- 22 hours ago
Arne Slot leaves door open for Salah return ahead of Inter Champions League clash
08/12/2025
San Siro, Milan, Italy
08/12/2025
San Siro, Milan, Italy
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Evening.
00:01You're going to see the order.
00:12Hi guys, Vinnie could start us off, please.
00:15As always.
00:21Arna, obviously I have to ask you about the other night
00:24and what Marcelo had to say in light of the Leeds game.
00:27First of all, do you feel he was referring to you
00:29when he said he feels like he's been thrown under the bus
00:31and that someone wants him out?
00:33How do you feel overall about what he's had to say?
00:35What is your response even, particularly given
00:37that he said that your relationship with him has broken down?
00:41You knew you only got three questions,
00:43so you thought let's ask five questions in one question.
00:46It's kind of been different parts of the A-B-2.
00:48So now, which question would you like me to answer first?
00:51Do you feel he was referring to you
00:53when he talked about being thrown under the bus?
00:56The only one who can answer that question is Mo himself.
00:58I can guess, but I don't think that's the right thing to do
01:01in this moment of time.
01:03It's hard for me to tell who he means in that situation, to be honest.
01:10Have you spoken to him then?
01:11How do you feel about what he's had to say overall as well?
01:14Again, going back to the fact that he said that your relationship with him had broken down?
01:19We've let him know that he's not travelling with us,
01:25so that was the only communication that has been there from us to him.
01:31Of course, before Saturday, the two of us have spoken a lot.
01:36Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.
01:41And then your second question was?
01:43Do you feel that your relationship has broken down?
01:46No, that's not the way I feel, but he has the right to feel how he feels things.
01:53I haven't felt that at all till Saturday evening for sure,
01:59because I think when I didn't play him anymore,
02:05usually players don't like the manager then that much,
02:08but he was very respectful to my staff members, to his teammates,
02:13and he trained really hard.
02:16So to an extent it was a surprise for me when I heard after the game
02:22that he gave the comments he gave.
02:24But, as I said, it's not the first and not the last time
02:29that when a player doesn't play, I'm not sure if he was emotional or not,
02:35but that he said something similar to what he did.
02:40But I think my reaction to that is also clear,
02:44that he's not here with us tonight.
02:47Will he be considered for selection against Brighton at the weekend?
02:50And what will it take to resolve this situation long-term now?
02:53No, I think we are sitting here on an evening before a big game,
03:00a big fixture for us, Inter Milan,
03:02and there was only now maybe 36 hours between the moment we've conceded
03:08the 3-3 against Leeds and the moment I'm sitting here now,
03:12and I think you can understand as well that I've tried to prepare my team
03:15in the best possible way for the game tomorrow evening.
03:20So the most thoughts I had are about tomorrow,
03:24and in the meantime we've decided what I just said,
03:27not to take him with us to this game.
03:29And after tomorrow we will look at the situation again.
03:34Richard.
03:35Richard.
03:36Hi, Anna.
03:37You say you look at the situation after tomorrow,
03:40and it's been phrased as a short-term decision for Moe not to...
03:43I can hear you, yeah.
03:50You say it's a short-term decision for Moe to be out of the sport for this one,
03:55and you'll look at it tomorrow.
03:57Do you see a scenario where he can play for the club again,
04:00or do you feel it's gone too far?
04:03How do you see that?
04:05I'm a firm believer that there's always a possibility to return for a player,
04:13but that's not...
04:17So, yeah, I can leave it with that, I think.
04:20And how was his reaction in the conversation you've had today?
04:25Uh...
04:27A short one.
04:31Ian Dennis, 5 Live.
04:35Hi, Anna.
04:36You say that you've spoken to Moe quite a few times in recent weeks.
04:40I just wonder, he was a substitute twice in his first 18 games this season.
04:46What or why has he then only been on the bench for the last three games?
04:50What prompted that change?
04:52I think we as a team struggled this season and already last season
05:00more and more with the game plans other teams had against us.
05:04So I'm not only talking about the long ball style,
05:09which is something teams mainly do against us now.
05:12So I've tried to come up with solutions because this is my job,
05:16and we've tried many things and we looked very vulnerable, in my opinion,
05:25after all the things I've tried against Forest and against PSV.
05:28And then I decided to play with an extra midfielder in the game against West Ham,
05:35where we won the game.
05:36So I decided to do it one more time against Sunderland,
05:39where at half-time I brought them in.
