- 6 minutes ago
Liverpool boss Arne Slot on Florian Wirtz fitness, inconsistent decisions in the Premier League and the challenge of facing bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers
AXA Training Centre, Liverpool, UK
AXA Training Centre, Liverpool, UK
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00:00Thank you, I am.
00:03First of all, how's Florian Hurts? Have you got a timescale as to when he might be available for selection
00:08again?
00:10Not anything different than what I said after the game.
00:13The game tomorrow will probably come too soon.
00:16And maybe the game in the weekend as well, but let's see how that ends up.
00:21We hope to have him back somewhere next week.
00:25Maybe earlier, maybe a bit later, but that timescale.
00:28I just wanted to compare a couple of decisions that we've seen lately.
00:31Obviously, we saw the situation where Mark Gay appeared to pull back Mo Salah when he played Manchester City.
00:38Yesterday, when Manchester United played Crystal Palace, we saw a foul on the edge of the box,
00:43a penalty awarded and a red card given in that situation.
00:47Obviously, the game pulled back, but it wasn't a red card.
00:49It was not a red card.
00:52How was it comparable?
00:55Very comparable.
00:57The only difference is that Mo was pulled by the shirt and here was a hand on the shoulder.
01:03If I look at it, I see a similar distance.
01:06Maybe, maybe, maybe even the distance between Gay and Diaz was even a bigger distance
01:11than the distance between both centre-backs of Palace.
01:14But I would try to ask you, check this for me, please.
01:19Let's see if it's the similar distance or it's more or less.
01:23So, the moment when I saw it, because I saw it live, I thought, knowing what has happened with us
01:28in that situation,
01:30VAR is probably checking if it is even a penalty or if it's in or outside the box,
01:35but he will never, ever give a red card for this.
01:39And this is what I sometimes hold against VAR because every time when the Premier League comes in,
01:44they tell me that there were only two wrong decisions over a whole season.
01:48But I hold this against VAR, you're expecting, because in both situations it's a VAR interference.
01:56So, nine or ten times in football, there's the difference between
02:00the referee has given a red card, OK, I stay away from it, I accept his decision,
02:04or the referee did nothing, I stay away from it because I accept his decision.
02:08But in both situations, the referee did not give a red card.
02:13And in one situation, he overturned the two red cards.
02:17That is for me, either one of the two is a mistake.
02:20So then when you come in, in the end of the season, you have to say,
02:23OK, we made more than only one or two mistakes.
02:27But what they mean with a mistake is if the VAR overturned it in the wrong way.
02:32Yeah, I can expect that in these two is already a lot done.
02:38So, yeah, surprisingly this was a red card.
02:44No, this was not surprisingly a red card, this is for me a red card.
02:49Because I said so many times that it was clear for me
02:52that the one from Kuei was a red card as well.
02:55But I wasn't backed up by everyone.
02:59I wonder, what did the panel say? Do we know?
03:00I think the panel said afterwards that the correct decision is made.
03:06So, yeah, we're expecting the panel now to say five times
03:11the wrong decision made by VAR and the referee.
03:15What frustration then is there?
03:18Of course, there's a frustration because that's not the first time.
03:22This is such a clear example because it happened so short ago
03:26I know that you are now, ooh, but I would like you to remember
03:29the goal is allowed from us at City, the header.
03:33And one week later we played against Forest or two weeks, I don't know,
03:37and exactly the similar situation and the goal was allowed.
03:40So, it's not for the first time.
03:42But, yeah, I've said also many times we have to make sure
03:46that we don't depend on these decisions.
03:48We're better than that and we just win our games by being so good
03:52that even if decisions go against you, which sometimes happens in football,
03:56I'm not saying that since I'm here for one and a half year
03:58everything has gone against us, that's not true.
04:01But sometimes decisions go against you
04:02and you have to make sure that it doesn't hurt you.
04:05Since the game against City though, it's a 100 per cent record,
04:08and it feels like you've got Champions League qualification in your own hands now.
04:12How do you see it, particularly when the last four games of the season
04:15you've got United, Chelsea, Villa and Brentford?
04:18Yeah, what an impact it could have had if the right decision was made for our position in the league.
04:25But also what that would mean to the league table, not only for us,
04:27but I think other clubs were hoping that that would have been a red card as well.
04:35Yeah, we are playing Wolves tomorrow and they've shown recently that they do much better,
04:43or getting more results from what they deserve,
04:46because I think throughout the whole season they've hardly been beaten by big goal differences,
04:52so that tells you that they're a competitive team throughout the whole season
04:56and recently they picked up points and even a win against Villa,
05:00so we know that we again are going to face a difficult game tomorrow.
