NewsArne Slot press conference: Man Utd, 'big compliment' to Curtis Jones, chance conversion and more

After three successive wins for the Reds in the Premier League, they travel to Old Trafford to take on their fierce rivals on Sunday afternoon.

Head coach Slot discussed a number of topics when looking ahead to the contest with reporters on Friday morning, in addition to answers on injuries and Mohamed Salah.

Read a summary below…

On the importance of Sunday’s game for Liverpool’s final league position…

I think it’s always like that, every game you play has influence on your league position. So that’s not only when you play Man United, it’s every week in every game. But we are aware of the fact that it’s a very big game, not only because we play Man United, but definitely also to qualify for the Champions League and to get the highest possible position in the league table, which of course is something we want. We wanted to, of course, win the league. That’s not possible. And then you have to try to end up as high as possible, and that’s what we are trying week in, week out, and that’s what we’re going to try Sunday again as well.

On United and how they have changed under Michael Carrick…

I think last season when we played them, they were not in the same league position as they are now. Then, I also said that their players are much better than the league position shows and another time, another transfer window adding a lot of players and that has resulted, I would almost say finally, in that we now see how good their players are, in terms of looking at the league table. We always knew that they were really good, but now they are also showing it in the league table. It might be a bit of an advantage that they only play once a week. But as I said, when we played them every single time, I saw before we played, in the lead-up to the game, analysing them, how good they are. And every time we played, I felt the same. And now they have become, especially under Michael Carrick, more consistent in their results.

On how the Reds can convert more chances…

Having Alex [Isak] more and more available. Having him available at his top level would even increase that even more. In general, having players available would help in becoming consistent. At the moment, not playing three times in seven days helps in our consistency. But indeed, chance creation, converting into goals, that is something we haven’t done very well throughout this whole season. But one of the players that we always thought could score a lot of goals for us has hardly been available. And you could see last week that it was a chance but it wasn’t the biggest chance we’ve got this season, and he finished that one off really well, Alex, by scoring the 1-0.

And scoring a goal is vital in football because that sets you in the right direction. Or if you don’t score it and you concede a set-piece at the other end, which happened so many times in the first half of the season, that brings the game towards a different direction. So, happy to have Alex back. Unfortunately, Mo is, of course, another great goalscorer for so many years – he’s not available on Sunday, but Alex is. And I think some other players that haven’t scored the amount of goals that I think they are able to or they’ve shown in the past also that they’re able to, that will go back to normal in a certain moment and the sooner the better.

On if the team ‘is back performing at the level he would expect now’…

No. No, I think we can be on a much higher level than we are now. If you simply look at the results then we can be very positive, it’s three wins out of three games [in the league]. But performance-wise, I don’t think it has been our three best performances of this season. So, we can play much better. We’ve shown already that we can play much better. But in many of these games we were very unlucky with the outcome of the game. I think in the last three games, I wouldn’t say we did not deserve to win, but we were more lucky than we’ve ever been this season.

So, this team is capable of much more, but it would be helpful if everyone is available once in a while as well, and that hasn’t been the situation throughout the whole season. And that’s very extreme at the moment, the amount of players we are missing. The good thing is that we only play once a week, which I would prefer not to have. I would have preferred to play the Champions League semi-final during the week, but since that’s not the case, that means that the players that constantly have to play are a bit better rested in the games in the weekends. But no, I think we can be much better than we’ve played recently.

On his assessment of Curtis Jones’ form and taking the challenge at right-back…

Very well. Not perfect, which is completely normal, but very well, especially if you take into account – that’s why it makes complete sense that it’s not perfect, although who is perfect in whichever position? – he hardly has played in that position throughout his career. That he does it the way he does is a big compliment, because I think he played twice a good game; against Palace, even better than against Everton, defensively I mean then mainly, which makes sense because usually you improve by playing more in a certain position, getting more used to the players around you and to your position.

What we always know from him is that he shows great personality in every position he plays. He’s never afraid to play, never afraid to get the ball, never scared to take a bit of risk, which is something he maybe has to adjust a little bit because in midfield it’s a bit different than playing in the last line, taking risk. But it’s also one of his qualities that he’s able to bring himself out of very difficult positions, which could come across as taking risk, but usually the ball is in safe hands when he has it because he’s very good and comfortable on the ball.

On Florian Wirtz’s debut season and ‘if he hopes he turns up in bigger games’…

I don’t only hope that, I’m 100 per cent sure he will. It’s also a coincidence, by the way, of course we have to play three more that are now in those positions, so that gives him three more chances to do this. But I think for me, it’s so clear; the development Florian has made throughout his Liverpool career, which has only been 10 months, is for me already very clear and obvious. Ninety-third minute against Crystal Palace, making a duel on the line, on the sideline, winning a throw-in for us and then making a sprint from 40 yards and hitting the ball in the top corner, that is something where I’m not completely convinced about that he could do the same eight months ago when we played Brentford away or these kind of games.

So his improvement – and he was already an elite player – has been for me clear and obvious. And that improvement will only continue because he’s only 22, so that makes complete sense. Almost every player in the world is at his best when he’s 25, 26. But he’s already an elite player now, but he can only become better. And that’s the beauty of the signings we did last summer, that all of them are of a certain age where we can only expect them to become better, as long as they don’t get injured.