Q&AArne Slot press conference: Facing Leeds, Florian Wirtz form, Alexander Isak and more
Read a summary from Arne Slot's press conference ahead of Liverpool's visit to Leeds United.
The Dutchman spoke to the media at the AXA Training Centre on the eve of his side's trip to Elland Road in the Premier League.
See a round-up from the briefing below...
On Mohamed Salah coming on at half-time against Sunderland and his potential return to the starting line-up...
Every player is in my mind to start a game of football because we have so many good players. Mo has been such an exceptional player for us. He's always in my mind to start or to come in.
On facing Leeds and the problems they can cause...
Yesterday I looked at Leeds v Chelsea and I thought I saw a Liverpool game; Chelsea conceding a set-piece and for the third goal making a big, big error where they conceded a goal from. [It was] very difficult for them. Either Leeds went very aggressive to one-v-one or they went to a low block and it was really hard to create chances. It's not only difficult for us, that playing style, it's difficult for many teams – including us.
So what we expect is what we've seen in the second half against [Manchester] City when they were 2-0 down, coming back to 2-2. Eventually [Phil] Foden made the difference with a moment of magic for City and against City they were really strong and played a very good game. They were really aggressive and had a lot of long balls as well from their goalkeeper. We know what to expect but what to expect is probably what we've faced [in] all of the games with maybe the exception of two.
On Florian Wirtz's confidence levels...
If you can only have confidence if you score goals, that would be the wrong thing. I think you can see where his confidence is at if you look at the last two games – how many times he wants the ball and how many times his teammates play him the ball. That is something that tells me how much confidence he has at the moment.
It's also that he came back with an injury [from] Germany, so I'm already very happy that he is able to play so many minutes in these first two games after he came back from an injury. But he's done well. Like I said, I wasn't surprised that he was involved in the goal scored against Sunderland, because he was one of the players – not the only one – who kept constantly trying and was creative.
On whether Dominik Szoboszlai will play in a central area...
In the long term he will play in a central area, that's for sure. Maybe also in the mid-term and maybe even tomorrow. He is one of the few players that can play in multiple positions. Unfortunately for us, we've had injuries in certain positions – not one but like both full-backs are injured for a few weeks already and in the start of the season as well. So that's why I used him in different positions, and he did well, by the way, in every position he played in. In the last two games he's been very important for the team in the role that he had because, like I just said, he's part of a team that was only one deflection away from two clean sheets and he had a free role off the right.
He's still a lot of times in the middle. I think if you look at his positioning in the first half compared to the second half against Sunderland, I think the heatmap will show that he was nine out of 10 times in the same position in the first half as he was in the second half, whereas in the second half he played as a midfielder and the first half he played as an inverted winger. We can use him in every position but for the mid and long term and maybe even for the short term we will use him in the middle – if we have no injuries.
On how 'to get the best out of Alexander Isak consistently'...
I think he's not the only No.9 that suffers in some games from not getting as many chances. I watched the second half from Leeds against City and I watched the whole game against Chelsea, it's not like at this level the No.9 is involved in eight, nine, 10 chances every single half. But it's obvious and clear to me that we, as a team, want to bring him more often in threatening situations. Before we went to only one goal conceded in two games, we had a lot of chances. The last two games, as a result because we were a little bit more compact and maybe take a little bit less risk, we haven't been able to create that many chances as we did [in] all the games before. So, definitely one of the things on my list of things to improve is getting our No.9 more involved in the game, let alone more involved in the final third.
On getting Isak more touches of the ball after averaging 14 in his last three starts...
No, it's not ideal for me, but do you know how many he had at Newcastle on average? Twenty-two. In this league, strikers don't touch the ball that much but the few times they do touch it, it's quite nice if they then finish it off. I have no clue what the stats of [Erling] Haaland are, but I wouldn't be surprised – I have no clue – if he maybe doesn't touch it 100 times a game, but he does score a lot. It's more important for them to touch the ball in the right time than to touch it so many times. We have to make sure, because that's a complete difference from Haaland and Alex that Haaland touches it much more in moments where it matters and there we have to improve. That's clear and obvious – we and he as well.
On Harvey Elliott's situation at Aston Villa...
No, I haven't had contact with him a lot. I think only once or twice and that was before he played Feyenoord away and after he played Feyenoord away, but that had more to do with that he played against a former club of mine. So no, I haven't been speaking to him. I am aware of his situation, of course. I knew how difficult it already was for him over here, so I think I know how he feels at this moment. But you should ask those questions at Villa and not over here when it's about his playing time over there.