- 20 hours ago
Liverpool boss Arne Slot speaks on the signing of Jeremy Jacquet and the fitness of Jeremie Frimpong and Joe Gomez for their tricky Premier League clash with Manchester City
AXA Training Centre, Liverpool, UK
AXA Training Centre, Liverpool, UK
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00:00You started with Jeremy Zachary in the other room, so I'll start again with him.
00:04How pleasing to get that one over the line?
00:08Yeah, very pleasing of course, because first of all he's a very big talent,
00:14and maybe even more than only a talent, but we speak about talent because of his age, of course.
00:19Second of all, because we weren't the only one interested in him,
00:23so another big compliment for the people that working every single day so hard to sign players
00:29that we were able to sign such a big talent, and another example of the model we are using at this club.
00:35So young, very talented players, sometimes in the start of their career,
00:41sometimes already a few years into their career, but always players that are young
00:47and can improve us and help us for the short, but definitely also for the long term.
00:56We've signed a lot of them recently, and I've said many times that the mid- to long-term future,
01:02but even the short-term future of this club is in a very, very good place.
01:05Here and now, how is the injury situation at the back?
01:09Where is Jeremy Fripong and Joe Gomez as well?
01:14Jeremy will definitely not train this week, so he's not available for the weekend.
01:19With Joe we have a little bit of hope, hope is the way I think,
01:23that he might train tomorrow Saturday, so not available to start,
01:27but maybe available to help the team if needed during the game,
01:31because as you already know there are not that many defenders available at the moment.
01:35How would you somewhat test against Manchester City once again?
01:39Because at times, again, we saw it again, it's shown fallibility, yeah, of course,
01:44and we know Pep Guardiola will still see them as big contenders,
01:49and the pressure is on really to maintain some kind of pace or touching distance with Arsenal at all.
01:54Yeah, what I mainly remember is that the game we played over there in the first half,
01:58we were completely outplayed, for large parts, not for the complete 45 minutes, but for large parts.
02:04So it's another moment for us to see where we are in the development of this team.
02:08That, of course, being said, we also know the importance of a result on Sunday,
02:18but that goes for all the 20 teams that are playing this weekend in the Premier League.
02:23It's the end phase of the season, so results matter more and more.
02:27And a very good team that were even able to win yesterday against the team that we beat during the weekend,
02:37not even with their starters, so that tells you, combined with the game we've played against them,
02:43what a force City still is, and always will be, I think.
02:49Hi, Arne, I wonder if the performance you showed against Newcastle particularly after the first half-hour,
02:56is that as well as your Liverpool team has played this season?
03:00No, I think we played much better than that, to be honest, but it was a good last hour.
03:06The first half-hour wasn't as we wanted it to be, again, for obvious reasons,
03:11because if you dive in data, and I think that's what you're going to do in a second because that's your world.
03:17But the first half-hour we didn't play that much, there were a lot of set-pieces,
03:22which took a lot of time, and then it's difficult to find momentum,
03:28to find the same tempo and pace as we had in the last hour.
03:32I liked our last hour, but for me it wasn't our best.
03:37I think we've played many games, really good football,
03:41unfortunately we're not always able to be that good in both boxes.
03:46Now in the last two games we've been really good in both boxes,
03:49and then people start to notice that our football might be better as well,
03:53but that football part has always been, for 95% of the minutes we've played,
03:58for me far above an acceptable level,
04:03but both boxes have been not good enough throughout, maybe 95% of the time.
04:10Now in the last two games that was, and then all of a sudden it's not only the performance,
04:16but the result looks different as well.
04:18What was it about the performance that you liked, what were the elements that you felt,
04:23aside from the boxers really, generally, that is working?
04:27No, a combination of many things, I think off the ball we were really good,
04:31so it was the third goal we scored, it came from a high press,
04:35and a very good transition moment, we had a few very good transition moments,
04:41and I see also individual performances that are getting better and better and better,
04:50because these players are getting fitter and fitter and fitter,
04:53and are adjusting more and more towards Premier League, Champions League amount of games,
04:59and again we are going to a week where we have to again play free games in seven days,
05:05and not the most simple ones, it isn't as if we had a very easy FA Cup draw,
05:11so three strong teams to face in seven days again.
05:15So that is another challenge that we are facing this week.
05:20You said that about individuals getting fitter and being able to show more and more what they can do,
05:24I'm guessing Florian Bertz comes into that, how good is it now to be able to see him consistently showing his best form,
05:34and how much of that is the fact that you have worked with him specifically to get his physical attributes up to this level?
05:40No, I think it's first and foremost always credit to the player,
05:43because he has to do the work, not only on the pitch but also in the gym.
