1 week ago
71
Arne Slot says Liverpool will "always carry Diogo Jota with us" as he paid a fresh tribute to the Portugal striker, who died in a car accident earlier this month.
Liverpool returns to action today in its first game since Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, passed away in northern Spain. The Reds are taking on Preston North End at Deepdale in what is set to be an emotional occasion.
"Nothing seems to be important if we think of what has happened," Slot told the Reds' official website. "But we are a football club and we need to train and we need to play again, if we want it or not.
"What I’ve said to the players, I can say it here as well. It’s very difficult to find the right words because we constantly debate what is appropriate.
"What is appropriate in our actions? What is appropriate [for] what we have to say? Can we train again? Can we laugh again? Can we be angry if there’s a wrong decision?
"And I’ve said to them, maybe the best thing for us to do is handle this situation like Jota was. And what I meant with that is that Jota was always himself, it didn’t matter if he was talking to me, to his teammates, to the staff, he was always himself.
"So let us try to be ourselves as well. So, if we want to laugh we laugh; if we want to cry we’re going to cry. If they want to train they can train, if they don’t want to train they can not train. But be yourself, don’t think you have to be different than your emotions tell you."
Liverpool's players joined members of Jota's family at Anfield earlier in the week to pay tribute to him. And there are plans in place at Preston today for him to be commenorated.
"Jots was the player that if things were really, really, really difficult, I always looked at him and said, ‘Now we need something special from you.’ And he delivered so many times in those moments," Slot continued.
"I can come up with all of these moments, even before I was here he had many of these moments as well. So we are in a very difficult time, so let’s try to do what Diogo did so many times. If it’s so difficult then try a little bit harder or just keep on going and try to make it work.
"The last thing is that he was the player in our team I would say that mainly with him it was all about the team. And not only the players; also, like I said, the staff. If we want to go through this period we need to do this together.
"You’ll know this because you told me – he selected a photo after we won the league against Tottenham and he wanted to have that photo in his house. He decided not to take one of himself, he decided to take one with us as the whole group, the whole staff in front of our fans. That probably tells us as a team and everyone around the world how much of a team player he was."
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Slot was also asked for his overriding memory of Jota ahead of his side taking to the field again. "I’ve only worked with him for a season and in that season he has been so important for me, for the club, for the fans, for his teammates in difficult moments," he said.
"So, I can come up with the Everton goal, I can come up with some other goals – Fulham when we were down to 10. Even the last game we played against Crystal Palace when we were down to 10 and 1-0 down, he came in and took the ball in our own half, led to us scoring the 1-1. That is the football player that is in my mind.
"But I think what I take comfort in [is that] in the last month of his life he was a champion in everything. A champion for his family, which is the main and most important thing, because he got married.
"A champion for his country because he won the Nations League, [with] a country that he cared about so much, because he also wore the flag when we had celebrations. And of course a champion for us by winning the Premier League."
English (US) ·