ReactionArne Slot press conference: Merseyside derby win, mentality, Gravenberch and more
Arne Slot was pleased with how his Liverpool side dug deep once more to secure the 2-1 victory over Everton at Anfield on Saturday.
Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike struck within the opening 29 minutes of the 247th competitive Merseyside derby to put the Premier League champions two goals up.
Idrissa Gana Gueye reduced the visitors' deficit after the interval to set up a tense final half-hour, from which the Reds emerged with the points to maintain a perfect start to their defence of the title.
Read a full transcript from Slot's post-match press conference…
On the win...
We needed mentality today in a different fashion maybe than the few times before. But we always knew how difficult a game this would be, let alone if you have proper preparation time. But if you played your third game in less than seven days, against your rivals, then you know that the second half could be very tough – and that's why I made my line-ups throughout the week as I did, for the players to be ready for this one because this was the most intense from the three, we knew this before. You could see how well we can play if we are fresh – the first 45 minutes, unbelievable, the way we played. But the second half was more difficult because of Everton, of course, but also because we ran a bit out of energy. But we didn't run out of mentality.
On coming through this intense period with three victories...
This is also the reason why teams like us, Chelsea, all the ones that are playing in Europe need a squad like this, because you need to play so many games. Again, it's not an excuse, we have to accept it as it is, but we have had some issues, with Alexander Isak not training for four months, [Alexis] Mac Allister missing out a lot – I can go on and on and on. But the good thing is I do have the options to rotate throughout the week and the ones that played three times 90 are Virgil [van Dijk], Ibou [Konate], Mo [Salah], Ryan and Dom [Szoboszlai], the ones that are used to this intensity at this level, and again they showed up really good.
On whether Van Dijk, Konate, Salah, Gravenberch and Szoboszlai will be involved against Southampton on Tuesday...
I can tell you now you won't be seeing them on Tuesday. If that's any help for Southampton then they will know.
On Gravenberch's consistent performances...
As he did last season. I think it's for every player the same, you need a team around you to show how good you are. I know we have a lot of good players, like I just mentioned. Both goals were similar, [in a] similar area that we attacked – first with Ryan, second time with Hugo with the pace these two have.
Like I said, first half it was a joy to watch, although we got a little bit of a warning just before half-time with maybe their first shot on target, I'm not sure. Second half, you could see, that's always the difficult thing of conceding the 2-1 if you are already 2-0 up, then you're a bit in doubt maybe. Normally we're not in doubt, normally we always just keep on attacking, but I've said enough about our schedule now and that reason. But again, I think we had better chances to score the third than they had to score the second.
On Gravenberch's 'freedom' to get forward...
I think this is the evolution of a team. You constantly try to do different things. You try to keep what's really good but other teams try to adjust to us as well, so we need to constantly evolve. And apart from that, we have different players now than we had last season, so sometimes you adjust a little bit also by the quality of the players you have now compared to the ones we had last season. I wouldn't say [he has] freedom but he has the moments that he can help the attack – but that has a lot to do with the way the other team presses. He has a bit more freedom.
On Liverpool's game management...
I think we managed the game really well, but we didn't manage some moments really well. This was also the thing I said before the game. There is a lot to like, but we have to understand a moment can change momentum. This is what happened against Bournemouth, where we were 2-0 up, it was our game but a silly trick and we conceded [the] 2-1. The set-pieces against Newcastle, conceding just before half-time against Atletico Madrid when we also played so well in the first half.
We have to understand a moment can change a game, no matter how well you play, no matter what you do, always fight for these moments. This is where we can improve a little bit, but we managed the game in general really well. I don't think they had a chance after they scored the 2-1, but it always feels a bit difficult if you're only 2-1 up.
On Gravenberch's attacking contributions so far this season...
I was planning to take him off after 60 minutes but then we conceded a goal. I think he has taken the spotlight mainly because of the attacking things he does, but I also see how much he runs off the ball, how many times he is there to help out Conor [Bradley] when he is in a two-v-one situation and the same for Dominik Szoboszlai. The amount of sprints they make to help Conor, but Mo Salah as well – but because of that we can leave Mo a bit more forward and get the best out of Mo also. He has done very well and now it's maybe a bit more in the spotlight because of these goals and assists, but even if he didn't have that he would have still played really well. But it's also nice that after six games there is something more positive than last season.
On Ekitike's performance...
Of course [I have been] impressed but we knew what we brought in. Like any other team in this league, every team has two No.9s – you could see this with Everton today as well. We have two No.9s of excellent quality, like our competitors have as well. Now it's really a good thing because Hugo is definitely not ready, coming from a different league, to play three times 90 minutes in this pace, in the way we play. We have a high-intensity game, we constantly try to press. When the ball is out of play, our goalkeeper tries to start the play fast instead of taking a minute.
It's a high-pace game we try to play and Alex – as we all know now because I said it so many times and I think it was out in the open before as well – has only trained two weeks with the team, which he didn't do for four months. So to have two now is definitely necessary and every top Premier League team has two great No.9s – and we do as well.
On Liverpool's first-half performance being more impressive than the second...
These are very good players but we've played in different set-ups really good moments in games, or large parts of games as well. For me, it had a lot to do with the fact we took the positions we wanted them to take because it didn't happen a lot this season yet that the opposition did what we expected them to do. Mostly we have to adjust at half-time [because] the other team comes up with something completely new against us, which is normal because most teams we face have one week to prepare.
If I tell you, the only thing we did between Atletico Madrid and today was playing six-v-two. It's the only thing we did in two days, that's how we have prepared. It's not an excuse, we have so many great players as you just said, but this is the reality, so I can never come up with something new. That's why the other teams always know what they get when they play us, because we don't have so much training time. You don't have to feel sorry for me because I have great players, but it is maybe interesting for some people to think, 'Is that really true? Only six-v-two?' Yes.
But Everton did what we expected and we took our positions really well. That's why I think we could play through them a few times where normally maybe our second-half performance is better because we have to adjust at half-time because what the other team did in the first half was different than what I expected.