Slot delighted with Liverpool performance after 2-1 Arsenal pre season win
01/08/2024 BST
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
01/08/2024 BST
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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00:00I'm sure any manager, especially someone who's doing a big job, would want to be focusing
00:29on the game. While you've been over here in the States, have you been able to take a moment
00:36to sort of take it in, see a big crowd like the one tonight, and see how much football
00:39has grown in the States in recent years?
00:42Yes, that's a long question, but it's true that football grew in the States. It's the
00:47second time, no, the third time already that I see a lot of crowds inside the stadium because
00:51we had to play the Sevilla game. And yesterday I visited the Phillies, so they played the
00:56Yankees. So it's been a good tour for us now, the facilities are great, you can see
01:02the fans loving us playing here, and we love the players as well, especially if the results
01:07keep on going like this.
01:08It's only pre-season still, but that's definitely your biggest win, especially against Premier
01:20League opposition. I'm just wondering, how do you feel with the squad currently, and
01:23you know after that win, how is that going to make you feel, and do you feel, going into
01:26the next season?
01:28I think even though it's a friendly, you always want to win. You should aim for a win, even
01:32if you have small-sided games during a training session. You need to win your games, you try
01:37to do everything to win. So that's a good thing that we did that today, but I'm more
01:41pleased about the way we did so. Of course, I saw the second half that we had a hard time
01:46with Arsenal, they dominated possession completely. But we defended really well, and I was really
01:51pleased to see this, because a lot of bodies behind the ball every time they arrived into
01:55our 16. So real big, open chances I don't think they created in the second half. The
02:01first half, after the first ten minutes, was an equal game where both teams could have
02:06scored a few goals more. So pleased to see how we played the first half and how we defended
02:12the second half.
02:16David Melendrez, Sports Talk, Philadelphia. Can you just talk about this whole experience
02:20playing this game here in Philadelphia, and what is the main thing you take away from
02:24tonight?
02:26I think the good thing about playing here in the States is that many good teams are
02:29here, so we face strong opponents. We have Betis, Sevilla, and now we have Arsenal and
02:33the upcoming game against United. It's very nice to see that the fans love to see us play
02:39over here. They come with big numbers. I think the stadium was sold out today, so that says
02:44a lot. And facilities, like I said, are good. Temperature is good, so we've had a good tour
02:51till now. But one game coming up, and we'd like to finish that in the way we started
02:57this tour.
03:06Obviously you've had to rely on the youngsters because of so many senior players missing.
03:10Who's caught your eye, would you say, the most? Is it Panthers, Singleton, or the youngsters?
03:18Yeah, it's impressive. If you see that, like you said, we miss quite a lot of players that
03:25have played a lot of minutes for us last season. If you then come up to such a strong team
03:29like Arsenal had today, you're always curious to see what they can do. During halftime,
03:35we had to add a few more youngsters. In the end of the game, I think both teams had a
03:40lot of youngsters on the pitch. But it was good to see that all of them worked really
03:45hard, and I think that's the first thing you have to do if you want to compete against
03:49a team that dominates possession like Arsenal did in the second half. So they did really
03:53well, and I don't think one of the youngsters stands out today. The one that stood out last
03:58week, you could see today that his defensive duties, he can work on that a bit.
04:10I just want to ask you about Mohamed Salah. He's come back looking so fit, strong and
04:16sharp. What has it been like to work with him in your opening weeks, and has he been
04:20a great role model for the youngsters around the place?
04:23Yeah, but I don't think that he's only this for this season. He's been that for several
04:27years. He came back real fit, but from what has been told to me, that's normal for him.
04:32He always comes back really fit. But if I only use Mo as an example, I will not be fair
04:38to the other guys, because the other ones are strong and fit as well. One of the main
04:43positive things still now is that all the boys are fit. We have no injuries at all,
04:48so we hope we can continue like this and that their fitness level goes up and up more,
04:53because we felt today how hard it is and how tough it is to play against a team that wants
04:59to press us high, and we want to press them high. You need to be really fit to play games
05:04like this, and we are working on this. We're heading in the right direction.
05:10We've seen a couple of quality assists from Parry Elliott tonight. He seems to be someone
05:14who has all the qualities to thrive in a number 10 role. You played him in the last
05:18couple of friendlies and he seems to be really on form this summer.
05:22Yeah, he had two great assists. But what I believe is that the team created these assists
05:28for him as well. So, playing out from the back, getting him in the right positions or
05:33another number 10, and then it's up to him to bring the most out of those situations.
05:38He did that today with two assists. If I'm a bit hard on him, I think there were two
05:43or three other situations where he could have done better. But that's what the team
05:49is doing for him. We make sure he and the other ones, like Mo and Fabio, come in the
05:55right positions where they can show their quality, and Javi did that today with two
06:00good assists.
06:01Last couple of questions.
06:07You mentioned the discipline that was shown in the second half. It seemed like there was
06:12a big difference between the first half and the flair, how quickly they were breaking.
06:17In the second half, it just seemed like they were more disciplined. Was that a tactical
06:21change or was that just the personnel on the field?
06:25No, I would have preferred to keep the same playing style as the first half. Although
06:32the youngsters did really well, I think we had to change a few of our players that have
06:37played a lot of minutes for us. A few youngsters came in, they did really well, like I said,
06:42defensively, but we couldn't keep pressing them really high anymore as we did the first
06:47half. I think that works both sides, so Arsenal maybe positioned themselves a bit differently
06:54and better, and for us, although the youngsters did really well, we had to change a few players
07:00that are starters for us, I would say, so that's also a difference.
07:12Against Real Betis, you weren't able to play with a number nine because you didn't have
07:15any available, but you did have Diogo Jota available today. I'm just wondering what difference
07:19you thought that made to the game. He looked really, really sharp in that first 45 minutes.
07:23Yes, he did. I think it helps to have someone who naturally plays in that position, although
07:30Arsenal was man-for-man all over the place, and then it helps if you have a striker who's
07:36smart and intelligent, knows when to make the deep runs, knows when to hold the ball.
07:40I think it was also him that he bounced the ball towards Harvey, where Harvey could give
07:45his assist to Mo. So it helps to have someone who's used to this position, especially if
07:51you play a team that is man-for-man all over the pitch.