Arne Slot on Liverpool's 4-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen
05/11/2024
Anfield, Liverpool, UK
05/11/2024
Anfield, Liverpool, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Like always.
00:01Arnaud, first of all, your assessment of the overall performance,
00:04what really made the difference for you in that second half?
00:07Like many times now, managers change their game plan when they come to Anfield or when they play us.
00:16That's also what we saw today, and I see quite a lot, and my staff as well,
00:22if we go into a game like this, so we've seen a lot of games from Liverpool,
00:26we've never seen Boniface, or the way you pronounce it, playing from the left.
00:32So they played without a nine, and that's why they overloaded the midfield a lot,
00:38so it was quite difficult to press them high.
00:42But the good thing was that we hardly conceded anything,
00:45and I think during the first half, if there were chances, they were for us.
00:50But in the second half we could adjust to the game plan of the first half,
00:53we took a bit more risk, we were better with the ball as well,
00:56so normally they defend more in a 5-2-3, now they defended in a 4-4-2 as well,
01:03so they changed quite a lot, and we could adjust that at half-time.
01:07And it proved to be some decision to play Lewis Diaz through the middle as well,
01:11rewarded with a hat-trick, his first hat-trick for Liverpool.
01:14What was the key element in deciding to play Lewis as the main man through the middle?
01:19Yeah, a few things. I only have four attackers available at the moment,
01:25with the injuries of Djoko Djota and Federico Chiesa.
01:29And Darwin didn't play that much in the beginning, then he started to play a bit more,
01:33but with this fixture list, it's almost impossible to play them all,
01:39especially if you haven't played that many games before.
01:43So that, in combination with the fact that I think Tahu is a real good defender
01:48and he's one of the best defenders in Germany, maybe THE best defender in Germany,
01:53and he likes to play more against the target man, someone who's there in the middle.
01:59We chose to play Lucio more from the left or to the midfield,
02:03and then maybe surprise him afterwards with runs in behind, not only him but in general.
02:11If you look at the first goal, that paid out, but what a pass from Curtis Jones!
02:17Is it something you could do more regularly, playing Lewis in that role?
02:21If we have our injuries like we have at the moment, then this could happen, yeah.
02:25But that also depends on who's available and how the other team lines up, what the formation is.
02:33But last season, I think if both of them played, Cody Kakpo and Lucio Diaz,
02:37then it was more Cody who played as a nine and Lucio as an 11.
02:43And that's also a possibility, but then we maybe had this height from Cody against Tahu,
02:50instead of someone who's a bit more versatile and drops into the midfield.
02:59Hello, it's Valentina Peña for W Radio Colombia.
03:02Of course, in Colombia we care about Lucio.
03:04There's this dispute between Kakpo and Lucio, and Lucio replies with a hat-trick.
03:10We might be seeing him more often in the starting XI,
03:14or how would you say after this great Lucio performance,
03:17first hat-trick here in Anfield,
03:19and actually first hat-trick for Liverpool in the Champions League since 2017?
03:23Yeah, not only the people in Colombia like and love Lucio,
03:27the fans of Liverpool love him a lot as well.
03:29I heard many times the fans singing his song, and the manager likes him a lot as well.
03:34I don't love him, but I like him a lot.
03:36He's played many, many games, but I just said something about Darwin Nunez,
03:42in the Premier League and the Champions League,
03:44you have to play so many games at the highest level,
03:47and it's not always possible for every player to play every game,
03:50especially in certain positions.
03:52So if you're a centre-back, normally you run not as much as a left-winger,
03:56or a full-back, or a midfielder, and especially our wingers,
04:00because you all look at the goals Lucio scored and the goals Cody scored,
04:04but I also look at the fact how hard they track back, how much they have to defend.
04:09I ask a lot from them, so that's why sometimes we have to rotate them,
04:14but Lucio for me is a starter, and I said this three days ago about Cody as well,
04:19he's for me a starter also.
04:34Hi, Arne. You're making this look pretty easy, does it feel that way?
04:39No, not at all.
04:41Therefore, I think you only look at the results,
04:46but Brighton last Saturday was a difficult one,
04:50where we were 1-0 behind, we had to fight really hard,
04:54and I think that's also what you saw today,
04:56we have to work really hard, play with incredible high intensity to win our games,
05:02and that has a lot to do with teams, I heard Bayer Leverkusen saying this as well,
05:08and I think I have to agree with them, that Anfield is the best place to play in,
05:15one of the nicest stadiums to play in, and against a very good team,
05:19so every team that plays against us is at the top of their game.
05:23And if you want to win that, you always have to be consistent in your intensity,
05:28and that's not always easy, but that is what's needed,
05:32and if we can keep producing that, then it's still not easy,
05:37but then we get our wins in and that is what we want.
05:43It's actually a record you've set, no new Premier League manager has ever won 14 out of 16
05:49in all competitions, so you're top of the Premier League,
05:53you're top of the Champions League as well,
05:56is that pressure or is that something that you welcome?
06:02I think if you work at any club in and around the world there's always pressure,
06:07so for some clubs or managers there's pressure not to go down,
06:10for some they have to win a lot, so in our position there's always pressure,
06:14and this is the pressure we give ourselves as well,
06:16because if you work at Liverpool or if you play at Liverpool as a player or as a manager,
06:21you know the manager is probably going to come next,
06:25and so many other great players have set the standard so high over here
06:30that that always feels like a bit of pressure,
06:33but we also embrace this because that's also what we want.
06:36We want to be there where we are now, we want to compete for everything,
06:40and therefore you have to accept that if you work here or play here there's pressure,
06:45but the other side is that if you work or play here you can enjoy incredible evenings,
06:52and enjoy it, because today the atmosphere,
06:55I said last Saturday, this was impressive, I think this was even more impressive today.
07:04Hi, Arne, you mentioned consistency of intensity there,
07:07yet there seems to be so many games where Liverpool suddenly go from controlled
07:11to several gears, is that planned or is it something you'd like to see more of
07:16in the later stages of games?
07:18No, I would love to see this from the start,
07:21but the other team, Dan, normally has...
07:24Because if the game starts everybody is still very fit,
07:27and there's a lot of intensity from both sides,
07:30and what I like till now is that we are able to keep producing this energy
07:34and even go a gear higher, and that in some situations led to the fact
07:38that the teams we face, not all of them but a few of them,
07:41had some difficulties with that intensity.
07:43But preferably we start like this from the start,
07:46but like I said, you have to give credits to the opponents we play,
07:50Brighton had a very good game plan on Saturday,
07:53Xabi Alonso, we all know this from him, had a very good game plan today as well,
07:58which made it difficult for us in the first half,
08:01but even if it's difficult for us, and not difficult in terms of them getting a lot of chances,
08:05but difficult in that they have a bit more ball possession than we would like,
08:09we still don't concede a lot, and that has a lot to do with the work rate the players put in.
08:20Hi Arne, Curtis Jones picked up the assist for the first goal,
08:24he's been a very key player for you in terms of goals and assists,
08:27what kind of midfielder would you say he is, number 10, number 8, number 6,
08:31and what would you put behind him seemingly being more attacking this season
08:35and seems to be getting in amongst the goals and assists more?
08:38I think many of them have a lot of goals and assists,
08:41but I still learn on a daily basis about every player,
08:50but Curtis was one of them.
08:52When I started off I thought he was...
08:55The first game I played him as a six, which you didn't see because it was behind closed doors,
09:00but that wasn't his best game in general for us, but for him as well.
09:06I think he can play, and that's one of his qualities,
09:09at this moment he can play in every position because he's in a very good place at the moment,
09:16so comfortable on the ball, so you can trust him closer to your defence.
09:21But like we saw against Chelsea and I saw today as well,
09:24he's also able to penetrate inside the 18-yard box and give the last pass.
09:29He's really made a step up after pre-season,
09:34and that's also why he gets his chances now,
09:37because if players do well, and I have quite a lot of them at the moment,
09:41they will get their chances.
09:55Hi, Arne, congrats on the win.
09:57I also heard your song at the end of the game,
10:00what does it mean to you personally that you have had such a successful start here at Anfield
10:04and that people appreciate you a lot?
10:06No, it's always better for a manager that this happens than when they start to boo.
10:13It's special, I think it was special from the start,
10:18and therefore I think I have to thank Jurgen, because he was the one that came up with the song.
10:24It's always special if you are a player, if they sing for you,
10:28but some players get used to this.
10:31I'm not, so they only sing a few times for me in my playing career.
10:35But that is what you see a bit more.
10:38People singing for a manager is not that common, at least not in Holland.
10:42Maybe here it happens a lot, so it was nice to hear today,
10:45but I also liked it a lot that after that they sang for Xabi as well,
10:50because he's been so special for this club, so he deserves this.
10:54But also his achievement at Leverkusen, champion last year,
10:58won the cup, played the final in Europe.
11:01So for all these reasons he deserved the fans to sing for him as well.
11:08It's an honour.
11:09You're welcome.