05:08I suppose it's quite an unusual situation playing against the same team twice in three days.
05:14What challenges does that provide for you as a manager?
05:18It's not unusual that we play three games in seven days for us,
05:21that's probably the fourth or fifth time this season that we have to do this.
05:27Does it bring a challenge maybe for the second game a little bit more,
05:31because then you know even better what to expect,
05:33but that I also like mainly on the Champions League,
05:36because the first time you play each other,
05:39mainly in the Champions League you don't play each other that much,
05:42so it's a bit new, but the second time you can prepare your team even better,
05:47especially if the team you face does the same again.
05:54But now being in the Premier League, we've played them already once,
05:57you see a lot of games of them because they play against teams that we are facing as well.
06:02You know each other that well that I don't see that much difference
06:07between playing each other twice in three days
06:09or that there's a longer period in between.
06:13You saw the importance of set-pieces again in the Premier League over the weekend.
06:18There's so much grappling and holding at corners.
06:22Does that need to be looked at or is it impossible to please that?
06:28Not everywhere you see that holding, but in some games you see that a lot in set-pieces.
06:35I said after the game we played something about the difference between us and Arsenal,
06:41going from 23 goals including penalties being down and us scoring free,
06:45I said probably we will now make the gap a bit smaller.
06:50But it was only one goal difference because they scored twice.
06:55Yeah, it is the new reality of the Premier League, mainly this season.
07:01Last season already a little bit, but mainly this season.
07:05Indeed, in some games you see a lot of fouls being made.
07:10And sometimes you also see very nice corner-kicks being scored.
07:19You're really well positioned now in the race for the Champions League places.
07:25We're coming into the final quarter of the season.
07:28How do you assess things?
07:30You said a few weeks ago the record would have to be almost perfect,
07:33and even if the performances haven't been, the results certainly have.
07:38Can you feel that things are beginning to turn in your favour
07:42and maybe that will give an added confidence to the players
07:46with so much having gone against them before that?
07:50No, that last thing is definitely true, what you were saying,
07:53that so many things have gone against us this season.
07:57In terms of performances, I think only the first half against Forrest
08:02was not of our standards for all the other games.
08:04I think we've played to our standards or what is there to expect currently in the Premier League,
08:11because it's not like every game is as if we were watching Barcelona 10 or 15 years ago
08:15or watching the Premier League four or five years ago.
08:18It just has changed how entertaining it is because of playing styles.
08:27We're well-placed now, but two weeks ago you didn't ask that question,
08:31but you could have asked the question, you're not so well-placed.
08:34So things can change really fast depending also on who you play yourself,
08:38who the other teams play.
08:40We're really close together with a few teams,
08:46and things can change every single matchday because of who you face yourself
08:52and who the other team is facing.
08:53So we, as all the other teams do as well, focus on our next game and ourselves.
08:59We know that every game has been difficult for us throughout the whole season,
09:03and that's what we expect in the upcoming turn as well.
09:06Given the problems that you've had in the right-back position,
09:09how important can it be between now and the end of the season
09:13to have Jeremy Krimpong back a bit again?
09:17We know how influential he can be,
09:20he can be a game-changer for you on occasion,
09:23so how difficult, given his recent record with injuries, how do you manage that?
09:30I don't think the only position we struggled was the right-field-back position,
09:34I think it's been in more positions,
09:35but the right-field-back is probably the one that stands out most.
09:39Having Jeremy back is really nice,
09:41but indeed what you are saying does go through your mind,
09:45because of the fact that we play three games in seven days,
09:47because if we play Galatasaray we have the early kick-off afterwards in Brighton, 12-15.
09:53So those things you all have to take into account,
09:56especially with players who come back from injuries.
10:00But we also know the importance of every single game,
10:03and that is a challenge performance staff,
10:07the player himself, the manager, has,
10:11but I'm not the only one who has that.
10:14I prefer to have this problem,
10:16to manage how many minutes do I have to give him,
10:19than to see him with the medical staff doing his recovery.
10:27I know you said in the past that goals aren't the only metrics you judge players by,
10:32but I just wondered how important that goal was for Cody the weekend,
10:36because he was calling a bit scrutiny in terms of his output.
10:40You said on Friday that when we talked about Moe,
10:43that he wasn't the only one in the fourth line who wanted to score in.
10:46So in particular for Cody, how important is that goal for him?
10:51As you correctly say, I don't judge them only on the goals they score,
10:55I judge them on different things as well.
