1 week ago
13
Liverpool boss Arne Slot held an early press conference ahead of facing West Ham United this weekend, with the Reds looking to reset following their latest damaging defeat.
After 3-0 games with Manchester City and Nottingham Forest, Liverpool then lost to PSV in the Champions League. With that game finishing 4-1, it was the first time since 1953 that the Reds have lost by a three-goal margin three times on the spin in all competitions. This is what Arne Slot had to say ahead of Sunday's visit to the London Stadium...
Injury latest: "Alisson Becker trained again with the team today, so we hope and expect him to be available at the weekend. Florian Wirtz will have his final day of rehab tomorrow. So, if that all goes well, he could train with the team on Saturday.
"They don't expect [Hugo Ekitike's injury] has to be a big issue, but the games come fast, so let's see for the weekend. But it shouldn't have to be a big issue.
"[Joe Gomez] could have been involved yesterday as well in terms of minutes. But when we are 2-1 or 3-1 down, I tend to make offensive substitutions.
"And for him to start a game is also definitely a possibility. But [Ibrahima] Konate didn't train two days before the game, he was a bit of a [risk] two days before.
"Then if you don't have that many defenders to start with, two players that might not be able to play the whole 90, that's kind of a risk as well.
"I decided to keep him there for if Ibou was injured and not to have to make two substitutions, because then we probably would have ended up with one or two defenders."
Usual talks with sporting director Richard Hughes: "We've had the same conversations we had since I'm here. We fight on and we try to improve. That is what we all try. The conversations are the same as they have been in the last one and a half years.
"Our standards are not what we are used to. We think we can play better than we do. Last season there was focus on individuals but the team is what makes us good. Now the opposite is happening, we should also look at the team.
"It's normal if you win, lose or draw that you reflect on things. Maybe more when you lose, you try to find the answers. In the end, it is about doing what this club is about: keep fighting, together.
"It would also be nice if we reward ourselves in the moments we play well. There are definitely large parts of the games where we do play well, but we forget to reward ourselves. There is a lot of pressure if you play at a top club, especially if you are losing more games than this club is used to."
Let down by the players? "No, not at all. Although I do agree with you that our standards, and with our, I mean the team, [they] have not been of the standards we are used to and that we want.
"We think we can play better than we do. But last season when we did really well there was a lot of focus on certain individuals and I always said it should be about the team and the team makes the individuals look very good.
"If the opposite is happening, we should also look at the team and not the individuals. That's what it's about for me."
What can he do to turn things around? "There is a lot of pressure if you work or play at a top club. Even more so if you start losing more games than this club or these players or this manager is used to.
"Then there is always pressure. But there was a lot of pressure last season as well for us to win the league. Now it's a different kind of pressure because we have lost so many games. What it does to me... I can just do the same, but I don't have to play.
"So, maybe my job is a little bit easier if it comes to this, because I think it's hard for every player if you are in a bad run of results if you go down immediately after three minutes and then you play a good first half.
"Then 10 minutes after half-time again you concede. We get knock after knock after knock, which is hard but that's why I keep saying, especially when it happens, we have to keep fighting.
"That's what we've done so well last season and what this club is about for so many years. The minimum of what we, and I, expect is that we do this over 90 minutes, which is not always easy if you get knock after knock after knock."
On Curtis Jones' passionate interview: "You assume I heard what he said, which I didn't. After the game, I have to do 120 interviews...
"He said we need to be dogs? Really good to bring it to the games, and this is what the players at least tried to do yesterday. The running data was very high and there were a lot of personal bests.
"The players try a lot but it didn't lead to anything in terms of the result. I think this is what he is saying: if we can bring it as a team to the game, this is the minimum I expect — and the fans expect — is we fight.
"I used the word fight and maybe he used some other words. But I think we are on the same page when it comes to how we want to get out of this situation."
Facing Nuno Espirito Santo again: "He's having an impact on their results. He's done so well everywhere he works here in England and done so well at [Nottingham] Forest.
"Now he's doing well at West Ham again. He's proven to be a difficult manager to play against, not only for me but for everyone, because he always has a very good game plan.
"It's a tough team to beat at the moment, which was different maybe in the beginning of the season. We face them now and that's why we definitely need to be ready for a challenge because that's what they will give us.
"They know, of course, after our recent run of results that it's probably different for them to play against us now than it was three or four months ago."
What can you take from xG of last three games (which was in the Reds' favor)? "Frustration. xG doesn't always tell you the right story because I think it is also important when you get those chances — and after you concede, you tend to be more open than when you are one or two up.
"I think when we were 1-0 up against Real Madrid and 2-0 against [Aston] Villa, we hardly conceded a chance — and that's happened in many more of our games when we were leading. When you chase the game, you normally concede more.
"I think a large part of this xG that we create is in the first part of the game as well and that's why we don't reward ourselves for good phases of the game, or good parts of the game.
"This is probably what is best shown in our xG created, because it is ridiculous, because normally you score more than your xG. The amount of times you see a team scoring three or four goals from a low xG value and then if you see our xG yesterday... but I didn't need xG to know we missed a lot of chances."
Is confidence low? "I don't see it being low when we start the game. I didn't even see it being low after we conceded the 1-0 yesterday. But, after the third, fourth or fifth knock then after the 3-1 I also saw a very difficult five to 10 minutes.
"Before that — even when we conceded the 2-1 and again had a disappointment — we were able to generate enough chances, enough xG, to make the 2-2.
"After they scored the 3-1, I could indeed see it hurt the players and that wasn't the period where our fighting spirit was the best in the game, to say it mildly."
Could players like Wataru Endo or Federico Chiesa come in? "I think you consider everything. Until now, I have decided differently. But they train with us every single day and they can prove themselves in those moments.
"It's always a balance between, if you don't change, people think, 'Ah, you should change more.' I think there was a period of this season where we lost and I made a few changes, where people complained about the fact that I made a few changes too much, and there was never any time the same team.
"Of course, I consider [that] but I cannot tell you what the end product of that consideration is for Sunday yet."
English (US) ·