Tag: Arne Slot

Arne Slot warned on Friday that “margins are small” in the Premier League as Liverpool aim to strengthen their push for a place in next season’s Champions League.

The Reds are fifth in the table after two straight league wins, five points clear of Brighton, who have played a game more.

The top five teams in the Premier League gain automatic entry into next season’s Champions League.

Liverpool face a tough task on Saturday against Crystal Palace, whom they have failed to beat in three meetings so far this season.

Slot was asked at his pre-match press conference whether he was planning for next season after a disappointing title defence but was keen to shift the focus back onto the current campaign.

“Of course there are conversations going on about next season but my complete focus is, and still should be, on this season, because margins are small,” said the Liverpool boss.

“One or two results can make a big difference, as we saw, because I think two weeks ago we weren’t five points clear of the number six, and two results later we are, so it can also go both ways.

“So my full focus is on Palace, which is needed because, as you know, we’ve played them three times already this season and we’re unable to beat them once.”

Liverpool lost to Oliver Glasner’s side on penalties in the season-opening Community Shield before defeats in the Premier League and the League Cup.

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The Reds have picked up vital wins against Fulham and Everton this month but have also suffered demoralising defeats against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and Manchester City in the FA Cup.

“In the last eight games we picked up 16 points, and it doesn’t always feel like that, because in between we have to play PSG, Man City,” said Slot. “But our recent league form is acceptable.”

Goalkeeper Alisson Becker has not played since mid-March due to injury, but Slot said he was close to a return and could be ready to face Palace.

Number two goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili is sidelined with an injury he picked up last week against Everton, meaning that Freddie Woodman would deputise for Palace if Alisson were not fit.

Slot brushed aside speculation linking Alisson with a move away from Anfield at the end of the season.

“We don’t react to rumours in this room,” said the Dutchman.

“We only react when facts need to be told, and that’s not the situation at the moment.

“But the main focus for Ali is, I think, very clear — that’s getting back into goal as soon as possible for the club he loves to play for, and then he wants to be in goal for the country he loves to play for, and that’s Brazil.”

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Liverpool manager Arne Slot believes Hugo Ekitike can come back even stronger from a ruptured Achilles tendon that has ended the French striker’s season and his dreams of playing in the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Ekitike suffered the injury against his former club, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), on Tuesday as Liverpool bowed out of the Champions League.

The 23-year-old had scored 17 goals in his debut season in England after a £69 million ($93 million) move from Eintracht Frankfurt and was almost certain to make Didier Deschamps’s France squad for the World Cup.

“Devastating for him,” said Slot on Friday, with Ekitike expected to be out for at least nine months.

“Missing out on so many special moments, but he’s not the first and will not be the last player that experienced something like this at the start of his career.

“There are so many examples of players that came back even stronger, and that’s the challenge he has now.

“I’m 100 percent sure he will be one of those that in 10 to 15 years say, ‘maybe this injury even helped me to become stronger and become even more ready to perform even at a higher level than I did before’.”

The loss of Ekitike was also a huge blow to Liverpool’s hopes of securing a place in the Champions League next season.

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Slot’s men sit fifth in the Premier League, which will be enough to qualify, and enjoy a four-point lead over sixth-placed Chelsea.

But Everton can cut the gap on their local rivals to two points if they win the first-ever Merseyside derby at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday.

Liverpool also still have to face Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa in their final six games of the campaign.

Alexander Isak’s return is timely for Slot, given Ekitike’s absence. The Premier League’s most expensive ever player made his first start since December against PSG. But the £125 million signing lasted only 45 minutes, and Slot said the Swedish striker is still not ready to play a full match.

The decision to splash out over £200 million on two similar strikers has been questioned, given Liverpool’s struggles this season. But Slot said that the injury problems suffered by Isak and Ekitike justified the club’s strategy in pursuing two number nines last summer.

“It’s nice to have Alex back, although we also know that he’s not ready to play 90 (minutes) yet,” added Slot.

“At least a good thing is that we signed two nines because there were a lot of people who were debating why we signed two nines.

“We thought maybe it’s smart not to be the only club in the world that only has one. Now all of a sudden that looks maybe quite good!”

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Arne Slot admits Liverpool will need a “very special” performance to overturn their 2-0 deficit against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday.