05:42And against Leeds we faced a 5-3-2,
05:48where I've decided to play a 4-4-2 diamond, if you want to look at it like this,
05:54with Uko Ekitiki a bit off the right side and Cody Kakpo a bit off the left,
05:59with Florian Witts in between.
06:01And I could have played Mo as well off the right instead of Hugo,
06:07but I decided to play Hugo.
06:09Hand on heart, do you think he's played his last game for Liverpool?
06:12I have no clue, I cannot answer that question at this moment of time.
06:19James Piers.
06:21It's been such a difficult time for the team anyway,
06:25this has eaten more negativity on it.
06:28Do you feel like your authority has been undermined?
06:30Do you feel let down?
06:32Again, two questions in one.
06:34I don't feel my authority is undermined, is that the way you say it?
06:40It's not the way I feel it.
06:44And the second question was?
06:47Just in terms of, does it make your life even more difficult
06:51during such a difficult period anyway?
06:53If that was even possible.
06:55But it's not about me.
06:57If my life is difficult, yes or no.
07:00That's not very important in a situation like this.
07:03It is if it's more difficult for the team and for the club.
07:08And I think no one likes us to be in the situation we are in at the moment.
07:12First of all, it's difficult to see that staff members that work so hard on a daily basis
07:19are affected by the situation we are in now as well.
07:22Mainly because of the results, second of all, about what this has done as well.
07:27So that's not a good thing for us as a team.
07:31And this is mostly where my thoughts go to, not towards me.
07:37Because I'm the manager, I have to pick a team,
07:41so to a certain extent I'm important in this situation as well.
07:44But the focus that I have at the moment is completely on the team
07:49and not on me at all.
07:51Question 8 for Adam, Louis Hamza.
07:54Adam, when you said that you felt he was on the board,
07:58do you understand the frustration?
08:00Do you understand why you would say such things?
08:03Then I should know what he exactly means with it.
08:05That is difficult for me to know what he exactly means with it.
08:08And why he says this and who he is referring to and...
08:12So you've not had that conversation?
08:14No.
08:15No, not what he meant with those words.
08:18No, we just...
08:20So I think usually I'm calm and polite, but that doesn't mean I'm weak.
08:25So if a player has these commands about so many things,
08:30then it's about me, us as a club to react,
08:33and we reacted in a way you can see now that he's not here.
08:38No, no.
08:39No, no.
08:40Do you think it's obviously a frustrating situation for you personally,
08:43but do you think you could have done anything differently
08:45to avoid this happening,
08:46to avoid it getting to this point
08:48where Mo feels like he has to go and then it's frustrating?
08:54Then I should find out exactly why he said what he said,
08:58but then I have to guess a little bit if that's not only because he doesn't play,
09:06then the answer to your question could be just play him every single time.
09:09But maybe that's not the reason why he said what he said.
09:11Maybe there's something else why he has this opinion.
09:15But if it is...
09:16But that I don't know.
09:17Is it about me not playing him?
09:19Yeah, then the answer could be what could I have done differently playing him.
09:22But maybe that's not the reason why he thinks and feels this way.
09:28And he has every right to feel what he feels,
09:31but he doesn't have the right to share it with the media.
09:34He has that right, but then it's up to us to react on it.
09:37When was the last time that you spoke to Salah?
09:42Salah mentioned that his relationship with you had broken.
09:46You weren't speaking terms.
09:48Yes, we were.
09:49But it doesn't mean we were always agreeing on things,
09:52but I spoke to him twice in the week before,
09:56in the two days before Leeds.
09:59Have you spoken to him since Leeds?
10:02No, I already said that a few times.
10:05Yeah, he was on the training ground today and I told him that he didn't travel.
10:09But that's not speaking to someone in my opinion.
10:11Yeah, that is speaking to someone,
10:13but it's not having a conversation in your room.
10:16But I had that twice in the lead-up towards Leeds,
10:19one a little bit longer and one a bit shorter,
10:21but I'm not going to go into the details if that's going to be the next question.
10:25Sorry, just to clarify,
10:27when you said you spoke to the group and he was there, is that what you mean?
10:31Is that what you mean? In training?
10:33Yeah.
10:34Yeah, but not specifically.
10:36Yeah, I communicated towards him that he wasn't travelling.
10:42Guys, I think we should finish questions on Mo.
10:44We've done ten minutes on Mo,
10:45so if we could focus on the game now.
10:47So, at the front, on the game.
10:48Just the last one.
10:49No, not on Mo, on the game.
10:52Okay, so, let's pass away.
10:57Coach, to face a team like Inter with so many winning streaks,
11:03what's the challenge between that for a team that is having a tough time like yours?
