Arne Slot issues furious response as Liverpool boss faces backlash after PSG claim

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has responded after receiving backlash for his comments on last season's title win, having suggested his side may have benefited from getting knocked out of Europe

Liverpool boss Arne Slot(Image: Getty Images)

Arne Slot has issued a furious response after facing backlash from supporters and Steven Gerrard over his comments on Liverpool’s title win last season.

The Reds secured their safe passage through to the last-16 of the Champions League on Wednesday as a 6-0 win over Qarabag saw them finish third in the league phase of the competition, avoiding the extra play-off round in the process.

Slot though has come under fire for his comments before the game, in particular after he suggested that Liverpool may have benefited in its run to the Premier League title last season by being knocked out of Europe by Paris Saint-Germain.

“This is not going to be a popular opinion what I’m going to tell you now, but maybe the reason why we won the league last season is that we had to play Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16,” Slot said in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

“As you know, they beat us, and we had every time a week to prepare for the next game. Maybe that has helped us as well, maybe if we had to double up that program, which Arsenal had, and they dropped a few points in that period of time, that has helped us in winning the league.”

Slot’s comments have come in for criticism from supporters, as well as club legend Gerrard, who labeled them a “body blow” for fans.

Arne Slot insists his pre-match comments were taken out of context(Image: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Slot though insists that his quotes have been taken out of context, having bemoaned the way in which his comments are analyzed.

“Yesterday I used the word ‘might’… might, might but not everyone is listening about it, losing to PSG might have helped us,” Slot said in his press conference after the win over Qarabag (as per the Daily Mail’s Lewis Steele).

“I meant we did not face injuries after that. People want to make my world more ridiculous. This club, it hits us harder with injuries.”

Delving deeper into how he feels his comments have been taken out of context, Slot added: “I don't follow all of it but sometimes you hear certain things.

“I have always tried to be myself when I'm a manager and try to give long answers and explain in the best possible way what I mean in a different language, although I think I'm quite okay at English. Maybe not as perfect as in my own language but if you give long answers, maybe you miss a certain word in some answers and people start to get an opinion about it.

“But I'm not going to change, I'm not going to say yes or no because this is who I am and you have to accept in this business that people have oponions about you and that's completely normal and I don't mind. But I try to explain as best as possible.

“What I can't explain, because I cannot always say everything, I have to protect everyone as much as I can involved in this football club - ownership to the players - but if you have long answers, sometimes people can have opinions as well.”