NewsEvery word from Arne Slot's pre-Brentford press conference
The Liverpool head coach spoke to reporters ahead of his side's Anfield meeting with Brentford to wrap up the 2025-26 Premier League season.
See every word from the briefing below.
On how he feels about Mohamed Salah's post on social media...
No, I don't think it's that important what I feel about it. What is important is that we qualify for Champions League [on] Sunday and I prepare Mo and all of the rest in the best possible way and the whole team to be ready for the game on Sunday. That is what matters. I was very disappointed after our loss against [Aston] Villa because a win would have given us qualification for Champions League. And now there's one game to go, which is a vital one for us as a club.
On the impact of Salah's comments...
I don't know if it had impact on the group. But what I've seen is that the team trained really well this week and we hope to continue really well in the upcoming two days so we're in the best possible way prepared. I think Mo and I have both the same interest. We want the best for this club, we want the club to be as successful as possible. We were both part of giving our fans their first league title again after five years. But we're also aware – all of us – that we didn't bring the same level this season. What we want, what he wants, what I want is the club to be as successful as we were last season. That is where my main focus is on now, because the game on Sunday could give us a really good base going into next season. That is where I, we should focus on.
On whether Salah will definitely be involved on Sunday...
I never say anything about team selection, so it would be a surprise to you if I did that right now, I think.
On potentially finishing fourth with a win and that could see a Champions League spot drop to sixth in the table...
There's a lot of ifs in that scenario but we know what we need to do. We need to win, we need to have a draw and otherwise we have a still acceptable goal difference. But I think we would like to give our fans a nice way of ending the season, because there have been far too many disappointments this season for us – and with us I mean the club, so that includes the fans and that includes us as a staff and players as well. So, we want to end, of course, with a win, knowing that Brentford is playing for something really important for them as well. But that's where our main focus has been on after the Villa game – to be in the best possible place possible for Sunday.
On whether he is 'looking forward' to the end of the season...
I think usually in the end of a season you are looking forward to it to end, because it's usually been a long season – especially if you work in England, there are a lot of games. But maybe last season I wouldn't have minded if it would have kept on going because it was quite nice after we won the league – we had a few games to play. But still then you feel like, 'OK, enough is enough. Now it's going on a holiday and then prepare for the next season.' As I said, I'm looking forward to Sunday because that's a vital game for us but I'm also looking forward to next season to continue to evolve this team that, as I've said many times, is in a transition and that will not stop during the summer.
On whether plans are in place for next season or whether they are dependent on the position Liverpool finish in the Premier League...
Yeah, it does, that has impact. As I said over the course of three, four months now every time when someone asks me about qualification for the Champions League, yes, it has impact at this club on our plans. That is definitely true.
On whether his 'footballing philosophies have been tested this season to the point where there needs to be a reset and different approach'...
Not a reset but football has evolved, football has changed. I think, first of all, I'm hoping someone would have asked me that question at the start. But let me in this position congratulate Arsenal [on] winning the league, the club, Mikel [Arteta] and his staff for a great accomplishment. Winning the league here in England is never easy and they've done a tremendous job this season, so congratulations to them. But for me they've been a different champion than the last time. The last 10 seasons this league has been won by other teams. First of all, because it's the first time in 30 years that a team had 40 per cent of their goals they had from set-pieces. I think Luis Enrique said – and I completely agree with him – they are maybe by far the best team off the ball in our league but I also think in Europe.
So, football has changed, has evolved and we have to make sure we are able next season again to compete with Arsenal and with [Manchester] City again with our own brand of football. We have to find the right balance in that but we have to know and understand that football has changed, football has evolved. We showed this week also again with Villa that scored their first [goal] from a set-piece and the second one in a second-phase set-piece. We have to take that into account but we also have to take into account that we play a style or brand of football that our fans like, as long as that goes together with competing for the trophies we want to compete for.
On Virgil van Dijk playing every minute of the Premier League season so far and his importance both on and off the pitch...
That's a great accomplishment. It's not as simple as people might think. Playing every game in a league like this, it's already a great accomplishment, let alone if you are of his age. But it also tells you maybe something about how our season has gone, and I mean then in terms of injuries and players available. Because I think if I would have had always all the players available, I would have rested him once or twice as well, and I wasn't able to. The good thing is I didn't need to because I could every time play him and that is unbelievable, especially because it's been a season with so many setbacks.
So, it's much easier for a player to stay fit if things go well, like last season. I think he only missed one game after we won the league – I didn't play him against Brighton. But in a season where we've had so many setbacks, so many disappointments, it's even a bigger accomplishment to stay fit and stay available even more at his age. Although the way he takes care of his body, he's probably younger than his age tells us.
On whether Salah's comments on style of play 'undermine what he is trying to do on the training ground'….
