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Friday’s Liverpool press conference was always going to be busy, even if Arne Slot showed up slightly behind schedule and questions were kept at a premium.
Given this was the first time the Liverpool head coach has spoken since transfer deadline day, there were no shortage of questions on Alexander Isak. His arrival, fitness levels and attitude following the frosty exit from Newcastle Unitd were pressing topics on Friday.
As was the failed bid to sign Marc Guehi in the final hours of the window. Slot even admitted himself it would be pointless to deny how close a deal was to being completed. Meanwhile, the Dutchman reserved some kind words for Harvey Elliott after his deadline-day exit, was asked about Federico Chiesa’s omission from the Champions League squad, and gave an unwanted injury update. Here are the main bits from Slot’s Friday briefing.
Deadline day reaction: “A lot of things happened on the last day, which is not always the situation because last season we hardly did anything during the whole window. The thing that pleased me most is us getting the deal for Alex over the line. Richard [Hughes], the ownership, everyone worked so hard to get the deal done, so it is very good for the club, for the fans, the players, for me that all the work they put in resulted in Alex signing for us.”
Missing out on Guehi: “No, I think it would be ridiculous if I’m going to deny we were close to signing him. That is so out in the open that that would be ridiculous. These things happen in football, it happened to our players maybe in the past as well that they thought they were so close to signing somewhere else and then in the last moment, things change. This can happen. For me, we would like to sign him of course, because we were in for him.
"Like I have said many times, if we feel we can strengthen the team with a chance in the market, we never hesitated to do so and that’s what we tried to do. But we played one or two days before, we played Arsenal where Virgil [van Dijk] and Ibou [Konate] played an outstanding game and Joe [Gomez] came in 20 minutes before the end and did outstanding as well.
"With us signing Giovanni Leoni, who had his first international call-up, and Ryan [Gravenberch] and Watu [Endo] that can play there so it is not like all of a sudden we don’t have options in that position anymore. It’s a pity but not only for us, but also for the player I think. But he’s in a good place, playing at [Crystal] Palace where he won the Community Shield and the FA Cup with a very good manager as well. Let’s see what the future brings for him and for us.”
Return in January? “If I am thinking anything, you know that what I think I don’t tell you. The thing I think most about is Burnley at the moment, I can assure you.”
Isak fitness: “First of all, the Swedish manager Jon Dahl Tomasson deserves a big compliment because he gets one of the best strikers in the world, maybe the best striker in the world, and needs to play two very important but understands if he plays him twice for 90 minutes then probably the players would have been injured for multiple weeks. That is not always easy for a manager that he takes care of the interest of a player. He deserves a big compliment for that.
"We will treat Alex the same as he did. Don’t expect him to be every single game 90 minutes on the pitch. That’s definitely not going to happen for the next few weeks. He missed a proper pre-season. I think he missed three or four months of team sessions, so now we have to build him up gradually with us playing so many games and hardly any training time. That is going to be a challenge, but we have not just signed him for the upcoming two weeks, we have signed him for six years so this is what we have to keep in mind, and what the fans have to keep in mind if I take him off in a certain moment or I only bring him in for a few moments. That is all for the fitness of the player.”
Criticism from Newcastle fans: “In football there is always criticism, sometimes people cheer for you. I think when he won the League Cup everyone was really happy with him and in other moments you get criticized. This is part of his life, my life, our jobs. Now he is a player for us and I am really happy with that.”
Elliott departure: “Another positive thing, not only Harvey but also if I look at Luis Diaz, how he hit the ground running at Bayern Munich, it is a big compliment for our performance staff and the people that work in thas building. Every time a player leaves, Tyler Morton does really well at Lyon. That tells you how we bring players to other club.
"Harvey is in a very good place going to a very nice club in Aston Villa. It is in the interests of everyone. He didn’t get the playing time he deserved for teh quality player he is. He conducted himself always so well. It wasn’t only that when he said this was his club that he wanted to say this to the fans, he acted inside with him not playing so much. He was always doing what was in the best interests of the club. He deserves a big compliment for that.
"Everyone always talks about Moh [Salah] and Virgil, when we win the league, but players like him were definitely also the reason we could win it because he was always positive. If he had to play five or 10 minutes he helped the team in every decision he did. That is partly the success of the team that the ones that don’t play that much that much have the right mindset. I think he is completely ready now to show the quality he has at Aston Villa.”
Squad fitness: “I think they are fit. We train today for the first time with them. With most of them, the non-internationals did train with the Under-21s this week already. Curtis Jones, I don’t know if you knew but he got injured in the last game so he will not be available for the game against Burnley. But I think the rest of them all came back without a problem and that is not always the situation, especially at the beginning of the season where everybody comes from a different background, goes to the national team where they all of a sudden have to play two games in four or five days. It’s always the biggest risk in November and October. In March, they are much more used to that programme. We’re happy that they are fit. Again, not only a compliment to the Sweden manager but also for the others. A few others like Ryan Gravenberch only started one game and not both of them.”
Isak character: "Maybe people don’t believe me but I haven’t spoken to him that much. I spoke to him after he signed by phone because he had to go to the national team and 99 out of 100 times I leave them for the manager they are working with over there. I texted him once or twice because he is new to us and I wanted to know how he did. But I do have to get to know him better as a person in the next weeks. Although we find it very important how someone is because we have such a great culture at this club we mainly sign a player also for his qualities. Therefore I don't need to call him. I faced him a few times and know what a quality player he is.”
Chiesa omission: “Of course that is one of the most difficult things you have to do as a manager, for a player not to play is not always easy to tell him but to not be in the squad is always more difficult. I just explained to him why we made this choice. Of course he wasn’t happy with that but I think he understood my arguments. That is not to say he agreed with them - he didn’t tell me he didn't agree with them by the way. He gave the answer you want to hear from a player, that he will be there to help the team in the cups and the league. That's one thing to say but I think he also showed it as he wasn't selected but worked really hard in these days to be ready for the upcoming games and that is even more important than what a player tells you.”
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