- 1 day ago
Arne Slot on Liverpool latest and without challenging for the title there's a lot of noise
27/01/2026
Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, UK
27/01/2026
Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, UK
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00:00Actually, defensively with the injury to Joe Gomez, have you got a timescale on Joe?
00:04No, not really, but I can confirm that he's not available for tomorrow even.
00:11Have you been able to speak to Ibu further as well? Just wonder how he's doing.
00:15Yeah, of course, I spoke to him.
00:18And if you know why he's not here, of course we both know that he's having a hard time,
00:25but I'm hoping and expecting him back soon, but also not for tomorrow evening's game.
00:33Obviously, you've still got Andy Robertson with you.
00:35What is the situation regarding his future now?
00:37And if he does stay in this window, the fact that there have been discussions
00:41of him possibly going in this window, does that mean this is his last season at Liverpool?
00:46Well, there are a lot of questions in one, but Robbo is part of the team tomorrow evening,
00:51and he's been part of this club for so many years, and I'm happy to have him.
00:58Good that he's available, because that's quite important for us at the moment,
01:05to have players available, and he will be part of the team and nothing happened from my side.
01:12Is he definitely staying in this window, Bert?
01:14It's hard to say anything definitive in this world we are in,
01:19but I expect him to stay here.
01:22Just finally for me, on the one hand, you've got the opportunity to seal your place in the last 16
01:28of the Champions League, having beaten the likes of Atletico, Real, Inter Milan away, Marseille away.
01:35On the other hand, of course, the defeat at the weekend saw you slip out of the top four
01:39in the Premier League, which has led to further scrutiny.
01:42What do you feel you have to achieve now, this season, to kind of quieten the outside noise?
01:47No, I think it's going to be really difficult to quiet the outside noise with the position we are in,
01:54in the league, so even if we win a few games, every loss or every disappointing result will start the noise coming back again.
02:03That's what you can expect if you started the decision as we did, not started,
02:08but at a certain moment with so many losses.
02:10So it's impossible to shut down the noise at a club like this if you are not competing for the league.
02:18What was the other one?
02:21What do you feel you have to achieve?
02:23What we have to improve, for me it's so simple.
02:26I think in between the boxes we are a very, very, very good team.
02:31The way we play out from the back, the way we bring the ball towards promising positions,
02:36the box entries we have.
02:38Also against Bournemouth, so many times we were in positions where I would like my players to be in.
02:45But killing those moments, bringing it from promising positions towards chances,
02:53and if we have the chances then be clinical and finish it off,
02:57that is something where we have to improve.
02:58So in that box we have to improve, and in the other box other teams arrive there three, four times a game.
03:04But every time they arrive, not every time, but too many times if they arrive,
03:08it leads to chances and sometimes to goals.
03:12So there is a complete disbalance in how many times we arrive in promising positions
03:16and how many times other teams arrive there.
03:18But there is not a disbalance in the goals that are scored.
03:22And that is a very bad cocktail we are having.
03:25And if we can improve in both boxes, we can do very special things this season.
03:30If we can only improve in one box, then it is going to be probably an acceptable season,
03:35but not more than that.
03:36And if we can't improve in both boxes, it is going to be a lot of noise throughout the whole season.
03:42Richard?
03:49Just building on that, Arne, when you look at the two league tables,
03:52you are fourth in the Champions League table,
03:54you are sixth in the Premier League table.
03:56Which do you think is a truer reflection of what you have done
04:01and your performances this season?
04:03If I am correct, it is a bit the same, isn't it?
04:07Fourth and sixth is quite similar.
04:09Before the weekend we were fourth in the league.
04:12But fourth in all of Europe in one respect?
04:15We are more positive about the fourth place in the Champions League
04:18because in the end it is about finishing top eight mainly
04:21and it does not matter that much as we know from last season
04:24to finish one or two.
04:26So that is why we will probably be a bit more happy with the fourth place
04:30in the Champions League than we are with the fourth or sixth place in the Premier League.
