Liverpool boss Arne Slot on Liverpool - Chelsea and injury and contract updates
18/10/2024
AXA training centre, Liverpool, Uk
18/10/2024
AXA training centre, Liverpool, Uk
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00:00Two weeks ago.
00:30What is happening is that they were with the national teams.
00:32Trent scored a fantastic free-kick, like you probably saw.
00:36So, yeah, same question, same answer.
00:41There will always be talks about our players,
00:43and it's a good thing that you ask about it,
00:46that means that they do really well.
00:48Because if they would have played badly, let's not say shit this time,
00:52then you probably wouldn't have asked.
00:56So it's a good thing that everybody wants their contract to be renewed,
01:00because that tells me, and I also see this, that they do really well.
01:04But I cannot tell you anything about that at this place.
01:10What about the injury situation at the moment?
01:12Obviously it's the first time we've spoken to you since Alisson was ruled out
01:15until the next international break, I take it that's obviously a blow to you,
01:19although we expect Keller to come back this weekend.
01:21Did he come through OK? How's Chiesa as well?
01:25Alisson is for sure not with us in the upcoming weeks, that's clear.
01:31So that's a blow for him and for us, because I think he did really well this season
01:38and he did so well for this club for so many years.
01:41Now the good thing is, and I've said this many times,
01:43that Kweef did really well for us in previous years in this season also,
01:47so we have a good replacement, but you always want all your players available,
01:51and now we've got quite some issues from players coming back from the national teams,
01:57and we can only judge that perfectly today,
02:01because today is the first time that they are all in,
02:03and the first time that they are all training together again.
02:07So let's see after the session where everybody is.
02:10Maka missed one game, you're right, he played the second one.
02:15Kostas missed out the first game against England,
02:20so I can name them all, but we've got a few issues going on,
02:25and let's wait and see where we are after today.
02:27It was Endo as well, wasn't it?
02:29Endo as well, yeah, also sick, yeah, it was sick.
02:31You've said a few times this season that the fixture list up to this point has been kind to you,
02:36so how do you view the next week with Chelsea to come, then Leipzig, then Arsenal,
02:40and what could maybe this week tell you about the ability of your squad
02:43to challenge for the biggest honours this season?
02:46If you judge your team only on a week, that would not be fair,
02:49so I think we have to judge us as a team after this spell of games,
02:56not three of them, but six, seven or eight of them.
03:00Then we know better how we act and how we perform
03:05if we play tough Champions League games and tough league games.
03:08That is normal in everybody's season, and we know how difficult it is.
03:12We've seen that ourselves two years ago when we played Champions League,
03:18we've seen it this last season with Manchester United,
03:20and the only ones who showed that they can perform Champions League and in the league
03:26are City and Arsenal in the last two seasons.
03:29So now it's up to us, but I don't think it's fair to judge us after a week,
03:34even though if we do really well it wouldn't be fair,
03:37but the best way to judge us is in four weeks.
03:42Chelsea, the only other team with a 100 per cent win record on the road,
03:48is this your biggest challenge so far in the league?
03:52If you look at the league table it is, I think Manchester United is a very good team,
04:01a top club in England that has spent a lot of money to even make the team better again,
04:06same for Chelsea in this season.
04:10Chelsea does really well, so if you look at the league table,
04:14they are the ones that might be our toughest opponents,
04:18but it's not always about the league table, sometimes it's about the form of the day,
04:22it's about their game plan, so we had some difficulties with Wolves as well,
04:27who are bottom of the league, I think, but it is a challenge, that's for sure.
04:33You've faced the lowest shots in the league this season,
04:37it's clear that you're not giving the teams any opportunities,
04:40particularly with Cole Palmer and Noemi Mladenbeker being in such good form,
04:44how important will it be to keep up that good defensive form against Chelsea?
04:49No, very important.
04:52If you want to achieve something in the season you need to be defensively really stable,
04:57and we've been that until now.
05:01Again, we have to take fiction into account as well,
05:06and now we face even better players, because I agree with you that Chelsea,
05:10like Man United, has a lot of great individuals,
05:14which we have to try to manage, to control,
05:19and that's not what one player does, that's what we have to do as a team.
