NewsArne Slot press conference: Liverpool v Wolves, set-pieces, Hugo Ekitike and more
The Dutchman spoke to reporters at the AXA Training Centre to serve as his preview for Liverpool's Premier League encounter with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield on Saturday.
Slot offered an injury update on Alexander Isak and several more members of his squad before being quizzed on a number of different topics.
Find some of the key takeaways below...
On whether Isak's injury will have an impact on Liverpool's plans in January…
I think my first and only thoughts are on the upcoming two games. Two difficult ones again, two home games, that's really nice. So I think it's the time for the players we do have available to do what they have done so many times, to roll their sleeves up. Not only our players but our fans as well, to help us in the best possible way to get the results we want in the upcoming two games, because therefore the players that are available need to give everything they have. As the fans – as they usually do and I expect them to do again as well – will help us. That is where my focus is on.
On facing Wolves...
Every game in the Premier League is a dangerous game or a difficult game. But I see the same as what you were just saying that their results throughout the whole season haven't been what they were hoping for but they come closer and closer to results – especially Arsenal away, of course, where they were very close to a result over there. As always, there's a challenge in every Premier League game and that's the same for this one.
On Rio Ngumoha...
I think I said last time already that for his age, if I'm correct he's 17, I think he has, I'm not 100 per cent sure, the most minutes of all 17-year-olds in the Premier League, so that tells you how much playing time he gets, how special that already is for a 17-year-old. That also tells you something about his quality because it's not completely normal for a 17-year-old already to have so much playing time as he had. But it also tells you something about the availability in those areas.
But for the weekend, that's not the biggest concern, that position, I would say. Hopefully Cody [Gakpo] is back, I'm not sure but hopefully, Federico [Chiesa] can play there, Florian [Wirtz] can play there. If he would be a player that would play in a different position, he would probably have even more chance to come in. But it's the same for all the other players. I think in the game against Tottenham I had four U21 players on the bench, so that increases the chance for him to come in as well. So, let's see.
On Jeremie Frimpong's fitness...
In the weekend he was on a maximum of 30 minutes because he has been out for quite long. I think he is able to start this weekend if I make that decision. Sometimes situations change, so you need to take a bit more risk than you would maybe usually do if everyone was available. So that's what I mean, the players that are available have to roll their sleeves up – including our fans – to get the best possible chance of a good outcome in the upcoming two games. That's for him the same as the others.
Why I took him off had, of course, nothing to do with an injury. That had to do with not being down to 10 when you have to defend a set-piece, because we already had to defend a set-piece with 10 men and you know the outcome – we conceded. Federico would definitely come in but the idea was for someone else, but I didn't want to go down to 10 men in that moment.
On Harvey Elliott...
Harvey is an Aston Villa player and he is supposed to be going there for a season. Any questions about him, the best thing [is] to ask in Villa. But they are doing really well, by the way.
On Hugo Ekitike's development...
Still he needs to get stronger but he already became stronger. I don't think he changed a lot in all his offensive qualities – he's fast, he can score a goal, he has great footwork, he's got dribbling skills. He has so much in his locker, I think that's the way you say it here. I think he's adjusted to the Premier League now. Now he has to not only adjust but make sure – with his physique, how fast he is – he can become also physically outstanding, and that's where he's working really hard.
Same with him, by the way, in the last three, four minutes, he was very, very, very tired in the Tottenham game as well. I see this more often but that is maybe also because so many of the same players constantly have to play, there's hardly any rest for them. I have to give them a lot of compliments that they constantly can bring what they are bringing, playing so many games, hardly any rest because we don't have so many chances to rotate. Every single time they fight, fight, fight from the first second until the last – and Hugo is one of them.
On whether he is 'really focusing on set-pieces at the moment'...
I am so focused on [that] and since I'm here as well, but I know the importance of set-pieces – it gets more and more and more. That's why I, we are so annoyed by our current record, because it's impossible to play top four, top five with our set-piece balance, let alone winning the league. So, we're the only team in the top end of the table that has a negative set-piece balance. All the others have a positive balance.
We're not only negative, we're minus eight. Minus eight and we're still on equal points for fourth, if I'm correct. We all know why: because in open chances created we're the No.1 in the league. So, no-one has to tell me how important set-pieces are and not even any manager in the world anymore, let alone in the Premier League. Because the Premier League is, if I say 50-50 I exaggerate a bit too much, but set-pieces are so, so, so important.
That's why it's a big frustration for us that we are where we are this season, because last season when we were halfway through the season we had not even conceded one set-piece yet and in the second half of the season – where I've said many times already that we didn't play the same football anymore as we did [in the] first half of the season, not as good anymore for all kinds of reasons – we had a great set-piece record because I think we scored seven set-pieces [in the] second half of the season.
So, it's a chance for winning the league if you have a good set-piece balance. But if we are minus eight and Chelsea is, I think, plus eight, Arsenal is plus eight, I don't exactly know the numbers, United is very high in set-pieces. So if you look at that, you could almost say how special it is that we are having the points we are having if you have that set-piece balance.
On what has changed from last season with set-pieces...
Nothing. Our set-up is the same. Defensively, our set-up is the same as almost any other team in the league. And if you look at xG, you probably know what it is, then you wouldn't expect us to concede so many goals. So you could argue then if things go back to normal, we will not concede as much anymore. But after half a season is it still a coincidence that we concede so much more than what you would expect us to concede? That's a difficult one. But our set-up has been mostly the same. Of course in the summer we've changed players. Everybody only thinks we've brought in but we did lose a few as well. But I don't even think that has had so much of an impact because the ones we've lost were not the ones that were defensively the ones that made sure we didn't concede.