Arne Slot on Liverpool 5-1 comeback win at Frankfurt to end losing streak

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Arne Slot on Liverpool 5-1 comeback win at Frankfurt to end losing streak  22/10/2025  uefa25 champions league

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00:00Hi Arne, after a tough few weeks, was that the perfect response tonight?

00:06It's sparkling water instead of still water, I think.

00:13Maybe, yeah.

00:15Although I saw a lot of similarities with the last few weeks,

00:18with the last few games we've played.

00:20But I also saw some differences.

00:22The similarities were that we already created a few chances before we conceded.

00:27The first chance we conceded was immediately a goal.

00:30In the end, it turned out to be the only chance we conceded today.

00:35Why was that?

00:36Because we went 3-1 up,

00:38so that it's easier to control the game than when you're 1-0 down.

00:41All the time.

00:43And, yeah.

00:47I've sat here a few times telling you guys how important set pieces are,

00:51how important the balance in set pieces is.

00:54And now we were able to score two, so you go with 3-1 up at halftime

00:58because you score two pieces.

01:00That's two set pieces.

01:01And that is a big, big, big difference than if you don't score them

01:04and you go at halftime 1-1 with still the same amount of chances,

01:08but people would judge us definitely different when you don't score them.

01:12And the biggest exception for me was, today compared to the other games we've played,

01:18was the playing style of our opponent.

01:21So we got also some energy out of the moments we could press them,

01:26which in the last four or five games we played, we were not able to press the opponent

01:31because, yeah, the ball wasn't on the ground, it was through the air.

01:39Sam?

01:42It was in the air, not through the air, in the air.

01:45Arne, you made some big decisions in your selection,

01:48so leaving out Salah is always going to be something that people take note of.

01:52And also the performance of Eketike, he looked superb tonight.

01:57Yeah, the first goal he scored was special.

02:00You can see his pace in a moment like that.

02:05So these were also moments we were hoping for, like I said before the game,

02:11we were able the last few weeks to create many, many, many, many chances.

02:14But unfortunately not always able to score them.

02:19And today with Alex and Hugo, I brought two players on the pitch

02:24who were usually able to score goals.

02:27Alex was a few times close, but had to go off at half-time.

02:33And that's, yeah, not something you ask, but that's the difficult balance we were having with him.

02:38So when he came, he hardly had trained, so you bring him step by step forward.

02:47And then you feel like, yeah, there must be a moment where he can play twice a week

02:51and the first time we try, he did this in Sweden as well, but the first time we try he has to go off.

02:57And that's hope, that is not that bad, but he has to go off because he felt his grind.

03:02So yeah, many people probably wanted me to play him more and we had to find the balance.

03:12And unfortunately today that balance didn't work out for us perfectly.

03:16But let's hope for the best.

03:18Both of them did what I was hoping for, making runs in behind, making sure you're a big threat.

03:26And both of them did well.

03:28This is John Jackson from Tanzania.

03:33I have two questions.

03:34One is, how do you see Liverpool position on winning the EPL?

03:40And the second question is about one of your team, I mean, one of your players, Mo Salah,

03:46is in a competition of winning the African Calf Awards, behind the name like Ossiman and Hakimi.

03:55Do you wish him to win that award?

04:01Behind of these names like Ossiman and Hakimi,

04:05regarding Hakimi had a good season, winning the Champions League.

04:08Oh yeah, that's definitely true.

04:10So, how do you see it?

04:12Yeah, I completely agree with you that Hakimi had a great season.

04:16But I don't think, but people who are in the room know this better than me,

04:20has there ever been a player that scored so many goals in the Premier League than Mo did?

04:24No, not in the last season.

04:25So that's probably more than special.

04:30But yeah, it's up to other people to decide who should win.

04:34But if you want to have my vote, I would vote on Mo Salah.

04:37But yeah, Africa has a lot of good players where Hakimi and Mo are two of them.

04:45And Ossiman, like you just said, as well.

04:48But I would give it to Mo if I had to vote.

04:54How do you see the position of Liverpool winning the EPL this season?

05:01That was my second question.

05:03No, we are mainly focused on the short term at the moment.

05:06By the way, we are always focused on the short term, on the next game.

05:11And we know we have the quality and the team that can compete.

05:17Although it's not really helpful that with Alisson being out, with Giovanni Leoni being out,

05:24I expect Jeremy Firbon definitely to be out now for a few weeks.

