Slot claims Liverpool's focus purely on Real Madrid as Manchester City game looms

NicheSportMedia

Slot claims Liverpool's focus purely on Real Madrid as Manchester City game looms  03/11/2025  Anfield, Liverpool, Uk

Transcript

00:00Ah, I miss you.

00:02Really?

00:03No.

00:05I was going to say, I was surprised at that.

00:08Arno, we just had a chat with Ryan and he spoke about his dad's been telling him to shoot more.

00:12What have you been telling him?

00:16Hopefully other dads say the same then against other players.

00:22What did I tell him? Nothing specific.

00:24I didn't tell him to shoot more.

00:27But he's been in and around the box a few times more now.

00:32But the main thing he needs to do, of course, is set up our attacks and organise the rest defence.

00:38But once in a while he can be a help offensively also.

00:41And that's what he's done a few times already this season.

00:45And yeah, this weekend he had a little bit of luck because it was a deflection.

00:49Because if Ryan has to shoot with his left, I wonder if that tells him to shoot with his left.

00:56But the deflection meant that it led to a goal.

01:02What update can you give us at the moment on Isak, Frimpong and Alisson and their respective recoveries?

01:08That they're all three not available for tomorrow.

01:10Any timescalers yet?

01:11Jeremy and Alisson will both also be not available for Sunday.

01:17And with Alex, we have to wait and see.

01:21Definitely not starting on Sunday.

01:23But maybe he can be involved in the squad.

01:27But he's still not training with the team.

01:30So we have to wait and see.

01:31After the win over Villa, how pivotal a moment could this be in the season, do you think?

01:35Obviously with Real Madrid to come and a place in the top eight at stake.

01:38But also the fact that you've got Manchester City.

01:41And whether that comes into any of your thinking ahead of this game against Real Madrid.

01:46No, the Sunday game is not in my thinking when it comes to the line-up for tomorrow.

01:50Because there are, I think, four days in between.

01:54Where we've had a lot of moments this season where there were only two days in between.

02:01Like tomorrow.

02:02But that is maybe for the first time this season.

02:05For the opponent we face, it's the same.

02:07So many other times when we only had two days rest, we face the team.

02:10Then had a week rest, or three days rest, or four days rest.

02:13So for tomorrow, that's exactly the same for both teams.

02:15So the line-up for tomorrow will have nothing to do with what happens on Sunday.

02:22The good thing is that we won on Saturday.

02:25But yeah, that was about time, I would say, for us to start winning a game of football again.

02:31And obviously it could be Trent's first return to Anfield.

02:35I just wonder, I mean, Ryan said that he's going to give him a hug.

02:38What kind of reception will you get from yourself?

02:40And what kind of reception do you hope that Anfield gives Trent as well?

02:43No, I can only tell you what kind of reception he gets from me.

02:47I have great memories on the player and on the human being.

02:53He was our vice-captain.

02:55He was my vice-captain last season.

02:57I have memories working with him who are only positive.

03:01And I have memories when I was watching him in front of the television,

03:06which are only positive as well.

03:08I can remember multiple great moments of him wearing the Liverpool shirt.

03:12So he will get a warm welcome by me.

03:16And let's first wait and see if he's on the pitch tomorrow and how our fans will react.

03:22I cannot, I have no clue how that's going to be.

03:27But he gets a warm welcome from me, that's for sure.

03:31Hi, Arne.

03:35Juan Jaue for Flasher's core.

03:37Of course, it has been a very tough period for the club and the team.

03:40I would like to ask you if you could send a message to the Liverpool fans after all the defeats in the last weeks

03:45and the win against Elston Villa last Saturday.

03:49It will be a message of hope.

03:51It will be a message of patience.

03:52It will be an apology.

03:54What would you like to say to the Liverpool fans?

03:59You already gave a lot of answers in your question.

04:02But I can say to them, show up tomorrow and help us again like you did Saturday.

04:07So they were a big help for the team.

04:10And again, tomorrow we face a team that is on a great run-off form like Villa was as well.

04:19And then it's always very pleasant to play at home because in the run-off form we had,

04:25we almost only played away games.

04:30And yeah, I think Anfield showed Saturday how important they can be for the team.

04:35So let's hope the players and the team and the fans can do the same tomorrow evening.

04:44Hi Arnie.

04:45You've got the same two fixtures back-to-back as you had last season with Real and Manchester City.

04:51I mean, you obviously won them both last year.

04:53Is it a kind of test for where you are as a team now to have those two games again?

