00:17Hi Alan, Mo Salas said that Dominic Solskjaer is one of the best players in the world right now.
00:24I'm just wondering what your reaction is to that. Do you agree with him?
00:30I think there are a lot of very good to elite football players in the world, but I definitely
00:38agree with Mo that Dominic is one of them, yeah.
00:42You said last year that to play in midfield for Liverpool you've got to score goals.
00:48Dominic's scoring more than last season. Is that a way that his games progressed? Is
00:54that something he's recognised and intelligent?
00:57Yeah, when I said that I maybe had to add that you need to be able to run a lot
01:04if you
01:04play in the midfield of Liverpool. But I think what I meant was that as a No. 10 you also
01:11need to produce goals. Now he hasn't always played in the 10th position but he is producing
01:17more and more goals. I think Dominic is a great example of the model we are using here at this
01:21club and we signed young players from another league in this situation that was Leipzig,
01:28where he was already known for being a player that was really physical. But I think it's
01:32fair for me to say that the player that we brought in was already good, but where he is now
01:37he's
01:39much better. I think much better than where he was two and a half years ago. And that is what
01:44you get
01:44if you sign young players and you give them a bit of time and you let them play a lot.
01:50And that's why I
01:51also think that that trajectory he's been through is the same trajectory we can expect from other young
01:59players we are having that we've signed from other leagues. You can already see their progress.
02:03But I've said many times that next season or at the end of the season or in two seasons players
02:10like
02:11Jurgo and Florian, because these are the two that come from the Bundesliga, will even be better next
02:15year than they are already now because they are already very good players for us.
02:23Can I just ask you about Mo, because obviously you've got a goal and assist tonight, but his overall
02:27play particularly in the second half was maybe the best it's been for a long while. How impressed
02:32for you with him and his overall contributions?
02:36No, it's very nice to have him on the score sheet again and him having an assist, but I think
02:43what I like the most at the moment that he's scoring goals is something you can almost expect,
02:50but he also helps the team a lot defensively. And that is something very positive, what the team also
02:58needs. And I think more and more players are now capable of playing at this intensity level every
03:06three days. And that is where we struggled a lot in the beginning of the season, where it was sometimes
03:12hard for us to bring the intensity level once a week, let alone every three days. But now we're able
03:18to do
03:19so we see more and more the quality we are having and that's why I've said so many times already
03:28that
03:28the future looks really bright for this club with these players. And I think the recent seven, eight,
03:36nine, ten games are showing that as well.
03:48Very well. Curtis is a very good player, I've said this many times also to him and he agrees with
03:54me by the way.
03:57But unfortunately for him, he's playing in a line where I have many good players and also available.
04:05So if he would be playing in another position, he would have played much, much, much, much more.
04:10But that's the only line, a line that's worth where we haven't had our problems this season. And then you
04:17sometimes need him or other players in different positions. And so many times they've done well.
04:21Dominic has played so many different positions. Ryan played centre-back. And now tonight Curtis
04:26has to play as a full-back. And he did really well. It was very pleasing to see that the
04:31first goal was
04:32an assist of the left full-back to the right full-back. That probably tells you a lot about the
04:37intentions
04:38these players have when they step on the pitch.
04:51Yeah. That's the only thing that was not different compared to all the other games we played, that there
04:58was a referee decision that was not in our favour. So that has been multiple times the situation this season.
05:06But I also said many times when I sat here or at the AXA that we need to make sure
05:12that if decisions go
05:13against you, that you're still able to win. We have to become that good that we don't rely on the
05:19fact
05:20that against City there was not a red card on Guay or all the other decisions that are made this
05:26season
05:27that didn't went in our favour. And tonight, again, there was a decision that didn't went in our favour,
05:30which should have been different because he was onside, as you said. But we were still able to win 3
05:36-0.
05:37So now no one talks about it. Although I don't follow everything, but I don't think there's been a lot
05:45about spoken about how many times we've been disadvantaged by refereed decisions this season.
05:52But unfortunately for him, because it would have been a nice moment for him to score a goal and for
05:57Cody to
05:57have another to have an assist because I think Cody played a very good game tonight as well.
06:04Just after, how did you find the experience without VAR? Did you enjoy the experience at all?
06:12In general, I enjoy watching football without VAR because if you then score you're like, ah, it's a goal.
06:17So that was the same with the 1-0. I looked at the linesman and he didn't raise his flag.
06:22So I was like, ah, that's nice.
06:23But then a few seconds later, he did raise his flag, which was correct because he was offside.
06:28And they also explained to me that he wanted to know who scored. The moment he heard it was Cody,
06:32he said, oh, but then he's offside.
06:33So fair and good decision. I like VAR only for the clear and obvious things.
06:38And I'm not meaning red card, yes or no, for Guayyamo Salah because that is, I thought it was 100
06:44-0, but I heard people saying that they could live with that decision.
06:48So even that decision was not 100-0, 80-20. So let's stay away from that. Only go to offside,
06:54yes or no, ball over the line, yes or no.
06:57And that's for the rest, the referee, referee the game.
07:01Yeah, that's my opinion. That's not going to happen, but that's the way I would like the VAR to be.
07:11But, yeah, I think we're now so used to VAR that I would prefer to have VAR during a game,
07:19to be honest.
07:20Quick one on Dom, actually. Do you see all the attributes there for a future leader or captain over here?
07:29Yes, but he's still young, and I think he has a lot of attributes already, especially if it comes to
07:36leading by example.
07:39But there's still a step to make in terms of leadership, being vocal, being a voice in the dressing room,
07:44if I compare him to Virgil,
07:45which is completely normal because Virgil is 34 and has seen probably James Milner, Henderson and these players.
07:52So it's really good for Dominic that he sees Virgil as well.
07:57And that would be a next step for him to be as vocal and as loud as Virgil is.
08:04But that comes with time, I think. But for all the other things, he has a lot to become a
08:11very influential player for Liverpool.
08:14And you could call that a leader.
08:17Ale, VAR's injury is very unfortunate, and I understand it takes a long time.
08:23But how long, I mean, can he come back in this season? Is there any chance?
08:31There is definitely a chance, but he will be out for a while.
08:35But we cannot say exactly how long yet. That is sometimes different with every injury.
08:42Sometimes you can make that diagnosis straight away.
08:47Sometimes you need a few more days to see how things develop.
08:51And that last thing is with Wata.
08:53But he will not be in the squad next week and he will not be in the squad next month.
08:57But we are hoping that towards the end of the season, he has a chance to be there with us
09:03again.
09:03But that also depends on the upcoming days where that will lead to.
09:13We don't know yet.
09:16It's the first lie I've made over here.
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