04:35Is there a big difference between us and both leagues?
04:38No, I don't think so.
04:39I think the biggest struggle we have is that we have to play in both leagues,
04:44which is what we want, by the way.
04:46But too many times after a Champions League game we've dropped points,
04:49or we've lost actually.
04:51A lot of away games included.
04:55We've struggled far too many times with being the dominant team
05:01and then you have to be clinical and score your goals
05:04and then it's probably an easy game.
05:06But even in the first six wins we had to fight till the end to make it work.
05:11And if you then have a double programme with the players we have available,
05:14with constantly the same players that have those loads,
05:19those minutes have to play those minutes.
05:21Yeah, that's maybe not a complete surprise that in some games,
05:26in the end of the game we didn't see the same sprints back as we saw in all the other games
05:32or we saw for 80 or 85 minutes.
05:34I think it's fair to say that in the last few minutes at Bournemouth
05:37a few players were really tired.
05:39At least that was my take on it.
05:42That's why I made a few early substitutions,
05:45because I wanted to have fresh legs during that.
05:48But because of the amount of players we have available,
05:52I wasn't able to do the same as the Kaderbach manager,
05:55to change 11 players and play with 11 other ones tomorrow evening.
06:04Just on the fitness,
06:06obviously you're not expecting many players back from injury any time soon,
06:10so is that a worry for the rest of the season in terms of managing those minutes
06:14because you do only have a small number of players relatively to work with?
06:19That's not a worry but that's a difficulty,
06:21because I can assure you that I would have preferred to start with Hugo against Bournemouth.
06:28If we probably would have had one or two days extra,
06:30he would have 100% started that game again,
06:32because I liked his performance against Maasai.
06:34But he was out for injury for two weeks and then he had to play quite a lot of games,
06:38and with only one player, No. 9, available for the upcoming months.
06:44It made sense to me to manage his load as well,
06:47and that is what I had to do with more players.
06:49Jeremy Priopong, who was sitting here just before me,
06:53is another example of that, giving him another time 90.
06:56I think you could see that he was tired just before I took him off,
06:59at least that was my take on it.
07:01And then it's a big risk to keep him on.
07:04But I want to emphasise on the fact how much respect I have for the players that we have,
07:09because it's almost constantly the same players that have to play,
07:13and they have to do this in difficult circumstances.
07:16What I mean with that is results are not what we want and we get scrutinised,
07:20we all are scrutinised and we get the criticism that we deserve.
07:25But usually, if you get so much criticism that does something to you mentally,
07:31and if you then have to play so many minutes,
07:33I can give you multiple examples of players then getting injured.
07:36So that's why I have so much respect for my players,
07:40that within the circumstances we are in,
07:43they are constantly available except for the three or four long-term injuries we have.
07:48Just on Joe, obviously with his injury,
07:50is that likely to change anything in terms of the transfer market,
07:53or do you expect him back in a relatively short amount of time?
07:56I expect him back in a relatively short time, yeah.
07:59Bruce?
08:00You mentioned a similar question on Saturday,
08:03you mentioned the red zone or risk zone or whatever with the injuries.
08:08How hard is it as a manager to balance, you know,
08:12the fans might be saying,
08:13why aren't you starting Hugo or why are you taking off Jeremy?
08:16But you have to look at the bigger picture of if you did,
08:19they could pull a hamstring or pull a muscle.
08:22So how hard is it to balance that?
08:24Yeah, very hard.
08:26Especially with the problems we are having with the long-term injuries,
08:33because if I would have started Alexander Izak and given Hugo a rest,
08:37then I don't think any fan would have complained.
08:39But now I have to adapt with the system,
08:43or I have to adapt with players in different positions.
08:46Taking Jeremy off, I don't think anyone would have complained
08:49if I could have brought the same type of player in that could do a similar job.
