ReactionArsenal 2-2 Liverpool: Arne Slot's post-match press conference
Mohamed Salah's 81st-minute finish earned a point for the Reds, who came from behind on two occasions during a high-intensity contest at Emirates Stadium.
The opener from Bukayo Saka after nine minutes was cancelled out by Virgil van Dijk before Mikel Merino restored the hosts' advantage just prior to half-time.
Read Slot's assessment of the game with a summary from his press conference afterwards…
On the performance and result...
Going two times behind against a very strong and good Arsenal team and then to get a point is pleasing to see, especially because we had to play an away game in Europe this week. We had one day less to recover and to prepare and then to go two times behind with the fans being so loud and us coming back so strongly [in the] second half – because I think we deserved to be 2-1 down or one goal down at half-time – then is very pleasing to see that we had the energy and that we were so strong to fight ourselves back in the game [in the] second half, also because the ones that came in did really good but also that we were physically really strong today.
On Salah's finishing...
But that's not only all, it's also that he's also available for us as well. I think that's one of the things that top players have – that they are always available and they show up in the big games. And I think today was a big game for us again, just like last week against Chelsea, where he showed up with a goal and an assist also. That's also what you need if you are a big club – like we are and like Arsenal is – then you need these quality players because if you don't have them, it's going to be quite difficult to get your results. It's something you need to have as a club to have these players that can make the difference for you, and Mo was that today offensively. Although I think we have to give credit to Darwin [Nunez] and to Trent [Alexander-Arnold] as well in that goal.
But for me the one that stood out today was? That's a question! I think [Ibrahima] Konate was also very good for us today. He doesn't always get the attention he deserves, in my opinion. He's asking to be the Man of the Match all the time, but he's coming closer and closer and closer to achieving that because I think he had a great performance today as well.
On whether he thinks his team are title contenders after that performance...
I know you guys like to talk about title contenders and where we are exactly in the league – that's also part of your job. The only thing I look at is, 'Can you get a result in a difficult away game as this one?' And the way we did it pleased me a lot and we're only nine or 10 games into the season. But to see that we can compete with such a strong Arsenal team in their stadium, that is very pleasing to see. But what it exactly will lead towards in the end of the season, I cannot tell you yet.
On Konate's availability...
That I cannot tell you because I wasn't here last season. The only thing I know is that these players from the moment that I stepped in put a lot of effort in themselves to stay fit. I said it many times, our performance staff and medical staff is one of the best in the world – which is normal if you are in Liverpool because it's one of the best clubs in the world, they should have a very good performance and medical staff, and that's also what we have. But the main thing is that the players buy into it, because they have to do the work and they have to recover, they have to go into ice baths and all these things we are asking from them to be prepared in the best possible way. That's what, until this moment, Ibou has done. The programme that we offered him has maybe helped him a bit as well, but in the end it's always about the players. They have to do the effort to stay available.
On whether Liverpool benefited from the decision to keep Nunez on the pitch, enabling him to provide the assist for Salah...
The last thing is also the reason I [kept] him on, because if you just keep on going and I see you're fit enough to keep competing... Also, after speaking about Ibou, that is almost what also surprised me [because] Darwin hasn't played that much yet. To then play three games in a row with the difficult fixtures we had, an away game in Europe and then to be so fit in the end of the game… I took Curtis [Jones] out against Leipzig because that was what I was a bit afraid of: is he ready to play two in a row?
But with Darwin, in my opinion, I have no choice because he is the only available striker at the moment. To see how hard he worked was really pleasing. Yes, he had to play deep in the first half but that had not so much to do with the game plan, but with the quality of Arsenal in the first half because they dominated us, without creating that many chances. They also needed set-pieces for the second goal and to threaten us, whereas the first goal was, of course, great individual quality of Saka.
On what his message was to the team at half-time...
The thing is if you face Arsenal with a manager that is working here for four or five years and he has done an incredible job here because his team can play in so many different set-ups. They always play 4-3-3, but the way they position themselves they can do – I think he said it once himself – 40 different set-ups. I don't know what he exactly said, but it is many different set-ups. So, you prepare a game plan, you expect something but you cannot tell your players 40 different options, so you try to prepare them in the best possible way.
Now they play with a false nine, which they do maybe more often, but they didn't come that many times with a full-back inside. We could prepare them at half-time a bit better from what we saw in the first half; we took some more risk, but I think the main thing was we just put more energy into it. We pressed them more aggressive from the start and I saw that we also keep going where they had to take a few of their quality players off as well because they couldn't go on and maybe that helped us in the end a bit as well.
On whether there's a sense of belief within the team...
Yes, but I think you take belief from winning away at Wolves or winning away at Crystal Palace in the way we did. Especially if you get a result, you always take the positives out of this. Last week, we had to defend really hard to keep the 2-1 lead and today we had to fight really hard to fight ourselves back into the game. That shows, for me, a great mentality because I think most Arsenal fans at half-time would have felt this would probably lead to a win for them. The mentality in the second half and the performance from us, all these things you take with you to the upcoming difficult fixture list, which is what we have. This is what every Premier League club has.