NewsArne Slot press conference: Transfers, Newcastle clash, confidence, Salah and more
Liverpool's head coach met the media at the AXA Training Centre on the eve of his side's home encounter with Newcastle United in the Premier League.
A summary of the briefing can be found below.
On 'what chance he sees' of Liverpool bringing in a transfer target in the remainder of the window...
I think you know the answer: the answer is if we think we've addressed a player that can help us and we think it's possible, then we would do so. But those are conversations that take place not far away from here, by the way, but not in this room.
On how 'crucial' Saturday night's game with Newcastle will be in terms of the Premier League table...
I think it's throughout the whole season, every single game is crucial, but the way we've positioned ourselves now probably makes every game even more crucial because that's definitely what we want to achieve. So then it is a crucial game, as the next one is a crucial one, as the next one is a crucial one as well. We've experienced how tough it is to play against Newcastle in the one-and-a-half year I have been here now. It's always been a very tough contest, a very tough game for us, but for them as well. So, a great game to look forward to because we both had a good result during the week and a home game at Anfield is always something to look forward to.
On whether the result against Qarabag 'gives everybody a lift'...
I prefer to win it than losing that game, so that is always helping. Every game you win helps – in the first place because we qualified for the last 16 and, second of all, because it was a good win with some good performances, players scoring goals. That's always helpful. But we are fully aware of the fact that one win isn't enough at this club. So, the next one is coming fast with Newcastle and I'm 100 per cent sure that that game is a bigger challenge than the one we faced on Wednesday. But [it is] always helpful to win. Especially if we've lost in the last minute at Bournemouth, then it's always nice to have a better feeling during the week.
On Mohamed Salah 'being in a good position to rediscover some of his best form from last season'...
I think it's always about the team and the team has to make sure he gets in good positions. I think that's what we are doing more and more – not only with him but with many players. I think I've said this recently quite a lot, our game in between boxes is good enough for our attackers to be often enough in promising positions. I know, we know that if this happens enough times then our players will do what we expect of them because they have so much quality.
You were talking about Mo but a great example might also be Florian [Wirtz], who was three minutes before the end against Bournemouth in exactly the same position as he was when he scored the 2-0 [against Qarabag]. In Bournemouth he decided to play a through pass; now he went for his own chance and scored. This is how football works sometimes. The ball hits the post, the ball hits the bar. Sometimes you make the wrong decision, sometimes the execution is not perfect. But I was really pleased and happy for Mo that he scored that goal. Because I think no matter how much he has scored for this club, it's always good to be on the scoresheet, as it was for Federico [Chiesa] as well and for Florian. That always gives a bit of confidence to the team but also to individuals.
On the young players used against Qarabag...
Trey [Nyoni] and Amara [Nallo] came in and they've mainly come in games either in the League Cup or games where we were leading by a big margin. So for them it was a good first taste of first-team football – not [a] first taste but close to first taste. With Rio [Ngumoha], that is completely different, in my opinion. He also comes in when we need a goal or in moments when the game hasn't been decided yet.
I think Trey showed when he came in that he comes closer and closer to a situation where I can also bring him in. He has developed really nicely in the last year, gets closer and closer to come in in moments that matter even more. That is how things work with young players – you make step after step after step until the manager trusts you enough to play in difficult moments. That has already happened for Rio, and Trey is really close to that moment. Amara is a bit further from that but very nice for him after his difficult start at the first team – two red cards – that he was mentally so strong, kept fighting, doing good in the U21s and now he got his reward [with] playing time in the first team.
On the battle for Champions League qualification...
Now we already thought that every single period was pivotal, so that hasn't changed. But it's obvious that the closer you come to the end, the less opportunities you have to make a mistake. We are now in a position that we cannot afford a lot of mistakes anymore because we've made far too many. And with mistakes I mean giving away goals in the last minute that don't do any justice on the performance in terms of the score. So, it's clear and obvious that the closer you come to the end – and that's the same in the Champions League [when] you go to knockout stages – then there's not a lot of room for mistakes anymore.
On consistency in selecting line-ups...
I think I showed last season that one of the things I like is consistency and playing as much as I can with the same players. That is what I've done at all my clubs every single time, which I've shown to England last season. Unfortunately for all the obvious reasons which I'm not going to go into again because people get so bored if I do this every time, I haven't been able to play many times with the same line-up. Even within games, I have to – sometimes have to, sometimes think I need to – make so many substitutions.
So, that's far from ideal, I can tell you that, but we accept the situation as it is and we make the best out of it. That's why I have so much respect for the players, that no matter how many set-backs we have, no matter how many times we concede a goal in the last minute, if the next game arrives, from the start they're immediately there to give everything they have. That has not always been enough to win as many games as we are used to at Liverpool – that's also clear, but that is 99 out of 100 times not due to effort from my players.