05:23But we must not forget to create our own chances as well,
05:26because if you want to win you need to score as well.
05:30Fortunately, and a good thing for us, is that we have players that can score goals.
05:34So, yeah, looking forward to a very interesting game on Sunday.
05:40You made your side slightly smaller in the summer,
05:44whereas Chelsea, who can't have gone the other way,
05:46spent a lot of money on creating a pretty huge squad.
05:49What have you made of their approach?
05:52It's not up to me to say something about an approach,
05:55the only thing I saw and see is that they were already really successful
05:58in the second half of last season,
06:01and I think that's always a good...
06:07If a team does really well in the second half of the season,
06:09it's a good forecast, is that the right word to use?
06:12To what you can expect from them the next season,
06:14and they even got some new players in, some very good players in,
06:19and a very good manager they brought in,
06:22so for me it's not a surprise that they just keep continuing the results
06:27that they had the second half of the season.
06:29And it's a young team, that's the first thing that I see.
06:35A lot of them have long-term contracts,
06:37but I think they are in a good place at the moment.
06:39If I look at the quality they have, if I look at the way they play,
06:44so they got a lot of criticism in recent years,
06:46but if you look at where they are now,
06:48I think they are already a big threat for the top three, top four positions,
06:54and they will be this in the upcoming years
06:57if they can continue bringing good players in and keeping this squad in place.
07:02Conor Bradley captains Northern Ireland over the international break at the age of just 21,
07:07very good as a captain on the national side.
07:09What's the future got in store for him at Liverpool?
07:12I think it's going to be a bright future for him because he's a very good player,
07:16and very good players is what we need here at Liverpool.
07:19And he's done, last season especially, really well when he had to replace Trent,
07:26and now Trent has played a lot, but he is a very good player,
07:33and although he has big competition from Trent,
07:36normally very good players find their way into the team,
07:39and that's what I also expect with him in the future at this club.
07:45We've seen Virgil produce some of his best football on the pitch,
07:49I just wondered, across your first few months,
07:52can you give us an idea of just how crucial as captain he has been,
07:56because you kind of settled in on your own, if you might say?
08:00He has been crucial for us, like many others, but Virgil definitely as well,
08:04from what you guys see on the pitch.
08:07So there we see all the same how good he is, and he still is, in defence,
08:12how much he attributes to our offensive side of our play.
08:19But what you guys don't see, and what I do see,
08:21is how important he also is on the training ground.
08:23So he's always the one that's most loud during the sessions,
08:29he always brings a lot of energy into our sessions, and quality as well.
08:35Yeah, what you see during the weekends is also what I see during the weeks,
08:39and that's what you are hoping for if you have a captain
08:43that is not only showing his performances in the weekends,
08:46but also during the week he's definitely our leader.
08:50He came back a little bit early this time,
08:52after being ruled out of that second game for the Netherlands.
08:55Were you surprised to see him come in for a bit of criticism for that decision,
08:58especially with so much talk about workload and scheduling,
09:02and reference that the rest was important to him?
09:04Yeah, if you are not coming from Holland, it might be a surprise.
09:09If you're coming from Holland, then you know that it's all about criticism,
09:13the Dutch media is all about.
09:15So, now I exaggerated a bit, but if there is a chance to criticise someone,
09:25a Dutch person, maybe not media, but Dutch people in general,
09:28will find a way of criticising you.
09:33I don't think he deserved this, because he played some very good games
09:37for the Dutch national team in his last few games as well,
09:40but that is not a surprise for me.
09:43Is it a surprise that he gets criticism?
09:45Yes, it is.
09:46Maybe not by Dutch media, but in general I would say that's a surprise,
09:50because if you are in this schedule, in this fixture list,
09:53it's completely normal that you have a few days off.
09:59Some other players in Holland, which you probably don't know,
10:05didn't come because they were tired.
10:08How on earth can you criticise a player that has played every game for us
10:12and played the Euros that comes?
10:14But, yeah, it's Dutch media.
10:18Karl?
10:19Just to go back on Trent again, he's had another good international break,
10:23he came back with a good amount of match awards.
10:26We all know he's talented, but what can you say about him
10:29that he can play so well in a position he's never played before?
10:33Why he played so well?
10:35Yeah.
