NewsArne Slot press conference: Leeds analysis, Wirtz adaptation, Jones form and more

The Reds face the Whites at Anfield in a New Year's Day clash, aiming to extend a run of four successive wins and seven outings without defeat.

Ahead of the visit of Daniel Farke's side for a 5.30pm GMT kick-off, Slot looked ahead to the fixture by discussing several topics with reporters.

Read every word the head coach had to say below.

On whether Florian Wirtz adapting to the country and lifestyle is helping his form...

He's the only one who could answer that question. I can only answer from my experience being an old man, or at least much older than him! The first few months in a different country - because it was also my first experience going abroad - it's different. Your life is a bit upside down and that for a manager is probably not the biggest problem because I don't have to perform on the pitch, but I could fully understand that some individuals and some players need a bit of time to adapt off the pitch as well.

The biggest adaptation if you come from abroad is this league and how intense it is, because again [against Wolverhampton Wanderers] I think even when we play once a week you could see that Hugo [Ekitike] had cramp after 70 or 75 minutes, and I didn't take Florian out because he played bad, I took him out because he was hardly able to keep on running anymore. That has also been the situation with him but also that tells you about the new players that we've brought in and how big of a step it is to adjust to these intensity levels.

On Curtis Jones playing four games in a row and if he is enjoying having responsibility in midfield...

I think that's always one of his main qualities, that he always wants to have the ball no matter what the situation is. That is 99 out of 100 times very positive. Sometimes it is also smarter to maybe stay away from the ball or not bring yourself in a difficult situation. But even if it's a really difficult situation, he had one in the corner [against Wolves], he was able to bring himself out of the situation and play the ball to Ryan [Gravenberch]. I think the first and most positive thing for him is that he's able to stay fit for four or five games in a row now and he's played indeed 90 minutes every single time.

That might have to do a bit with his performance but if you look at our bench you didn't see any player that is a midfielder that has played more than 10 minutes in the Premier League so far. That's why I'm so pleased with our current results, because if we would've dropped points people would probably talk about the fact of how many players we miss. But we don't drop points and that's why no-one is talking about the players we miss. Maybe because they only talk about how much we spend!

On whether the goals his team have conceded recently have changed games too much in a negative way...

I can only agree with you. It tells you how important goals are in a low-scoring sport, because that's what football is. A moment can change momentum and that's what we saw last week [at Tottenham Hotspur] and what we saw [versus Wolves]. I think in both games until the moment we concede it was the performance you would like from a Liverpool team.

Although in the first half [against Wolves] with so much ball possession, in an ideal world I see even more chances created. Again, we didn't score our first two chances. By the way, I completely didn't understand why the second time Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] hit the ball on the post why that was offside. Obstructing vision, was that the reason? OK, compare that to the [Manchester] City one... but OK, it didn't go in so it's not so important. Goals have a massive impact on the momentum of a game and that's what's been shown in the last two games of ours for sure.

On how his side can improve their game management...

A way to have game management is also having the opportunity to make substitutions. Maybe to bring an extra defender in or these kind of things. Last year a lot of times when we were 2-1 up, or one goal up, I brought Wataru Endo in. I already said, I don't know if everybody notices it, but we miss quite a lot of players. That's why it's so special for these players [who] are fit that they are bringing these results in.

On whether he thinks he'll see more from Liverpool's summer signings as the season continues...

For sure. But I think that's not only for the new players we brought in. I think if you bring in a lot of players and a lot of players are gone then usually, at least if I do my job a bit well, you see them playing better football after they're a bit longer together. There's more training time and more playing time together and then usually they play better. I think you could see that last season because that team was the year before all the same with Jürgen [Klopp]. Last season, especially in the first half of the season, I think we played some very good football and that's helpful if players are longer together.

I think history has shown many times that the longer players play together, the bigger chance you have of winning something. Or you add and if you add players to what you have, that's also a serious chance of improving. If you replace, [like] what we've done, then it takes time. Then usually it gets better after a certain period of time. Unfortunately, Giovanni Leoni, we won't see him this season, and Alex [Isak] is going to take a long time before we see him again. You can do the numbers [about] how much money that is and if you combine that with how much we've sold, that's maybe an interesting story to make.

On how Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez are fitting in to his system...

We had to make one change in that position because Trent [Alexander-Arnold] left and that was not ideal for me because I think Trent has been so important for this club and was very important for me last season. When we looked at the options in the market, Jeremie was one of the first we noticed because he has that pace... similar to Conor [Bradley] and similar to Milos and Robbo [Andy Robertson] as well. That pace is one thing going forward but you also need that pace if you face, for example, the forwards of Paris Saint-Germain, but I can come up with many teams also here in the Premier League who have very, very, very fast wingers.

It's definitely helpful to have them. Unfortunately for them, not always the same players have played in front of them. It's still a work in progress, especially because too many times not all of them have been available and too many times we had to change because of load management because players weren't able or they were injured. But bit by bit we see players and the team improving as well.

On facing Leeds and whether he could cope with another 'hectic' game like the 3-3 draw at Elland Road...

Yes, I could [cope], but I don't prefer to cope with another day like that. But it's part of our lives in football. We have highs and lows, so we have to accept that. What I mainly took and take from it is that we struggled a lot, or much more, when they went to a four when they started to play 4-3-3 in the last 20 minutes of the game. That's also when they scored their goals. OK, the first one was another VAR intervention, but the second one was a really good goal from them. The third one was a set-piece. But we struggled more when they played with four than when they played with five [at the back]. I will definitely look at both, but especially the moment when they went to a four at the back.

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