11:09That we face a very good and strong team.
11:12That has done really well this season in the league and in the Champions League.
11:16That has been a big force in the Champions League for the last three seasons.
11:19Twice playing the final and once going out on penalties against Atletico Madrid,
11:26which unfortunately we did last season against Paris Saint-Germain.
11:29So, yeah, we know we are going to face a very strong team tomorrow
11:35and that's always the biggest challenge there is in a game.
11:38It's always the team you face and the individuals you face.
11:41And they have a very disciplined team,
11:44a very experienced team as well and a lot of quality.
11:51As far as I know, Cody Gakho and Federico Chiesa did not arrive today to Milan. Why?
11:57Federico is ill, so that is poor timing you could say,
12:04but yeah, it's not something you can do anything about.
12:09So we are monitoring his situation.
12:11If he has an amazing recovery, which we doctors don't expect,
12:16he might travel tomorrow, but let's have a fair expectation.
12:21That's not what I expect.
12:23Cody Gakho unfortunately picked up an injury in the last game we played against Leeds
12:28and he will be out for a few weeks.
12:30Yeah.
12:32Hi, thank you very much.
12:34I wanted to ask you first,
12:37what do you see different in this Inter playing by Christian Kielo
12:42compared to the one that reached the Champions League finals?
12:45and then listen to your language.
12:47If you can be more specific on the illness of Federico Chiesa, why?
12:52It's difficult to be more specific.
12:55I don't know if anyone wants to hear what he exactly has.
12:59But he came in this morning.
13:02He'll speak to you after.
13:06And...
13:08So he's ill.
13:11If you're very interested in what he exactly has, then...
13:17A little bit, but we can go in this.
13:19Yeah.
13:20And the other question was...
13:21Oh, I see more similarities than differences.
13:24Same differences.
13:25So, same system.
13:28I think I'm correct if I say all of them the same players.
13:32Am I correct?
13:33Almost.
13:34Almost.
13:35What I expect as a starting line-up, let's put it that way.
13:37As a starting line-up?
13:38Yeah.
13:39Yeah.
13:40So, yeah, probably he did a few things he brought into the team himself,
13:46but I think the way they press, high up the pitch, lower up the pitch,
13:52I see more similarities than I see differences between Inzaghi and Kifu.
13:59But I think it's quite normal if you take over a team that plays the Champions League final,
14:05then there's every reason to keep doing what you are doing, in my opinion.
14:11What do you think about Christian Kifu, a young coach that is growing a lot in this season,
14:22and his football style in this new Inter?
14:27Yeah.
14:28Now, if I think about Christian Kifu, I think about the player because he played at Ajax,
14:32I even think I played against him, so very good defender but also very comfortable on the ball,
14:40and I think you can see this with his team as well.
14:43So his team defends really aggressive in a high press, can defend the box,
14:50maybe as no other team in the world, but are also able to bring the ball out from the back.
14:55So a lot of characteristics that he had as a player that I can see in his team as well.
15:04Last question at the back.
15:06I would like to ask you, we cannot see Kieta this time on the pitch, but since you've seen it in the last weeks and in the last months,
15:27training all days with you and with the team.
15:31In the last week, Italy's manager, Gennaro Gattuso, said that the only reason why he is not coming with the Italian national team
15:40is because while they're speaking, Federico Kieta said he is still not feeling good enough in this moment to come back.
15:48So I would like to ask you, do you think that the moment which he would be able to come back,
15:54when he was feeling good enough to come back is near and would you like to see him in the Italian national team?
16:01Do you think that he has all the cards right enough to come back with the Italian national team? Thank you.
16:09It's not easy to answer.
16:11I don't think it's up to me to decide who should be selected for the national team of Italy or Holland or England,
16:21but I'm very happy to see that Federico is in a match better place this season than he was last season.
16:29He struggled a lot last season with his fitness and this season he's been much fitter than he was last season.
16:36and as a result of that he also has had more playing time than he had last season.
16:41And the moments that he played, he also had a few very good moments.
16:46So, like I said, it's up to the Italian manager to decide if he wants to select him, yes or no.
16:53But, yeah, I like him as a player and I like him as a person.
16:59So, yeah, that's it.
17:04Thank you very much, guys.
17:34Thank you very much.
17:36Thanks.
17:37Bye.
17:39Bye.
17:40Bye.
17:44Bye.
17:45Bye.
17:46Bye.
17:55Bye.
17:58Bye.
18:00Bye.
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