04:59Every game we play is a test, especially because we are a new team.

05:05It's not the same because last season we played them both at home and now one of them is away.

05:12It's not the same because last season we faced a Real Madrid who had many injuries and now they haven't.

05:19It's not the same because last season we were a different team than we are now.

05:22We're with them and now all the injuries are back.

05:25They have the same squad and added a few.

05:28And City made a few changes like us as well.

05:32So, but every game we play at this moment of time, oh, by the way, every single time is always a test to see where we are.

05:41And that's not, that was a week ago, two weeks ago, and that's this week.

05:44Hello, Arne, here's Jose Padilla, of Defensa Central, in Spanish.

05:53The other day, a legend of Steven Gerrard said that you need to wait because Liverpool will win this game against Real Madrid.

06:04Does that not put more pressure on the team given how important and how big a team Real Madrid are in Europe?

06:12Steven Gerrard's comments that he said that they expect, be patient, we can expect Liverpool to beat Real Madrid.

06:20That's what he says.

06:20I always find it really hard to react on if you say what someone else said, because it wouldn't be the first time in my life if someone changes a few words.

06:32It has happened by me a lot of times when media goes to different managers and then say something, what I supposed to have said.

06:42So I don't know what Steven exactly said.

06:44He's a big fan of Liverpool, he's a big fan of the current team, and he wants us to win, but I have no clue what he exactly said.

06:51To what you were saying, yes, we are facing a very good team that has been so successful in Europe for so many years,

07:00and are so successful again this season.

07:03We have a great team, a great manager and great individual players, so we respect the opponent a lot.

07:10Like Steven Gerrard does, I'm 100% sure that he rates Real Madrid very high as well, but he also rates Liverpool very high.

07:19And I'm not going to comment on what you said he said, because I'm not 100% sure if that is exactly what he said.

07:26For me it's hard to compare them.

07:55This game with last season, I just said it already, because last season when they played here they had many injuries,

08:01and now they haven't, and they kept a lot of the team the same.

08:05I see a lot of similarities between last season.

08:08Xavi is doing an incredible job at Madrid, but Calo Ancelotti did the same.

08:15He won a lot.

08:16They've added a few new players, so that can always influence playing style maybe a little,

08:24but I saw last season a very good Real Madrid, and I see that now as well.

08:29So they've always been in this competition a big force, I think 15 times semifinals in the last,

08:37I don't even know how many semifinals or more they've played in the last few years.

08:43So very good team, but we are a very good team as well.

08:49I want to ask you about how Xavi Alonso has made his most talented strikers forward players to defend as well.

09:10And what type of legacy do you think Xavi Alonso has left here at Liverpool?

09:20The first question you shouldn't ask me, you should ask him, because I don't know what he did.

09:29And like I said, they were, for multiple years with Calo Ancelotti, very successful.

09:34You can tell me how many Champions League did Calo won over there?

09:37At Madrid?

09:41Four? That's not too bad.

09:45So we can only talk with a lot of respect about his period over there,

09:49and Xavi now does very well.

09:52They only lost one game, won the rest.

09:55So the second question was what kind of impact he had over here.

09:59He won the Champions League over here,

10:01and I can only tell you, because his playing time is quite a long time ago,

10:09but I did watch football back then,

10:10that he's been very influential in the way he played,

10:14but people like Tony who was sitting next to me are also very positive about the human being he was over here.

10:20So I think everybody talks with a lot of respect about the player he was,

10:25but also about the human being he was here in Liverpool.

10:31Hi, Arne.

10:32We've seen Dominic's obviously excel in plenty of positions this season,

10:37but on Saturday against Aston Villa, we saw what he can really bring to that number 10 position.

10:42He was dropping deep and helping with the build-up,

10:44but also helping in attack, getting shots off, and leading the press.

10:48I wondered, what's the key to being able to keep those qualities within the team

10:52when Florian Vertz is playing as a number 10?

10:56How to keep those qualities of pressing, helping with the build-up,

11:01but also affecting the attacking game once Florian Vertz is playing in 10?

11:07Then he plays in a different position.

11:09If Florian plays, then he plays in a different position,

11:10and he can bring all the things you just said in that other position.

11:14So, yeah, maybe a bit different if you are playing at 10 or at 8 or at a right full-back,

11:20but he's, like you said, I think has been very influential in every game we've played in every position.

11:26I've played him.

11:27So every game, maybe, how do I say this?

