Interview'An occasion to look forward to' - Arne Slot previews the Carabao Cup final

The Reds meet Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon seeking to retain the trophy they won in unforgettable circumstances last year – an achievement that would also represent the first silverware of the Slot era.

This will be the Dutchman’s first-ever visit to Wembley and he views the final as an ideal occasion for his players to concentrate on following the disappointment of their Champions League exit.

Ahead of the match, Slot sat down with Liverpoolfc.com at the AXA Training Centre for an in-depth interview.

Topics covered included his desire to ensure his maiden trip to Wembley is one to look back on fondly, the texts he exchanged with Pepijn Lijnders after last season’s final, his analysis of Newcastle and his pre-match message to Liverpool supporters.

See the chat in full below.

• Carabao Cup final: Go to LFCTV GO for exclusive pre-match build-up, live audio commentary of the game and the full match replay

This is your first final as Liverpool head coach – how much are you looking forward to it?

A lot. Not only because it’s a final, not only because we play it with Liverpool, also because it’s at Wembley. It’s an iconic stadium for English people but also for Dutch people. So, it’s a great occasion to be in and especially after losing against Paris Saint-Germain we are really looking forward to playing this final now against, again, a very good and well-managed team by Eddie Howe with Newcastle.

Is this almost the perfect game to have straight after going out of the Champions League? There’s no time to dwell on that disappointment because it’s now about focusing on a final at Wembley…

Yeah, it’s maybe the perfect game but I think our nine games in the league are going to be finals as well so if we had to play for the league on Sunday I think we would have been up for it also. But yeah, it’s always nice to play for a trophy, it’s always nice to win something. Although it is nine finals in the Premier League the upcoming [next league] game will not be the one where we can win something, so now this is the last game of the tournament and it’s against Newcastle. So, it’s going to be an interesting occasion and something to look forward to.

There will still be a huge prize to play for after this final but this is an opportunity to win a trophy in March, which would be massive in its own right…

Yeah. We’ve tried to win every competition we were in. Unfortunately we were already out of the FA Cup and unfortunately after Tuesday we are out of the Champions League as well so there are now only two trophies for us to win. I think in general the Premier League is the hardest one to win of all of them because it’s 38 games and you have to do so many things well. Cups – and even the Champions League, although those are played over two rounds [legs] – are ‘easier’ to win, but still very difficult! But now it’s nice that we are in the final and having a chance to win our first trophy.

Liverpool are holders of the trophy after what was an incredible day at Wembley last year. I know you watched so many games and even training sessions before you arrived – did you watch that final live or have you seen it back since?

No, we [Feyenoord] played that day, I remember. But I think the game was played a bit later than when we played at that moment, so maybe I saw the last parts of it or I saw some highlights. I do remember texting Pepijn after because I knew how much the Academy meant, and still means, for him and that for the whole club, but definitely also for him, it was a big moment, that all these Academy players were on the pitch winning a final. So, I do remember texting him after that game and yeah, it was a special day for the club – as it’s always a special day if you play a final.

What did it say about the spirit and togetherness of the club as the players and supporters united to win against the odds on that day?

Maybe, although if Liverpool plays a final there is always a good chance or a fair chance that they can win it. But you mean with so many injuries and Chelsea, with the squad they had back then and still have, it was massive for Liverpool to win it with, in the end, so many youngsters on the pitch. But this final tells me also again the importance of set-pieces because it was a set-piece where Liverpool scored from and on Tuesday I think we had 13 set-pieces.

We came so, so, so close to scoring a goal and in the end we even hit the post. These are the margins of football and we all know, especially after what Arsenal did in this league for the last one or two years, that the importance of set-pieces became even more obvious. And this final, this goal of Virgil [van Dijk], also tells us the importance of set-pieces.

I think I’m correct in saying this will be the first time you have coached a team at Wembley? Have you ever been there even just to watch a game before?

Yes [it will be the first time] and no, I haven’t [been there before]. So, I’ve already said, it’s not only for English people an iconic stadium, it is also for Dutch people. I think my first memory I have of that stadium is when Ronald Koeman scored for Barcelona, their winner in the Champions League [final of 1992]. Afterwards, some Holland versus England games have been played over there – I think the Euros have been played there and maybe even Holland against England with Paul Gascoigne being really good in that game. So, I knew when I came to England that it was special to go to [Aston] Villa, to go to [Manchester] United, to go to Arsenal, to go to Newcastle, all these clubs with great stadiums, and I am really happy that after Sunday Wembley is also on my list of stadiums that I have managed at.