05:47And then as a manager, even if he is maybe physically struggling a little bit in the start,
05:54you need to keep on playing him, because that's the only way players can improve.
05:58And he is an example of that, where I had many of them this season.
06:03So I think he did not even improve that much on the ball,
06:10because from the start he was special on the ball.
06:12Maybe now he has a better connection with his teammates,
06:15because he played more and more together.
06:17That's also what you get if you play them more and more together.
06:20But off the ball I see the biggest improvement with him and with some others.
06:26And that combination makes you ready for the Premier League,
06:30because the Premier League is about both.
06:33It's not only on the ball, it's also definitely off the ball.
06:36You said that this would be a good test to see about the development of your players.
06:42For quite some time these are two teams that went toe-to-toe in competitions.
06:47I just wondered, how do you assess right now your squad,
06:51your performances with City, where do you see them at the moment?
06:55I don't know if I said that, but if I said players I meant team,
07:00so where are we as the development of this team?
07:03Because we have very good players that we are aware of,
07:06but that almost everyone has in the Premier League, but we definitely as well.
07:09But the development of the team, how we are able to play against them now,
07:13in our own stadium, in front of our own fans, that's very helpful as well.
07:18How do I see this? I think we've shown, maybe apart from that first half
07:23and the first half against Palace, that we were able to compete with any team that we faced.
07:30Unfortunately, we haven't found the consistency to get the results consistent,
07:37to get consistent results.
07:39But I think we've shown against, I can come up with all the names,
07:44that we are able to compete, except for large parts of the first half against City,
07:49where I think they were better than us.
07:51But it also helped that the goal of us was disallowed,
07:55for in my opinion reasons, the wrong reasons,
08:00that they got a penalty after a VAR interference,
08:05which was light for me as well.
08:08So these things also matter in a game, but we can see this at peace.
08:12It doesn't help in general as well, but they were the better team,
08:16and I think we want to show a different side of us this time.
08:21Yes.
08:22Yes.
08:23Yes.
08:24Yes.
08:25Yes.
08:26Yes.
08:27You are longer here than I am, so I think if I tell you that this club does everything
08:32they do with a reason, I don't think you are surprised.
09:03There is always a long-term idea or something that has been thought about for a long time,
09:11by not only one person but by multiple persons.
09:14So, of course, we are aware of the fact that Virgil will not play for this club ten more years,
09:20but he has one-and-a-half-year contract left,
09:23so he will be with us for that period of time and maybe even longer.
09:26If he keeps staying as fit as he is now, because I said it before,
09:30what a compliment to him at his age to play every three days,
09:34not only for our club but also for his country,
09:37for seven or eight months already.
09:39So, yes, hopefully he can stay as fit as he is for multiple years,
09:44but this club, we are not stupid, we do know that somewhere in the upcoming years
09:54there is life for this club without Virgil.
09:58So you are now talking about Virgil, but I can say this for every position,
10:03this club is not only thinking about the short-term future
10:08but also for the mid- to long-term future in the decisions we make.
10:13Can you tell us a little bit about Connets Jones,
10:16because obviously you've been externally in some reports
10:19that he might be bonded in a wind window,
10:22and I know you said on Saturday that he was completely pleased
10:25that the team is quite strong, but just in terms of his role in the team
10:28and the squad this season, are these sort of consensus?
10:32I think what you've seen, he's played a lot of minutes, not all of them,
10:38but I think he's also unlucky in the sense that it's probably the only line
10:45where we haven't had injuries.
10:47But still he's played a lot of minutes,
10:50so that's of course why we kept him as well,
10:53because we have in that line a lot of players,
10:56but we need these midfielders in different positions as well.
11:00And the moment you start to meet midfielders in different positions,
11:05then the line in midfield gets smaller and smaller.
11:10So yeah, Kurt, of course we kept him,
11:13and his situation hasn't changed to us.
11:18He's one of the 16 outfield players we have available for a long term now,
11:24and also at this moment of time,
11:26with two really young players, with Trey and Rio included.
11:31So yeah, it would be a bit strange if we would let anyone go,
11:36if you only have 16 available.
11:39Hi, Arnett. Among other individual improvements,
11:44you have characters in Los Angeles,
11:46maybe after some early difficulties,
11:49what specific things were on the team to help this progress?
11:54Did this role change technically?
11:58Compared to Bomhoff or in this season?
12:02Well, this season of course.
12:05This season.
12:06Yeah, this is what you get if you play longer together with your teammates,
12:13this is what you get if you keep playing those players,
12:18even if they sometimes have moments in games that are not as good as other moments,
12:24or games that have not been as good as other games.