You are doing a lot of assumptions. First of all, you say that he wants to play that style and then say that it's not my style. I think Mo was really happy with the style we played last season, and our fans as well, because it led to us winning the league. And I've just said that football has changed, football has evolved, but we both, again, want what's best for Liverpool and that's for us to compete for trophies, which we haven't done this season and which we've done last season. He and the team – and I was included in that – brought the league title back after five years and we would like to challenge for that again next season and continue to evolve the team. So, that is my take on it.
On whether Liverpool's style of play has changed this season compared to 2024-25…
I think football has changed and I've said this now many times. So, if you play football you're not the only team on the pitch, you play against another team, and football has changed – I think we can all see this. I see this every single game, I can go back to it.
Let's take the game we play in the weekend against Brentford. I saw City, which is still for me one of the teams that plays very nice football, but it took them 60 minutes before they had their first chance. And then they scored 1-0 from a set-piece, by the way, Jeremy Doku had a great one-v-one action and hit the ball in the top corner, and afterwards Brentford were a few times really close of scoring the 1-1 [and had] a penalty incident which was really close. And I think four, five, six years ago, City against Brentford would have been a five, six, seven or 8-0 win for City, but that's not the reality of the league anymore.
This league has become so strong that football has changed, but we have to find that right balance of still being able to compete but definitely also play the brand and the style of football the fans want to see and I want my team to play.
On what his team are 'lacking' when it comes to defending set-pieces…
It's not so easy to find one answer because set-pieces come in different fashions – they come from corner kicks, they come from free-kicks and they come from throw-ins. So, we have to go into every single one of them to see where we had to do better. In general, I think I can safely say that we are not the tallest and the strongest team set-piece-wise. So, mainly my two centre-backs, they're always very good headers, but that's for every team. But other teams usually have full-backs, one of the two full-backs that's really tall, or a number nine or a number six that's a real powerhouse in defending set-pieces. So, this is something we are now even more aware of than last season, but that's also, as I said, because the league evolved in a certain way and these are also things we take into account if we are trying to evolve the team towards next season.
On how he evaluates the performances of his Hungarian players this season...
Armin [Pecsi] has not played for us, as you know, but he's developed really good at the training ground. This is also what we had in mind for him – to be with the team, with the first team, develop him by Xavi Valero, who is a very good goalkeeper coach. He's in a good place going into next season. Then, of course, there's Milos [Kerkez], our left full-back. [He] has played a lot of games, has improved during this season. It's never easy for a new player to come in, in a team that's not performing at the levels they were performing [at] last season. But I think he's 21, maybe 22 now, but I think when we signed him for sure [he was] 21.
For a young player like him, making the step from Bournemouth towards Liverpool, playing Champions League and Premier League football, we are really happy with his development, and he needs to make the next step next season. I think a great example for talking about development, in talking about becoming better after one, two, three seasons of playing Premier League football is Dominik Szoboszlai. He's an example for all of us, but definitely also for Milos. His first season was good, his second season was very good and this season, although the team played far from excellent, I think it's fair to say that he had an excellent season.
On whether Szoboszlai is a potential future captain...
No, Virgil is with us next season, so let's not look ahead too far. But he's the captain for the national team, so that already tells you that he has it in him. But as I said, Virgil is still here next season. And the future of a manager is usually only three days, so looking even further than this season, that's a bit too much for me!
On whether he feels 'he still has the complete buy-in and support of the squad'…
Social media came when I was already a little bit older, so as people know, I'm not involved in social media, so I don't really know the understanding of what it exactly means if you like a post, yes or no. What I do know, and that is my world, and that is to see how they train, I haven't seen anything different compared to the rest of the season. We've had a good week and it's never easy after another disappointment at Villa, going into the last week of the season. Out of experience, I know that's usually not the most simple week. But we've trained, the boys trained really well. And I'm expecting them to do the same in the upcoming two days.
On Salah talking about 'heavy metal football' and if 'he agrees with such a feeling'…
I think I constantly say the same: we both want what's best for the club, we both want the club to be successful. That's the main aim and I have to find a way to evolve this team – now, but definitely in the summer and the upcoming season – to be successful again and to play a brand of football that I like. And if I like it then the fans will like it as well. Because I haven't liked a lot of the way we played this season as well. There were far too many games where we dominated ball possession but it didn't lead to anything special or any moments. But again, that's also the way the league has evolved because in general we don't see the 3-0, 4-0, 5-0, 6-0 games anymore. It's a close game every single time; not only with us, any single game. But we try to evolve the team in a way, as I said, that we can compete but definitely also play the brand of football, the style of football [that] the fans, I, and hopefully Mo if he's somewhere else at that moment of time, will like as well.