Press conferenceArne Slot on Wolves 1-2 Liverpool: 'There's still a lot for us to prove'
The Reds moved themselves top of the Premier League standings thanks to a battling win against Gary O'Neil's side at Molineux.
Ibrahima Konate's header just shy of the interval and Mohamed Salah's 61st-minute penalty secured a hard-fought three points on the road, with Rayan Ait-Nouri briefly levelling the game in the second half for the hosts.
Read on for every word head coach Slot had to say during his post-match press conference on the victory, being top of the table and more...
On whether he felt like it was the 'right' result...
It's maybe for others to judge, but I think the first 15 minutes were difficult for us. The other team – Wolves – had a week to prepare and if you have a very good manager like Gary O'Neil, who is tactically really strong and comes up with a strong game plan and that's what he did. We were ready for this. You always have to wait to [see] then exactly what he does. He overloaded our right side in a good manner, which made it difficult for us to control the game in the first 15 to 20 minutes. Then when it [the game] lied down a bit, the energy went away maybe and then I think we took more and more control over the game.
For me, it wasn't a surprise the moment we scored a goal because I thought that in those moments we were getting better and better. We get a big chance with Dominik Szoboszlai and I was almost surprised that we conceded [in] the second half because I felt in the second half [that] we had much more control than in the first half. We conceded a goal that was avoidable, let's put it that way.
On being top of the Premier League after six games...
It's almost ideal that we played Wolves today because we are top and they're last and they absolutely don't deserve to be last. They had a very difficult fixture list and I've seen many games of them and in almost every game they deserve more. You could even argue [that] today because it wasn't like we were so much better than them. They were in the game [and] doing a lot of good things. If they keep doing this against other teams as well they will never end up No.20 [in the league]. We still have to prove that when we come across Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea [and] Aston Villa [to see] if we can then still be up there with Champions League games included as well.
On whether being top of the table gives his squad 'a psychological lift'...
I think everybody is realistic enough. All the players have so much experience that they understand six games into the season doesn't give you a realistic view on the league table. That is more like in 19 games then you can really feel, 'OK, where are we?' But of course it helps if you get some good results, especially if you bring in a new manager and a new staff and being a successor of such a successful one. Of course everybody understands that if we'd have lost four or five out of these first six fixtures that life would've been a bit different than it is.
On how he will keep his players 'level-headed' if they remain top of the league...
If it stays this way, I don't have to keep them level-headed! But to keep it that way that's probably what you mean. I don't think it's necessary for me to convince the players [about] all the challenges we still face. I said it a few times now in different press moments today. Two years ago was the last time we played [in the] Champions League and we all know what kind of a season that was. Last season we had a much better season, but then every time Virgil [van Dijk] and all these other players got a rest during the week and could play once a week.
So, that's a completely different situation than playing Champions League during the week against a very tough and hard opponent and then playing Arsenal and then playing Aston Villa and then playing all these top teams that we're going to face after the next international break. For us, there's still – I've said it many times – there's a lot to prove, especially if you look back at the season two years ago and it's still almost completely the same group.