12:29But this is also normal for younger players,
12:32and the only thing you can do as a manager is keep trusting them
12:35and keep believing in them.
12:37Because we know who he shines, and we saw his potential,
12:40and we knew, and it has already been shown,
12:44that that potential will be seen if you keep playing them.
12:47But there are a lot of games to be played,
12:51and for him it was the first time the combination of Premier League and Champions League.
12:55That's why I'm also so happy to have Robbo in the squad,
13:00because he has helped the team on multiple locations as well.
13:05But definitely Milos is another example of a very young player we've signed
13:10where the best of him is still to come, and he's already developed this season.
13:16Progress is the word.
13:18Hi Anna, not a data question, Richard.
13:21You were reaching for the early to part of the game with Newcastle didn't go as you planned.
13:26I think there were multiple times where Newcastle had counter-tracks,
13:30where they had multiple runners in behind your midfield.
13:34If you look at the Manchester City game last night,
13:36they scored from quite a few similar situations running with fast runners at defence.
13:41You're talking about City now, how City scored, and how we created our chances?
13:46Well, yeah, so Newcastle had opportunities where they were running in behind your midfield before they scored.
13:52If you look at the Manchester City goals, they're kind of similar in terms of how City were able to score those goals.
13:58I wonder how difficult is it to keep that security even when you are trying to attack,
14:03obviously, a game at home, a big game,
14:06you don't want to be on the front of an attack.
14:08How important is it to keep that security even when you are...
14:12If you come with data, there is no debate,
14:15because then we always agree, because data is a fact.
14:18Now we have a different opinion,
14:20because I was to a certain extent surprised to see the first half-hour of Newcastle against Man City,
14:28because of course I watched that game,
14:30and it was completely opposite to the one we've played.
14:34So the amount of lawn balls Newcastle played against us compared to how much they played against City was...
14:43I couldn't see a bigger difference than that.
14:45And the one time they did, then Bern headed it to Anthony Gordon,
14:51who was in front of the goalkeeper, with a big chance.
14:54So for me, you cannot compare these games in terms of tactics or playing style,
15:00but I did see that there were certain similar situations, as you just said.
15:06No, controlling a counter-attack is of course crucial,
15:10especially if you have a lot of ball possession.
15:13But usually when you play against City, it's not sure that you will have more ball possession than them.
15:18But in almost all the other games we had, that is the situation.
15:22And I think in the beginning of the season, when we had so much ball possession,
15:26I think we are maybe the team with the most ball possession.
15:28Data again, we are maybe the team with the most ball possession.
15:31So that tells you what ideas we have about football.
15:34But it also tells you that if you have the ball, usually that's a lot on their half,
15:38so you have to be very well protected for the counter-attack.
15:41In the start of the season, that was not always as I wanted it to be,
15:45so that's why we adjusted a little bit in the middle after we lost so many games.
15:50And now we have to find the perfect balance, as I said so many times,
15:55in creating enough chances to score, but being able hardly to concede a counter-attack.
16:00But I think we did really well against Newcastle with all the pace they have,
16:05because the goal, we had enough bodies in our 18-yard box,
16:09and he could shoot it through the legs of Milos.
16:13I cannot come up with another counter-attack which was a big threat.
16:19I think all the other threats were mainly set-pieces.
16:22There was a reason where Virgil was caught on camera saying he was too open.
16:26I think that was possibly before the moment of course of free-kick for Harvey Bynes,
16:32I think just after that you could see Virgil on TV today, it's too open.
16:36Yeah, OK.
16:37Are you a bit more concerned?
16:38No, no, no, but it's good because defenders are always worried about being too open.
16:43In an ideal world we are never too open, but I watch a lot of games,
16:47and even yesterday Newcastle were three or four times only in the first half
16:52one-on-one to the goalkeeper, and these are moments we did not face against Newcastle.
16:57But there will always be moments, if you play in a league like this,
17:01where other teams will show their quality as well.
17:04But I think in general we hardly concede a lot of chances or counter-attack chances.
17:12We mainly have conceded a lot of set-piece things,
17:16because last week he asked me what's the difference between us in the Premier League
17:21and the Champions League now.
17:22If you only look at the set-piece then you have the answer.
17:25Just to go back to Kurt, he's obviously pleased to keep holding him in January,
17:30but is contract you keen to keep him around in the long term as well?
17:35It's interesting that there is someone else who is asking contract questions,
17:39and talks are not taking place over here, talks are taking place in other places in this building,
17:47and the moment we have any news then we share it over here.
17:51But I am aware, and the club is aware, and he is aware of the fact
17:54that he has only one and a half year left, so that's all I can say about it.
18:03You're welcome.
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