ReactionArne Slot press conference: Liverpool 4-1 Newcastle, Ekitike, Konate, transfers and more
Hugo Ekitike scored twice in the space of 138 seconds to overturn Anthony Gordon’s opener and put the Reds 2-1 up at half-time on Saturday.
Florian Wirtz added a third for Slot’s side midway through the second half, before Ibrahima Konate provided the final goal of an impressive team performance in stoppage time.
See what the head coach said in his post-match press conference in full below.
On whether the last two wins are a perfect base from which to build momentum…
Yeah, of course. We are in an industry where it’s all about results and I’ve asked after the Bournemouth game – asked to the players but told you as well – that we have to improve in both boxes because in between we do so many things at such a high level. In the last two games, scoring 10 and only conceding one, I think I can safely say that that has been a big improvement. So yeah, pleased and happy that we have these two results. But because of the many points we’ve dropped, we are also aware that this is certainly not enough.
On this being another game that makes him delighted that Liverpool signed Ekitike last summer…
Yeah, but not only him, I think our other signings played a very good game as well. Everyone should talk about his goals and his actions and how nice this is because this is where pundits or every fan should talk about, because that’s much more important than work off the ball for them. But for me, as a manager, I see throughout the last six or seven months improvement but lately a lot of improvement in terms of work-rate off the ball – not even work-rate but the ability to keep on going off the ball, especially with Hugo and Florian.
They’ve improved in the last seven or eight months but now I think everyone can see that improvement as well. The more we have the ball they can show how special they, and all the ones who won the league here, are together, and unfortunately that took a bit of time because that is how high the intensity levels of the Premier League are.
On Konate and the emotional moment of him scoring on his return following the passing of his father…
He had a very difficult two weeks and probably still has a difficult time but we spoke at the end of last week when he said, ‘I’m planning to be back in the end of this week.’ So that would have meant that he did not, could not, have played this game. But when he saw all the problems we had defensively he called me early this week to say, ‘I want to be back to help the team against Newcastle,’ and he came back Wednesday, trained twice with us and today not only he scored a goal, but I think he played a great game and the fans were really appreciative throughout the whole game. But then definitely at the end when he scored and his teammates were just as appreciative when he came in the dressing room after the final whistle.
On the pleasure he takes from the productive understanding between Ekitike and Wirtz…
Of course, but I don’t think it comes to a surprise to anyone – definitely not to me because the more players play together, the more they can find an understanding. And I’ve tried to explain why it was difficult for them to play earlier in the season every three days again, and now they are able to do that, because they can keep going. They can play more often together, we can play more often with the same team or same combinations and, as last season has shown, the more you can play together, the better it is.
And I’ve always said that I would love to play, not love, but I prefer to play as much as I can with the same 11. But for obvious reasons, that wasn’t always possible, but now it’s more and more possible and then you can also see that connections are getting better and better – not only with these two but also with other players.
On the reception Konate received from his teammates in the dressing room…
He and I think Florian had an interview after the game so then we are all waiting, waiting, waiting for the last two to come in. And then when he came in, of course, everybody was cheering for the both of them but definitely also for Ibou because it’s very nice for him to score a goal when he has had such a difficult time.
I think this team has shown that we are always there for each other in difficult circumstances and that’s what they were for him in the last few days. That’s why I think they were so happy for him that that he was able to score, which was told to me, I’m not sure if I am lying, that it is his first goal at Anfield since he is here. That’s what people told me but I don’t know if that’s true.
On coming from behind to win a Premier League game for the first time since last April...
I think so many times we've come back from going behind and so many times we showed mentality, but unfortunately – like last week – we conceded in the end. So, I think not only coming back from [going behind] and winning it, I think it’s the whole way we won it. The way we defended in our box, the desire we had to attack the other box.
We had a very tough first half-hour, but after that first half-hour we could have scored more goals. It took quite a long time before we scored the third; we had a lot of opportunities to score earlier, but we just kept on fighting. There was a great combination between the fans and the players and I think that it is indeed important to come back from behind, but I think it’s even more important the way we played in both boxes.
On Ekitike’s character away from the pitch...
Funny, happy, always brings a nice energy to the training ground, but also to the stadium because the fans love him as well. From the start, I think everybody could see how special he is, how fast he is. That was probably seen the best in the second goal he scored; he took a one-v-one on, went on the outside, which is very, very difficult in modern football to beat someone around because usually players go to the inside and have a shot with the right. But there you can see his pace.
Again, I would love to mention the fact that probably didn’t even improve that much on the ball because he was special from the start, but his biggest improvement is his work-rate off the ball and that is so helpful and necessary for any team, let alone for a team that wants to press throughout 95 minutes.
On whether he anticipates any players leaving before the transfer window closes on Monday night...
I think there’s always a lot of talks about Liverpool and a lot of talks about Liverpool players. There was a lot of noise around the club the last week, [or] maybe I should say weeks. I think our fans showed today what noise really means – that’s being loud, because they were so helpful today. So that is what noise here is in Liverpool. I think we are trying to strengthen the squad and not trying to weaken it. Forty-eight hours, I don’t know how long to go, but let’s see when the window ends.