11:36Ask different things from a number 10 or from a number 2 or from a number 8,

11:40depends on the playing style of the opponent, how important is pressing in a game.

11:44I think it was a bit more important against Villa than all the other home games we've played, pressing.

11:50But I need to be really careful which words I use.

11:54But, yeah, he, indeed, I agree with you that he played a good game against Villa.

12:02Just on Florian, obviously he's in the league, I think it's three of the last four he's started on the bench

12:08and come on as a substitute, but it feels like this competition has been where he's maybe played his best football this season.

12:14How important is it for him to get a run of games in the Champions League as he sort of tries to find his feet at Liverpool?

12:20Yeah, but you can say he started one out of the last four.

12:26You can also say he started already eight, nine, ten, eleven games this season.

12:31So we've, I've said this quite a lot, not being used as an excuse, but just tell how it is,

12:39that many times we've had to play three games in seven days or only two days rest in between

12:44for a player that comes from a different league, which is a very good league, by the way.

12:50But I think nine out of ten people would agree on the fact that the Premier League is a bit more intense,

12:57especially in all the games, in the top games or similar, but in all the games.

13:01So yeah, then if you look at that, then he already played a lot and he's had his impact in many games,

13:09but has been unlucky with the end product, either by himself or by his teammates.

13:15But for me, he exactly brought what we expected, a player that can create a lot for the team,

13:22will have his goals as well.

13:25But I don't think it comes to surprise to anyone that if you are 22, 23, you come from a different league,

13:33that you might need some time to adjust to that intensity if you play every three days,

13:38with only two days rest in between.

13:41I think before I was sitting here, Ryan Glavenberg was sitting here,

13:44and it took him a while to adjust to the intensity, maybe even longer than it's going to take Florian.

13:52Last season in this fixture, Conor Bradley had one of his best games, I thought at least, of the season.

14:03What have you made of his progress since you've been in charge of him,

14:06and what more would you ask from him as he steps up his development?

14:12Stay fit, because he played very good in that game, unfortunately for 80 minutes,

14:19and then he went out with an hamstring injury.

14:22So that has been his biggest challenge till now.

14:26No, we were just talking about Florian, we could put maybe the same on Con.

14:31Be able to play every three days on this intensity without getting injured,

14:36and that's not been easy for him because he missed a big part of pre-season.

14:40And he's been unlucky maybe by the fact that when I started him, a few times we were 1-0 down,

14:52and then I thought I had to make an offensive substitution, so I brought Dominic Soboslai to the full-back position.

14:57But when we were a goal up, he played 90 minutes, and that was against Everton, and that was this Saturday.

15:02So I think he's progressing, he's getting fitter and fitter.

15:06He's showing the potential he has, but the main thing for him will be being able to play every three days without getting injured,

15:15and then I'm sure, like Florian and like all the others we have who are adjusting at this moment of time

15:21to the program, to the fixture list, that all of them will be fine, because we have unbelievable talent in this group.

15:28Last one here.

15:30¿Qué tal, entrenador? En español, José Luis Allega de Marca.

15:34Quería preguntarle por Vinicius.

15:36No sé si tuvo la oportunidad de ver el Clásico contra el Madrid y el Barcelona,

15:40cuando cambian a Vinicius, que se marcha muy enfadado de un partido tan importante, ¿no?

15:45Quería preguntarle a usted como entrenador qué le parece esa actitud,

15:48y qué le parece también Vinicius como jugador, ¿no?

15:50I think Vinicius is a player who's scored five goals against Liverpool in the past.

15:58If I think about Clásico, that's not the first thing that comes up to my mind,

16:02how his reaction was after he got substituted.

16:05It was a fantastic game to watch.

16:09The two teams that were very strong, with individuals that were very special,

16:14and he had a few great moments.

16:16I think it was already after two minutes where he went one-on-one,

16:19and was the referee awarded a penalty which the VAR overturned,

16:24but that is one of the things where we have to be aware of.

16:29He's lightning fast.

16:31His one-on-one, he's very, very, very special.

16:36Can take on two, three, four players against Juve.

16:39The game they won one-nil.

16:42I think he was under-loaded in a five against one.

16:44There were five defenders very close around him,

16:46but he was able to still find a position to get his shot off,

16:50hit the post, and the rebound went in.

16:53So I think we're not the only team that he played against,

16:57where he scored against,

16:59because he's an unbelievable individual for the Real Madrid,

17:06as long as he's played there.

17:08Thank you, everyone.

17:09You're welcome.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended