Slot pleased with Liverpool comeback in Forest draw
14/01/2025
The City Ground, Nottingham, UK
14/01/2025
The City Ground, Nottingham, UK
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00:00Have you ever made a more successful substitution than that
00:04in terms of the speed, the impact it had?
00:09No, I don't think so. I can't remember it, though.
00:12Although I don't feel any pride in this substitution,
00:16because you make a substitution because you have a certain game plan,
00:19why you do this.
00:20In this situation we brought an attacker in for a defender
00:23just to play even more attacking football than we already did,
00:27because we needed a goal.
00:28Goals and then scoring from a set-piece is not something I had in my mind
00:33when I brought the two of them in.
00:36But, of course, Jos can score a goal and Kostas has a good set-piece.
00:41What do you make of the performance tonight?
00:43Was it good enough in terms of what you're looking to achieve this season?
00:48Yeah, yeah. I couldn't have asked for more today.
00:52I think that most people talk about the second half,
00:55that they were really positive about the second half.
00:58If you ask me, I'm more positive about the second half than the first half.
01:01But if you play at this ground against this team,
01:03that is such a good form,
01:05hardly concedes a chance in every single game,
01:07and I've watched many of them back.
01:10And so many counter-attack threats,
01:13so almost every game they have counter-attack after counter-attack after counter-attack,
01:17and we conceded only one counter-attack here today
01:20in 98 minutes of football of total domination.
01:23And unfortunately for us, that ball immediately went in.
01:29And then in the second half,
01:31our ball possession also led to a lot of chances,
01:33and then you have to give credits again to Nottingham,
01:38because the way they defend,
01:40they throw themselves in front of every shot, in front of every cross,
01:44and then there's a goalkeeper that has an outstanding season this year,
01:47and tonight again.
01:49So, yeah, being 1-0 down over here,
01:52and so hard to score against this team,
01:56it's not what we wanted, we wanted to have three points,
01:58but in the end, what I want, what the fans should want,
02:02and what the players should want is that they give it all they got
02:05during every single game they play,
02:07and that's what they did today,
02:08combined with outstanding football in the second half.
02:12Where does tonight leave you in terms of the January transfer window?
02:15Was there any area you saw tonight
02:17that particularly stood out that you feel you need to strengthen?
02:23I think you saw today again that I can still strengthen the team
02:28or impact the game with the substitution I have on the bench,
02:34and not for the first time this season
02:37these players have helped us, that I could bring in.
02:40So, if you look at today, like I said,
02:46I couldn't have asked them more, I said to them at half-time,
02:49I said, don't get frustrated, you will not get many chances,
02:52probably the game is going to be slow,
02:56but just keep focusing on what you have to do
02:59and hopefully you will get two or three chances,
03:01and let's try to score from that.
03:02But I was completely wrong,
03:04because they created chance after chance after chance.
03:10How difficult are they to play against, how awkward are they?
03:14They're quite unique, obviously, they're so happy to defend.
03:17I wouldn't say unique, but they combine a very...
03:23The playing style suits the players really well,
03:26and I think this is what is the job of every manager,
03:28to try to find a playing style that suits your players.
03:31And what makes it difficult, and that's not only against them,
03:34we faced this a bit against United as well,
03:37that they played a long ball
03:39and they have some very good players for this,
03:41so first of all you have to make sure you win.
03:44The first ball and then the second or the third ball,
03:46because they play the ball off-wood,
03:47which is a very strong target man,
03:50and then they've got these quick forwards
03:52that can hurt you as well.
03:53But then the moment you win the second or the third ball,
03:56there are 11 players behind the ball.
03:58And it's so difficult to score against teams that play in the low block,
04:05it's so difficult to create chances against teams like that.
04:09And that's why it was such a disappointment for us
04:14that we went 1-0 down,
04:15because then they could even play their style even better.
04:20Which made it a difficult evening for us,
04:22because apart from the players that I have to give compliments,
04:26I'm talking about the Forest players,
04:27I have to give the fans compliments as well,
04:29because they were really there for the home team
04:32and tried to influence the game as much as they could,
04:35and they were a big help for Forest today.
04:39From what you've seen tonight at Forest,
04:40and Anfield in the season,
04:43are they considered to be title contenders among yourselves?
04:48I said already before the game,
04:49after 20 games you can judge the table much better
04:52than in the first five, six, seven, eight, nine or ten games.
04:55And if you are right up there with us and with the other teams,
04:58and I don't think they are here because of luck,
05:01it's for every team very hard and difficult to play against them.
05:05They've already had a few difficult away games,
05:07with United away, with City away, with Arsenal away,
05:09with us away, playing us already twice.
05:13So that shows you that they are a team that can compete
05:20in the top end of the league table.
05:24And I also think, but you have to tell me if I'm right,
05:27but I think they've had most of their players available
05:30until now for the whole season,
05:31so I almost see almost the same line-up.
05:34And that is a quality for the coaching staff they have as well.
05:38So if they can keep bringing the same players on the pitch,
05:41I see no reason for them to drop a lot of points
05:44because it's a difficult team to play against.
05:47You were very complimentary about the Forest fans,
05:50especially because they were singing at you for quite a while.
05:54Oh, yeah?
05:55Did you take that well?
05:59Because they were happy with the style of play my team has?
06:01Or what was the reason for them to sing for me?
06:04They're singing because they're in your head,
06:07not in Forest, they're in your head about that.
06:09Oh, OK, I thought they just liked the style of play my team has.
06:15Then I didn't understand them really well.
06:19This was a joke, but you understood that.
06:24Yeah, I didn't notice it that much, to be fair,
06:27but if you tell me it happened a lot, then probably it is.
06:30It was true.
06:32But they were also not only singing for me, I think,
06:35because they were also helping the team a lot.
06:39It's a nice stadium to play in, it was the first time that I was here.
06:43But it's a normal situation.
06:44They are having such an incredible season,
06:46it would be a bit weird if the fans were booing the players at the moment.
06:52In the past they've been in this situation before,
06:54but in recent years they didn't.
06:55So it's normal that the atmosphere here is only positive.
07:00Last one, James, please.
07:02Arne, obviously you've managed Diogo in terms of his minutes since he came back.
07:06Do you feel like he is now getting back into the rhythm of things and made a big impact?
07:11Yeah, he made a big impact already before when he came in against Fulham,
07:15but then after that game he had a bit of a setback.
07:19And in the games he came in afterwards,
07:21I also felt that he needed a bit more time to get in his rhythm.
07:25And that's not only for him, I see this with other players as well,
07:28that for a few weeks or a few months it's difficult to get this intensity going
07:32in these Premier League games immediately.
07:35And it was very pleasing to see that today he might even be better
07:41than he was against Fulham when he came in.
07:43He had a big impact.
07:44He was the one, apart from Mo, that had a few chances to score our second goal.
07:51Thank you, everyone.