05:30Expect, not sure, but expect.

05:32And let's wait and see how it is with Alex.

05:35And although people like to talk about us thinking that we have 25 to 30 first-team players,

05:44when we play 11 v 11 on the training session, we almost always need one or two players from the under-21.

05:51So that is something I'm aware of.

05:56We have a lot of games to be played, but we have a very good team, like our competitors.

06:00But we are focused now on winning the next Premier League game because we have lost the last three.

06:06Good evening, Mr. Slott. Hello.

06:16After ten minutes, you had a long conversation with Dominik Sloboslai on the sideline.

06:20What was the topic and how did you see his performance today?

06:25The topic was that my team and myself watched three, four, five, six, seven, eight games of the opponent.

06:33And not once they've played like this.

06:37So we were expecting a 4-3-3, maybe with a winger and a nine press, we were expecting a 4-4-2.

06:46We were even expecting a 5-3-2, but we weren't expecting a 5-2-3.

06:50And that's what they did. The good thing is it's quite familiar for us because Palace plays it, United plays it, Burnley played it.

06:59So I had to adjust a little bit how we wanted to press.

07:02So that's what the conversation is about. Dominik, again, had a good performance since I'm here.

07:12He's one of the players that maybe after Virgil and Mo has played the most minutes for me.

07:18And that tells you what I think about him.

07:21Hi, Arne. Could you just give a bit of detail on Jeremy's injury and what it is?

07:28And also, you mentioned Isak, you're a little bit aware that he was close.

07:32Was he in the red zone before the match?

07:34No, if he was in the red zone, we wouldn't have played him.

07:37But you try to prepare players for once a week football.

07:42But if you are Liverpool and you play every three days or normally three times in eight days,

07:48but we've been quite unfortunate this season that we have to play three times in seven days.

07:53Then you try to prepare them for that programme, which is not always so easy if you don't have pre-season.

08:00So that's what we tried to do. And we thought he was well prepared for that.

08:06But the margins in the top are small.

08:10And I'm hoping that this doesn't have to be that bad.

08:15Because if he would be out now for a few weeks, that would throw him back or put him back.

08:22I don't know how to say it. So let's wait.

08:25Jeremy is a hamstring issue.

08:28So came back from a hamstring injury a few weeks ago.

08:32Played for a national team one game.

08:35Came back to us and now, unfortunately, after 10-15 minutes, I don't know, he had to go off.

08:42Last one, Mark, please.

08:44Hi, Andy. Sorry to go over to Isak again.

08:49So he had a groin injury last month, but has he aggravated the groin injury tonight?

08:52Is it a groin again?

08:53Sorry, one more time.

08:54So Alexander Isak, you said he had a groin problem last month after coming back from international.

08:59Last month?

09:00Did I say that?

09:01Did he come back from international?

09:03No.

09:04So this is a new injury?

09:05He's on his groin tonight?

09:06Yeah.

09:07He did not come back with anything.

09:08No, I said that he missed out pre-season and didn't train for a long time with the team.

09:13So he came in the 1st of September.

09:15So we had to bring him to worse once a week.

09:17And now we've tried to bring him to twice a week, which he did for the national team.

09:21But he was perfectly fit when he came back from the national team.

09:24And he was perfectly fit before the United game.

09:28And we were expecting him to be ready to play again today, which he did.

09:32But he felt his groin indeed a little bit.

09:34So obviously he's missed pre-season.

09:36Is it possible for a player to catch up if you've missed the whole pre-season?

09:39How long would it take?

09:40Could it take weeks, months to get him fully fit to where he needs to be?

09:44I don't think there's a rule that every single player has the same.

09:49But it also depends on what did he do when he didn't train with the team.

09:55What is the impact if you go to a new club as a big signing?

10:00So you cannot compare maybe a player that hasn't trained or played in pre-season

10:04at a smaller club than if you go to Liverpool.

10:07So there are many factors that you have to take into account.

10:10And there's not one thing if it's possible or not.

10:13I think we did exactly what was needed.

10:16We were really careful of him.

10:18Swedish national team in the first time as well.

10:21And they played him twice last time, which he could do.

10:25So not criticising at all the Swedish national team

10:28because we actually told them that he's ready to play twice.

10:31So it's a thin balance if you miss that in pre-season.

10:36Some march through it and some unfortunately get injured again.

10:42Cheers, thanks guys.

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