It’s tradition in English football that the managers lead their teams out of the tunnel before cup finals. I know it’s all about the team and the collective, but that will be a very proud moment for you…

Not maybe because of that walk of 50 metres or 100 metres, I don’t know what it is, I think I am always proud to be the manager of this team and I don’t need to walk out with them to feel proud. On Tuesday I felt really proud as well because of how hard our players worked. That is something to be proud of and now it’s nice to lead the team out but I always feel, even if I am not walking with them, that I have to lead the team. So, yeah, ask me afterwards what feeling I have about that. But it’s nice to be involved in a final – and after my two-match suspension I am happy that I can be on the line again!

Does it help that the final comes at the end of a relentless run of fixtures? Although so many of the players will be going straight off on international duty, there is no Premier League game to think about a few days later so they can pour everything they have into it?

Yeah, but these players have given everything they have got in every single game they have played over an amount of seven or eight months. Today you always try to reflect on our loss [on Tuesday] and one of the things I am really curious to see is that Paris Saint-Germain did have a winter break and their intensity levels over two games were very high. We coped with those intensity levels on Tuesday, maybe we even went above them, whereas they were on top of us last week. But they had this break in the winter so are they at their peak now or can they even go on?

We have been on a relentless streak of games for four months now, so [it will be] interesting to see how other teams are able to do, like Paris Saint-Germain. Can they keep doing this? What I know is that we have been doing this for four months in a row now without any rest in between and yes, Sunday is definitely a game where we will go all in again. But this is also a quality of Newcastle – they are a team that can play on a high intensity, like Paris Saint-Germain, like us. That’s why Paris Saint-Germain went to the next round and that’s why Newcastle went to the final, because that is modern football: you need intensity to win games.

You’ve already come up against Newcastle twice this season, including only a few weeks ago at Anfield. Is that helpful for you as coaches and the players, to have such recent experience of playing against them?

Yeah, it’s always helpful – but it’s also helpful for both teams because players have felt the quality of the other team. That’s why I am always more interested in the second leg in Europe than in the first leg because then both managers know what to expect, both teams know what to expect, and then you are interested to see how is the second leg? Where did we win things and where did the other team do better? That’s why, again, I was so happy with our performance on Tuesday.

Now, looking at Newcastle, we played them twice. In the last game [Alexander] Isak wasn’t involved, in the first game he was involved. He is such an important player for them, he’s an unbelievable threat and has the speed that, for example, the attackers of Paris Saint-Germain had on Tuesday as well and they were more than I would have liked in front of Ali [Alisson Becker] during the two games we have played them. So, we need to do even better than we did [on Tuesday] if you look at the way we have to defend the counter-attacks. But for large parts of the [PSG] game, over 90 minutes I couldn’t have asked for more.

Are your preparations made a bit trickier by the fact Newcastle are set to be missing a few important players due to injury and suspension, because you can’t be certain what their line-up will be?

No [we can’t be sure on their team], but I think in this part of the season every team misses players so we will miss a few as well. That’s normal. The good thing about the Premier League is that almost every team has a lot of money so they have more than only 11 good players. We are an example of that but Newcastle is also an example of that.

So, yes, I think Eddie would have loved to play Anthony Gordon, but let’s wait [and see] how Trent [Alexander-Arnold] is on Sunday but if he is not available then I would have loved to have played Trent as well. And if he’s not available then I would have loved to play Conor [Bradley], who is certainly not available, and then again, when it comes to the Premier League, I still have Jarell Quansah, who played a great game [against PSG] when he came in. So, that tells you the quality of every squad in the Premier League – for us, but also for Newcastle.

• Latest news on Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate fitness

Finally, the atmosphere created by those Liverpool fans inside Wembley will be incredible – do you have a message for them and also the millions who will be supporting you around the world?

Yeah, it’s going to be massive again. On Tuesday it was not only the two teams that played on the pitch that were impressive, I think both [sets of] fans were impressive as well. So, the fans of Paris Saint-Germain were loud and our fans were incredibly loud as well and I think we can expect the same on Sunday. Both fan bases will be there for their teams to support and the only thing I can ask for and we can ask for is [for the fans] to give us the same support as they always do. If they do this it will hopefully bring the best out of our players and hopefully we then have a bit more luck than we had on Tuesday evening.

• Carabao Cup final: Go to LFCTV GO for exclusive pre-match build-up, live audio commentary of the game and the full match replay