Reaction'Positive for many reasons' – every word from Arne Slot's post-Brentford press conference
Arne Slot labelled Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over Brentford as ‘positive for many reasons’ after an impressive team performance in the head coach’s first Premier League home game.
Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah got the goals either side of half-time at Anfield on Sunday as the Reds recorded a second consecutive two-goal win at the start of the new season.
Slot was therefore able to reflect on a successful first competitive home fixture in charge of the club during his post-match press conference.
Read every word from the head coach’s debrief with the media below.
On his assessment of the game…
Positive for many reasons. I think Brentford showed last week with their first goal, but in general also in their first game, that they can play out from the back really good. They tried to do this here as well, sometimes it worked better than other moments but they are also really threatening on the counter-attack and they are obviously a big threat on set-pieces, and I think the only threat they had today was the set-piece where Alisson [Becker] saved us in the second half. It was also pleasing to see that from their set-piece we could score our first goal.
On the quality of the first goal…
It’s nice to inherit a team and individuals that are so special, and that’s what you saw in the first goal as well. I think Lucho finished it off really good, Mo won an important duel around the 18-yard box – because this is what the margins in football are, if he would have lost that duel they would have maybe got a shot on target. He won the duel and then we could counter-attack them and Diogo [Jota] made a great pass with the right timing, and a great run from Lucho and he finished it off really well.
On Trent Alexander-Arnold being substituted in the second half…
He didn’t look that happy after being taken off, you mean? I understand. Every player wants to play 90 minutes but I don’t think the players that were on the bench from the start were really happy with the choices I made. But Trent came back from the national team where at the beginning of the tournament he played quite a lot, then he didn’t, had a few weeks off, came back, it’s only his third game and we have to take care of him as well because we need him for the whole season and not only the first two games. The good thing for me is that I have a very good back-up as well with Conor [Bradley], so that means we are taking care of Trent. But he played a good game, that’s also what I saw.
On the reception he received from the home supporters…
The reception of the fans was similar to the reception I got from all the people in and around the AXA [Training Centre] and the people who are working for Liverpool. So, I think I cannot speak for all of the managers, but I think maybe all of them would tell you the same: every manager that comes in here feels the warmth of this club, feels the appreciation of the fans, and the most important thing we have to do as managers is to make sure the team plays in a style that the fans like to see. That’s what we are trying and I think the boys showed that, and the fans showed their appreciation for that, I think.
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On his side’s encouraging start to the season…
Yes, it is [encouraging]. Two good wins against difficult opponents because Brentford had a very good opening game last week, but there is still a lot for us to prove in the season coming up because I said it a few times already: I think both of the teams, Ipswich and Brentford, deserve our respect for the way they have played against us, but I am not expecting one of the two [to be] in the top six in the upcoming season so there is still a lot to prove for us. But it is always good to start off with two wins and two clean sheets.
On whether he’s spoken with Diaz to work on his goalscoring...
If that was what I had done then I would speak to everyone from now on and help them to score more goals!
It is not about that, it’s about making sure these players, like Lucho, like Mo, like Cody [Gakpo], like Diogo, like Darwin [Nunez] and like all the others that play in attacking positions, we bring them as much as we can into good positions and then they can show their quality. I think the nicest example of that was the moment when Mo set up three, four, five combinations in and around the box. We don’t train these things, it is just the quality of the players and the only thing we try to do is get them as much as we can into those positions. And, if they don’t have the ball, that they work really, really, really hard for the other team not to create a chance – and I think that’s what we saw today and last week. It is not so difficult to do it once or twice, the difficult thing is to do it 10 out of 10 times and that’s still what we have to show.
On whether Curtis Jones will be available for next weekend’s trip to Manchester United after missing Sunday’s game with a minor injury...
It’s going to be close, so we have to wait and see. It is always difficult to see how an injury evolves during the upcoming week. He is not going to be out for a long time, but it is going to be close for him to be there next week. I am quite sure he is going to try to do everything to be ready for next week.
On what Jones’ injury is...
In Holland we always said we cannot say anything about injuries, maybe it is different here, but is has to do with privacy I think. It is not a big injury.
On whether he is pleased with how the team have played in his first two games...
Yes, but it is also quite normal because I inherited a team and all of them stayed. We try to keep a lot, a lot, a lot almost the same and try to adjust maybe one or two things where we think we could win. If Jürgen [Klopp] would have stayed, he would have tried to find these one or two things where he could have improved the team. For me, it is not a surprise this team plays like this – and for you it shouldn’t be a surprise at all because you saw them playing like this many times last season as well.
On Wataru Endo and what he has to do to play more minutes...
It is not always about the player himself, it’s also about the competition he faces. We have many good midfielders like we have many good players. We are really pleased with the way Wata is training for us but he has some good competition and I think you saw today a good performance from all three midfielders, so it is not always about him – it is also about the others. He will be important for us during the season because we need all of them; we all know how long a season can be over here and how many players you need – and he is one of them that we are going to need in the upcoming season.
This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.