2 days ago
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Arne Slot’s media briefing ahead of Saturday’s trip to Leeds was always going to throw up some interesting talking points amid the team’s current slump in form.
A 1-1 draw against Sunderland underlined many of those issues once again, with Liverpool now on a run of just two wins in the last nine Premier League matches.
Slot will hope to improve that record at Elland Road and, speaking ahead of that game, was asked about Mohamed Salah and Federico’s chances of starting, the latest team news, Alexander Isak’s form, Dominik Szoboszlai’s position in the team, and Harvey Elliott’s current situation at Aston Villa. Here’s what he had to say...
Salah return
“Every player is in my mind to start because we have so many good players, and Mo has been such an exceptional player for us. He is always in my mind to either start or come in.”
Media spotlight
“Of course. Maybe he even deserves that because has been so influential for this club, for me and for his teammates. It’s completely normal that if I don’t play players who have just arrived at the club people – we are already talking about it. So it’s completely normal that people talk about it when he isn’t playing.”
Chiesa's chances of starting
“Every player has a possibility to start, but we have many options to start in his position, as I said so many times before. He is indeed having an impact coming off the bench. Normally, you bring a striker in to score a goal, but in this situation, he kept on running in a moment when a player could also feel, 'I don’t think I can do a lot any more because he could go one vs one.'
"So it tells you the mentality he has to not concede. That is a good thing. That is what not only defenders should have, that’s what attackers should have.”
Team news
“Joe Gomez got a knock in the West Ham game, but was still able to start, but couldn’t make the full 90 minutes, but I think he will be able to train again today.
"Yesterday was a recovery for most of them; today we will train again, and let’s see where they are. But Conor Bradley has trained this week. I expect him to train today and then he is available to be in the squad tomorrow."
Szoboszlai position
“In the long term, he will play in a central area, that's for sure. Maybe also in the mid-term and maybe even tomorrow. He is one of the few players that can play in multiple positions. Unfortunately for us, we've had injuries in certain positions – not one but like both full-backs are injured for a few weeks already and in the start of the season as well.
"So that's why I used him in different positions, and he did well, by the way, in every position he played in. In the last two games he's been very important for the team in the role that he had because, like I just said, he's part of a team that was only one deflection away from two clean sheets, and he had a free role off the right.
“He's still a lot of times in the middle. I think if you look at his positioning in the first half compared to the second half against Sunderland, I think the heatmap will show that he was nine out of 10 times in the same position in the first half as he was in the second half, whereas in the second half he played as a midfielder and the first half he played as an inverted winger.
"We can use him in every position, but for the mid and long term, and maybe even for the short term, we will use him in the middle – if we have no injuries.”
Getting best from Isak
“He is not the only No.9 who suffers in some games from not getting many chances. I watched the second half until now from Leeds against [Manchester] City, and I watched the whole game against Chelsea.
"At this level, it's not like the No.9 is involved in eight, nine, 10 chances every single half. But it is obvious and clear that we want to bring him into more threatening situations.
"Before we went to only one goal conceded in two games, we had a lot of chances. As a result, because we are a little bit more compact and not taking as many risks, we have not been able to create as many chances as all of the games before.
"It is definitely one of the things on my list of things to improve is getting our No.9 more involved in the game and more involved in the final third."
Few touches in games
"Do you know how many times he touched the ball at Newcastle on average? 22. In this league, strikers don't touch the ball that much but a few times they do touch it, it's quite nice they finish it off.
"I have no clue what the stats of [Erling] Haaland are, but I wouldn't be surprised, I have no clue, if he doesn't touch it 100 times a game, but he does score a lot. It is more important that they touch the ball in the right times than to touch is so many times.
"We have to make sure that's the complete difference between Haaland and Alex; Haaland touches it much more where it matters and that's where we improve. It is clear and obvious."
Elliott's situation
“No, I haven't had contact with him a lot. I think only once or twice, and that was before he played Feyenoord away and after he played Feyenoord away, but that had more to do with that he played against a former club of mine. So no, I haven't been speaking to him. I am aware of his situation, of course.
"I knew how difficult it already was for him over here, so I think I know how he feels at this moment. But you should ask those questions at Villa and not over here when it's about his playing time over there."
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