08:54But now I had ended up the game with four defenders,
08:58at least they were playing in right full-back, centre-back, centre-back, left full-back,
09:01and only two of them were real defenders.
09:04That doesn't help, of course, with the narrative that I'm completely aware of.
09:10But what would even be worse, and that has also happened this season,
09:14Conor Bradley was a great example of that,
09:16that if I gave him two games in a row with a player that wasn't used to that,
09:23he got injured and was out for a few weeks again.
09:25So that is a difficult balance, and I'm not always before people say
09:28I don't listen to performance staff or medical staff.
09:32I'm listening and sometimes I make my own decisions.
09:36There has been a player that was on the pitch and made a goal at the end of the game
09:40where it probably would have been better to take him off earlier.
09:43So it's not always that you listen to that, but you use your eye,
09:46you see Jeremy from Pong is tired,
09:48you see when he makes an action just before I took him off,
09:52it wasn't the same as we are used of him.
09:55I speak to my players, I know from them how they feel
09:58and if they are ready to go again 90 minutes.
10:01So that you all take into account,
10:04and then you make a line-up and you decide on your substitutions.
10:07But that doesn't always, for people who don't have all the information,
10:12that could lead to scrutiny.
10:15I'm completely aware of that fact, and that is normal if you're not aware
10:20of all the information, then it's not so strange that you criticise some decisions.
10:27But I think if people knew the struggles I'm facing,
10:33they would be more understandable with the decisions I make.
10:36But I'm not asking for anyone to be, but it's the situation we're in.
10:42Hi, Arne. I'm kind of following on from that.
10:45Obviously, you explained there the nature of the injury situation
10:48you're having to deal with this season.
10:50It wasn't quite as bad last season, obviously there were some injuries,
10:54but largely you had almost a full squad to deal with in the business end of the season.
11:00Considering where we are in football with so many games being played,
11:04do you think that this injury situation might make you reassess the ideas
11:08around squad depth and squad size for maybe future seasons?
11:13Yeah, but even if you would reconsider and you come to a different decision,
11:18then the question is, are we able to change it?
11:23Can we make this squad bigger with the money available and the things we can do?
11:30But last season showed, although I think we were maybe one or two players short
11:35compared to last season in terms of numbers,
11:38and if you add three long-term injuries to that,
11:42then all of a sudden it's quite a lot.
11:45Again, this is not going to be a popular opinion, what I'm going to tell you now,
11:48but maybe the reason why we won the league last season
11:51is that we had to play Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16,
11:56because as you know they beat us,
11:59and we had every time a week to prepare for our next game.
12:02Maybe that has helped us as well,
12:04maybe if we had to double that programme which Arsenal had,
12:07and they dropped a few points in that period of time,
12:09that has helped us in winning the league.
12:14So we are aware, every manager is aware,
12:17the bigger squad you have, the better equipped you are for so many games.
12:21But I'm also aware of the fact that even today,
12:26I had to disappoint one or two players that would prefer to play now,
12:30and if you have 10 or 15 who want that,
12:32that's also not a good thing to have.
12:35So it's not an easy balance to find,
12:39but obviously because of the three long-term injuries,
12:42now it's a disbalance, that is obvious.
12:45I think you just said earlier that if you improve in one box,
12:52it would be an acceptable season.
12:53What would your definition of an acceptable season be?
12:56That's interesting, yeah.
12:58I was hoping no one would ask that.
13:00When you are Liverpool, the aim is to win the league.
13:06But we've only did this twice in the last 30 years.
13:10We want to be competitive in every single competition we are in.
13:14That's always the aim.
13:16But the reality is also that in the last three years,
13:18we've won one league cap and one Premier League title.
13:21So when is things acceptable?
13:24I have my opinion about it, I'm not going to share that.
13:27Outside World has his opinion about that.
13:29As we all know, a lot has been said about the £450 million,
13:34where people tend to forget the £300 million we brought in.
13:38So yeah, I have my opinion about what is acceptable,
13:43but I'm not going to share that.
