the way your side approached it,
14:39people were saying you're too open,
14:41you're more open last season,
14:43or is that just the high bar that your team has set itself as champions?
14:49Of course,
14:51that has something to do with the bar we set,
14:54and I agree,
14:55we were at moments too open.
14:57First goal was I think mainly unlucky,
15:01that we lost the ball in a position we shouldn't lose it,
15:04and then we were three against three,
15:06which is normally not a problem,
15:07but we had a disadvantage to our opponents,
15:09Ibu and Rabo.
15:11Second goal is definitely being too open,
15:14so if all your three midfielders are inside the box,
15:16we were just talking about Ryan,
15:18that's too open,
15:21so I agree on that.
15:22But also the reason why we scored the 3-2,
15:26that it was one of our midfielders,
15:27Curtis Jones,
15:28arrived in the box,
15:29who made it difficult for the goalkeeper,
15:30Ballfeld to Federico.
15:31So it's also who we are,
15:33but we need to find the right balance,
15:35by not being too open,
15:37but that balance will be better with Ryan.
15:40Unfortunately,
15:41if you want to judge me or us,
15:43we now have to play Newcastle and Arsenal,
15:46who are normally teams that are going to be above Bournemouth in the league,
15:50so it's even harder to play against them,
15:54but with Macca being back,
15:58with Ryan in his normal position,
16:00I expect us to be even better prepared for the counter-attack
16:05than we were in this 2-2 moment,
16:08because I've watched the game I think twice back,
16:12and I don't think there's,
16:13apart from the two goals,
16:15especially the second one is a counter-attack,
16:17I don't think there were many other counter-attacks from Bournemouth,
16:22but yeah,
16:23if it leads to a goal,
16:24it's of course a big story,
16:26and for us conceding 2,
16:28that's too much in a home game,
16:30so yeah,
16:31that's too open now.
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