10:36I cannot give you that answer because I haven't seen the game,
10:38I did saw his free-kick.
10:41But I think, a bit similar to what I just said about Conor,
10:44good players will always find their way into the team,
10:47and they will always find a way of playing well,
10:49especially if they have good teammates and play in a good team,
10:53and that's what Trent has, the national team of England has a lot of very good players,
10:58and Trent is one of them.
11:00If you then play the likes of Finland and Greece with all due respect,
11:05then normally these quality players will play good games.
11:09Although they did lose against Greece,
11:11but if Trent plays against Finland with the teammates he has,
11:16you can play him, I think, in every position and he will play a good game.
11:20He can be seen as a solution to a lot of problems sometimes,
11:25with just his abilities.
11:29He's obviously taken more responsibility,
11:31how has he been for you with him, taking responsibility in the team?
11:35He's been very good for us till now.
11:42He was and is still important in the attacking part of our game,
11:47and I also like the way he's defended till now in the games he played for us,
11:53so I think he made a step up in that perspective.
11:59But like for all the others, there's still room for improvement, that's clear,
12:03but he's done very well for us this season,
12:07and I think he's done really well for the national team as well,
12:10because if I'm correct, from the four games he played,
12:12he was three times man of the match.
12:16It's quite a good score.
12:17Let's hope that he's going to be man of the match for us once in a while now as well.
12:21Although I think Ibu wants to be it!
12:23Ibu wants to be it, buzzer!
12:53Have you been hunkered down trying to counteract all the counter-attacks?
12:57I think a bit of both, but it starts off with the first thing you said,
13:02take a mental break. That's why I think it's so, so, so normal
13:06that Virgil didn't stay with the team but came back.
13:11Because at certain moments, managers but also players need these mental breaks.
13:16It's not that it's too hard for us physically,
13:18but especially not for me because I'm not playing,
13:20but mentally it is sometimes, it asks a lot from you.
13:25But I think I came back on Tuesday, back to Liverpool.
13:30Yeah, then you start thinking about Chelsea, thinking about Leipzig,
13:35thinking about what we have to improve, what other teams can try to come up with.
13:40So it's a bit of both, but if I'm back home, I'm quite good in not thinking about football.
13:49Although it's never completely out of your head, but more than it is when I'm here.
14:12It's a bit uncommon for goalkeepers. For me it's common,
14:15because the goalkeeper I had at Feyenoord also had his issues with injuries,
14:19and also muscle injuries. But that's not what you see a lot,
14:25so these two are more an exception.
14:29We are looking into it, what could be the reason.
14:31One of the things we all know is if you had one,
14:34then the chances of getting another one always go up.
14:39So we've tried to be really careful with him.
14:42But maybe it's a good moment also for me to explain one more time,
14:45because I think there was a bit of rumour about me saying before the game
14:49that I don't mind the 12.30 kick-off, and that is still what I think.
14:55So 12.30 kick-off is not a problem, because we train at the same time.
14:58But what might be, and that's what I said after the game,
15:01what might be something to think about for the English FA,
15:05if you play on Wednesday evening a Champions League game,
15:08then to play on Saturday 12.30 might be a disadvantage when it comes to injuries.
15:13So the time to play 12.30 is for me no problem at all,
15:17but if you play so shortly after playing on a Wednesday evening,
15:21fortunately it was a home game, not an away game,
15:25that might be also something we should take into consideration.
15:29And for me as well, although it's so hard to change all your 11 players
15:35only because you play two days later,
15:39in retrospect I might have chosen Cruyff instead of Alisson,
15:44but like you said, you don't expect a goalkeeper to pick up a muscle injury.
15:49But I know one thing, so I just said about the Dutch media,
15:54and not all of them are the same of course,
15:56but what is very good in Holland is that I'm 99.9 per cent sure
16:00that all the teams that play Champions League in the upcoming week
16:04don't play on a Sunday.
16:06They get extra rest to be the best possible way prepared for the Champions League game.
16:12And that is not something that is common here in England,
16:16here you just say you have so many good players,
16:19you get your results in Europe no matter what,
16:21so we decide the fixture list and we don't take Champions League into account.
16:33Thanks a lot, man.
16:35You're welcome.