13:48But I think I'll give some info about what I just said.
13:53One here.
13:55Garabag have had success against big European teams.
13:59Which aspects of their play are hardest to prepare for?
14:02Harder to?
14:03To prepare.
14:04To prepare?
14:05No.
14:06It's always the individuals, the players, that make things difficult.
14:09In terms of playing style, they're very direct, fast players.
14:15Very direct towards goal with a lot of runs in behind.
14:20Players who are comfortable on the ball.
14:22And as you said, they've shown this season against big clubs,
14:27because they're only big clubs in the Champions League,
14:30that they're a very good team and a hard team to beat.
14:35Even Chelsea, they were able to keep them on a 2-2.
14:39So I think even if you look at our Champions League campaign this season,
14:44some teams maybe have been lucky enough to face the ones that are now all outside the next round.
14:51So they're from 24 to 34.
14:53I think there's only one team from those ten that we've faced.
14:58So we've had a lot of strong teams to face.
15:01We did really well, but maybe two days afterwards when we had to play in the league,
15:05that brought us some problems because we've played so many strong teams in Europe.
15:10We're looking back.
15:17Hi, Arna.
15:18Given the number of defenders you've got with Tarawenz,
15:21I assume it's an option for tomorrow like he was at Bournemouth.
15:24Is he ready to play successive games and maybe on Saturday as well
15:28he might be needed against Newcastle given that he's not long back from injury?
15:32How's his fitness and how's he been behind the scenes this season?
15:35Because he hasn't had a lot of football.
15:37Yeah, that is interesting that you say this.
15:42Maybe you say this because you just listened to me
15:44and because he's been out with an injury for quite a long time,
15:47had to play against Bournemouth quite a long time
15:49and now tomorrow a game coming up and three days later another game coming up.
15:53As I also said, that's not the only way I decide on my line-up.
15:59Tactics are involved in that as well.
16:01It's for sure that at centre-back tomorrow there will not be a centre-back.
16:08They can only play a midfielder over there because there are no centre-backs available,
16:12apart from Virgil, who is one of the players I credit a lot for him being fit all the time.
16:18At his age, constantly be ready to play another 90 is something we should not take for granted.
16:29Coming back on what is acceptable for me, I can say if we improve in both boxes,
16:35I think we're able to win something this season.
16:38And if we only improve in one box, it's going to be really difficult to win something this season.
16:44Last one over here. Just read the mic.
16:51It's for him.
16:55Hi Arne. Earlier today at the training centre, you went out to the pitch with your Hungarian players.
17:01Could you tell us what was the topic of the conversation?
17:03Given the few defenders you have, do you consider to play Dom as a right-back?
17:10Always consider, but I also consider to play him at the midfield.
17:14The two Hungarians are usually the first to come out.
17:20Yeah, indeed.
17:21Is there a reason for that?
17:23I should ask you that.
17:26Maybe it's a typical Hungarian, but the two of them are always outside.
17:31Probably as the first two.
17:33Yeah, we spoke a bit about Karabakh, about tactics, about what we wanted to do tomorrow
17:42before I spoke to the rest of the team and the challenges that are ahead of us
17:48and challenges in terms of Karabakh.
17:52So we spoke about that with the three of us.
17:55And what about Dom, do you consider to play him as a right-back given that you have a few defenders?
18:01I consider him for every position almost.
18:04But we will wait and see.
18:07Jeremy Finpong is there to play as a full-back, but he can also play as a winger.
18:11But on the right-wing I also have Mo Salah.
18:14So I have two options for the right-wing to play,
18:18and one option with Jeremy as a right full-back.
18:22But if we include Dom or Curtis,
18:27then all of a sudden I have three options to play at right-back.
18:30But we both agree on the fact that he's best playing in the midfield.
18:34And the two of us definitely agree on that.
18:37With the two, I mean Dominic and me.
18:39I don't know what your opinion is, but that's ours.
18:44You're welcome.
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