10:57So attackers are also judged on the fact if we keep a clean sheet,
11:01as defenders are judged by the fact that we can score from open play,
11:04because they have to create promising situations for our attackers.
11:08But for our attackers, I know how they think and what they want,
11:13and that is scoring goals.
11:14So I was happy because I think it was the 4-1, if I'm correct.
11:19Yeah, it was the 4-1.
11:21So that gave us even a more comfortable cushion.
11:24But even more happy for him to score,
11:27because I think he needed that goal, as you correctly say.
11:39No, I don't think his confidence was gone or away or whatever in that regard,
11:47but I saw a few times recently that he made maybe different decisions than I'm used to.
11:53And that doesn't always have to mean that it's a lack of confidence,
11:57but I think when players are not scoring longer and longer,
12:01they start to think more about their action.
12:04And thinking is usually not the best way to...
12:07Yeah, that's not completely true.
12:09You need to think, but overthinking is not the best thing you can do.
12:17But I think that's something different than confidence,
12:20because these players, if it's Cody or Mo or whoever they are,
12:23they know that they can have a certain spell without scoring,
12:25but they know they've had this before in their careers,
12:28they will eventually start scoring again.
12:31But there are periods of time where you don't put that much effort in,
12:36but the ball just falls to you and you can score.
12:38And there are periods of time in your career where you try so hard, so hard, so hard,
12:42trying too hard or overthinking is usually not the best thing to score a goal.
12:49When Wolves played against Arsenal and Aston Villa recently,
12:53their set-up was quite narrow in order to ingest the centre of the pitch.
12:57And considering you're going to be missing a great talent in the centre-back,
13:01does that put more emphasis on the wider areas to find creativity?
13:08No, I don't think Wolves is an exception to that.
13:11I think all the teams, but that is not this year for the first time,
13:17all the teams try to protect the centre.
13:19Why? Because the goal is in the middle,
13:21so it's quite smart to protect the middle as much as you can.
13:24So you rely a lot, especially if you have the ball a lot and you face low blocks,
13:31you rely a lot on your combination play on the side,
13:34so a full-back winger with the help sometimes of a midfielder.
13:39And I think that has become clear in modern football
13:43that wingers' full-backs are very influential in open-play chance creation.
13:51Do you think that might have an influence on whether or not you do use Jeremy?
13:56Has that trickery and, as you said before, he's very good in one-on-one situations?
14:00Yeah, that definitely goes through my mind,
14:04but the other thing is we spoke about Jeremy,
14:06but you can also say the same about Joe Gomez,
14:09who's been out for a while, played 75 minutes for the second time.
14:14The last start he had before this weekend was against West Ham three or four months ago.
14:20So these are all the things which is our situation this season,
14:25and in the meantime I think the players handle that really well.
14:32Dominic or Milos, who is it this time?
14:34Dominic?
14:34Dominic or Milos, who is it this time?
14:36You can answer after this, but I'm more curious about how do you face two games
14:47against the same opponent in a short span and on the same pitch?
14:53So how do you balance both without losing focus on either?
15:00No, I don't think we're in a position to lose focus.
15:02No one is at this period of time, everyone is fighting for something,
15:05and we have to fight really hard in the league to get in the end what we want now,
15:12and that's a qualifier for Champions League,
15:14and there's an FA Cup to play for, so the focus will definitely be there.
15:19The only difference indeed is between playing each other in short notice,
15:24is that it's twice on their ground,
15:26where usually when you play in Europe you once have a home and an away game.
15:30But it is the situation we are facing now,
15:35and maybe the only person where it's helpful for is our analyst and myself,
15:44because usually you watch a lot of games from the opponent,
15:47now we've done this before this one,
15:49but before the next one we probably focus mainly on one game,
15:52and that's the one of tomorrow morning,
15:54so it saves me a bit of time maybe in the upcoming days.
15:58Alright, so can you tell me...
16:00That time will be used for Kalatasaray probably, but sorry.
16:04Can you tell me now the news about Milos?
16:08Oh, I don't think there's any news about them.
16:12They're fit, so that's...
16:16Yeah, they're both in a good place.
16:19Both played 90 in the last game, yeah.
16:21So, ready to go again.
16:26Oh!
16:28It seems to be a bit of a theme this season,
16:30that the top teams were at the top end of the league
16:32are less able to exercise control no matter who they're playing against.
16:37I just wondered if you have any thoughts about why that is,
16:40and do you think the top teams will be able to get that control back more?
16:43Is it just how the Premier League is now?
