Q&ACarabao Cup press conference: Arne Slot previews Southampton v Liverpool
Read a round-up from Arne Slot's press conference ahead of Liverpool's Carabao Cup quarter-final at Southampton.
The Reds head coach previewed the last-eight encounter at St Mary's during a session with reporters on Tuesday morning.
See what Slot had to say with the following summary…
On serving a touchline ban for the game and how much it will impact him...
Not as much as I thought it should impact because if you are suspended in Holland then you are not allowed to be in and around the dressing room, you cannot do the media as well. So, this is a lighter version of suspension I would say that I'm used to but I've never been used to being suspended, so it's the first time I am. I think I'm still able to do the things I want to do. The moment you have the less impact on your team is during the 45 minutes. And the most impact you can have is at half-time or before the game – and those are the things I can do. But in an ideal situation, I would have just been on the sideline. But I got a yellow, which I probably deserved again as well, and it happens.
On what to expect from Southampton after they parted company with Russell Martin...
It's difficult because I saw them during the weekend starting with four at the back, which they changed after 15 minutes, going to five at the back. And the one that takes over normally plays with four at the back, so what can you expect? I think the players maybe feel more comfortable with five from what I saw during the weekend. But it's also a moment for the manager to have his impact. If he truly believes four is the best… and it depends maybe also on how long is he going to get. Is he only there for one game or is he there for longer? Will he play with his normal starters if he only has one chance or a few chances to lead the team? Will he then do what's best for the Premier League or for him as a chance to maybe reach the semi-final of the League Cup? So, it's difficult what we can expect in terms of formation, in terms of personnel. But what we do know is that we have to play an away game against Southampton, against 11 players.
On whether this is where he expected his Liverpool side to be at this stage...
To a certain extent, yes, because I think that is normal for Liverpool to be fighting for every trophy and to be for a long time in every cup to go all the way. This happened last season when this club won this competition. So, not surprised that, with the quality we have, we are competing at the moment for these three trophies and the fourth one is starting in January. But it is a challenge because we have a lot of competition, great competition in other teams here as well. And also in the League Cup, if you look at the other teams that are still in, for none of the teams that are in it's not going to be an easy road to the final.
On going all out to win matches...
It's always been my philosophy since I'm a manager to try to win the game in the end. But it's definitely also that our players have this same mentality – long, long before I came here. It's probably also the mentality of the club, it's the mentality of the players. Maybe that's also one of the reasons why they brought me in, because it's also my mentality to try to win every game, even if you are in a situation, like you said, where you can accept a draw as well. But it's the mentality we have together and that's why we are in this moment of time happy with each other.
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Watch on YouTubeOn his backroom staff...
Sipke [Hulshoff] I worked with for a long time. We know each other in and out, especially football-wise. One of the reasons why we work together [is] because we have so much in common if it's about the playing style, game model or the changes we make during the game. And John Heitinga is now here with me for the first half [of the] season and I couldn't have wished for more. If I say talented, I don't even rate him high enough because he's more than that already. He's been a head coach himself but he's still young. [He] grew into our staff from the start in a very good manner, so has the same idea about football. That's also why I chose him to come to us as well. But the way [he is] with the boys, just like Sipke is, [is] very positive.
We do almost all the things we do together – like in every other staff it's like this but that's definitely the way it is over here as well. They get a lot of time to work with the players individually but also lead part of the session. [They] have the same idea about football as I do. So yes, I will be involved tomorrow. But if I wouldn't be, that would not be a problem at all for the players. They wouldn't not notice anything different.
And then we're talking about the technical staff, but I think we've all seen how much of a compliment our performance staff, our medical staff should have if you look at how players come back – like Alisson [Becker], like [Diogo] Jota. But also that we can be with 10 and our opponent can say it felt like they had 11. That probably tells you a lot about performance staff, and about the players but I have given them enough compliments so let's stay with the performance staff and the medical staff and my backroom staff for now!
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