16:46Yeah, you give the answer and then I can tell you what the Premier League is.
16:50The Premier League is now that all the teams that are playing have a lot of money
16:55and can get very good players on ages between 25 and 30, the best athletes in the world.
17:04So, it's not only down to Liverpool or Chelsea or City or Arsenal or United
17:10or all the other top teams to sign big players from different leagues.
17:15This happens now with teams that are fighting for relegation as well.
17:19That's one thing.
17:20And the second thing is the playing style.
17:22The playing style is hard to control if you face, and that's not only against us,
17:28so if you face long balls it's really hard to control
17:32because then eventually that ball, if the goalkeeper kicks it from a free kick,
17:35it will end up in your box.
17:37And usually when the team plays a low block and is really well organised,
17:41they are able to play two, three, four, five, six times a good counter-attack.
17:47So that's the quality of the league.
17:49The playing style and the set pieces play a part of it as well,
17:52that it's really hard to control the game because, yeah,
17:55it's really hard not to concede a throw-in in your own half.
17:59It's really hard not to concede a free kick within 80 yards of your goal.
18:05So, yeah, if that ball has always been brought in,
18:09it's much more difficult to keep control over a game where in the past,
18:13and that's the recent past, teams probably didn't use so much that strategy
18:19as I'm talking about now.
18:22Did you have to change your approach then,
18:24and how to exercise that control?
18:28I think being a football manager throughout the years,
18:31you constantly adjust your approach towards what you are facing.
18:36But sometimes it's really hard to find a tactic
18:41about not giving away a throw-in in your own half,
18:44or not giving away a free kick within 80 yards of your goal.
18:55But controlling a counter-attack is something you are having tools for,
19:00and that's also why I think we've done that part of our game not too bad.
19:05We haven't conceded that many counter-attacks,
19:07and I don't know if we're still the team,
19:09but we were for a long time the team with the most ball possession.
19:14So, yeah, then controlling the counter-attack is something that you can do,
19:19and we've done that quite well, in my opinion, in general.
19:24So, yeah, you have to adjust to what's new,
19:28and what is new is mainly in the Premier League the set-piece part.
19:34Last one up.
19:35Just generally, on that piece,
19:36what do you make of that reliance across the Premier League?
19:39I mean, you said it's a new reality,
19:40but it's actually working for units and meets,
19:43but is that a concern for you in terms of that football?
19:47Is that a concern for you in terms of football?
19:52First of all, you have to accept.
19:54I think it's mainly here in the Premier League.
19:56If I watch other leagues, I don't think there's so much emphasis on set-pieces.
20:03One of the reasons is, and that's sometimes funny for me to do,
20:06if I watch an Eredivisie game, which I still do,
20:08I see goals being disallowed or falls on goalkeepers being given.
20:14I'm like, wow, that's a big difference.
20:17Here you can almost hit a goalkeeper in his face,
20:20and the referee still says, just go on.
20:25Do I like it?
20:27My football heart doesn't like it.
20:29I already said once in this press conference,
20:32if you ask me, thinking about football,
20:36I think about 10-15 years ago about the Barcelona team,
20:38every Sunday evening you were hoping that they would play.
20:42Now most of the games I see in the Premier League are not, for me, a joy to watch.
20:48But it's always interesting because it's so competitive,
20:50and that is what makes this league great,
20:52because there's so much competitiveness,
20:54everyone can win from everyone.
20:56But just as someone who loves to watch football,
21:00without being interested in who's winning or losing,
21:02just to be enjoyed,
21:04I think there's a big difference now between three or four years ago in the Premier League.
21:09Not only because of the set-pieces,
21:12but also because teams have become so much stronger.
21:15So three or four years ago, when the top clubs faced the number 18-17, 16-15,
21:20it could have been a four or five goals difference.
21:22And that's usually what you like,
21:24if there's so much difference between the teams,
21:26then one team is really good.
21:28But that's not the situation anymore,
21:30so it's not only about the set-pieces,
21:32it's also because so many teams have become very strong.
21:37But we're not going to change it,
21:39and maybe in five or ten years' time things will change again.
21:42But what I wouldn't be surprised of,
21:45if you go to an under-16 game somewhere,
21:47you know, how do you call this here, Sunday League football?
21:50We call this amateur football in Holland.
21:52I wouldn't be surprised if you see teams completely be in focus,
21:5516-year-olds on set pieces.
21:57And, yeah, that's the new reality,
22:02and I have my opinion about it, but it doesn't change.
22:05Thanks, guys.
22:06We'll see you next time.
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