Slot’s side are on the brink of being eliminated by PSG for a second successive season after a disappointing display in Paris last week.

Liverpool failed to muster a single shot on target at the Parc des Princes and Slot acknowledged they will have to improve significantly to stun Luis Enrique’s team at Anfield.

“We know we need an exceptional performance to go to the next round but that’s completely normal when you face the champions of Europe,” Slot told reporters on Monday.

“In the 49 home games we have played under me, 36 times we were able to score two goals or more.

“Yes, we have not played all these 49 games against Paris Saint-Germain, I realise that, but the Premier League and Champions League opponents we had were very strong.

“So there is a belief we can do special things tomorrow but we need to be very, very, very special to achieve that.”

Slot has come under mounting scrutiny following Liverpool’s woeful defence of the Premier League title and their embarrassing FA Cup quarter-final exit in a 4-0 thrashing at Manchester City.

After three successive defeats against Brighton, City and PSG, Liverpool kept the critics at bay, for a few days at least, with a 2-0 win against Fulham on Saturday.

But a tame exit from the Champions League would intensify the pressure on Slot ahead of Sunday’s Merseyside derby at Everton.

Slot knows Liverpool need to at least put up a better fight than in Paris, where they struggled to retain possession and rarely troubled the PSG defence.

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“We are playing the champions of Europe so that makes the task more difficult but not impossible,” he said.

“For now let’s just focus on the job on hand, start aggressive and make sure we can get back in the tie.

“Even Saturday showed how important a goal is… minutes (later) we scored the second. That is what football is about, a goal can change the momentum, which happened negatively for us at Manchester City.”

While Slot was criticised for Liverpool’s passive first-leg performance, the Reds boss insisted his side could win with a similar approach at Anfield.

“People probably find it very hard what I am about to say now but the approach is not so different tomorrow than it was in Paris. For the people who know me I never tell them to play in a low block for 90 minutes,” he said.

“You could see we pressed them high on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, seven or eight of those moments led them to being one-on-one with our goalkeeper.

“The last time we faced each other they had the ball for 76 percent of the time, so that’s the first thing we have to change tomorrow, to have the ball more.

“If we have it more then it’s nice to have the attacking threat on the pitch and that’s what we will have tomorrow.”

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Liverpool boss Arne Slot said Monday that the growing reliance on set pieces in the Premier League has sucked some of the joy out of football but accepts it is the new reality.

Last season’s champions struggled with dead-ball situations both defensively and in attacking areas earlier in the campaign.

But seven of their past nine Premier League goals have come from set pieces, including three following corners in Saturday’s 5-2 win against West Ham at Anfield.

Premier League leaders Arsenal are renowned as the set-piece kings and on Sunday scored their 16th goal from a corner this season — equalling the league record.

“First of all, you have to accept it. I think it’s mainly here in the Premier League,” Slot told reporters on Monday.

“If I watch other leagues, I don’t think there’s so much emphasis on set pieces.”

The Liverpool manager said he felt goalkeepers in the Premier League were given less protection by match officials than those in other leagues, such as the Dutch top division.

“Here you can almost hit a goalkeeper in his face and the referee still says just go on,” said the Dutchman.

“Do I like it? My football heart doesn’t like it.”

Slot said he used to look forward to watching the great Barcelona side of Pep Guardiola, who were renowned for their silky, possession-based football.

“Now, most of the games I see in the Premier League are not for me a joy to watch,” he said.

“But it’s always interesting because it’s so competitive, and that is what makes this league great, because there’s so much competitiveness, everyone can beat everyone.”

Slot, whose team travel to face bottom side Wolves on Tuesday, said the set-piece trend was here to stay.

“Maybe in five or ten years’ time things will change again, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you go to an under-16 game somewhere… I wouldn’t be surprised if you see teams completely being focused, 16-year-olds on set-pieces,” he said.

“That’s the new reality, and I have my opinion about it, but it doesn’t change.”

Fifth-placed Liverpool, who have won seven of their past nine games in all competitions, are in a strong position to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Liverpool playmaker Florian Wirtz is expected to miss the Wolves match and Friday’s FA Cup game against the same opponents, both taking place at Molineux, due to a back issue.

The German missed Liverpool’s wins against Nottingham Forest and West Ham.

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Mohamed Salah may be experiencing the worst goal drought of his Premier League career but Liverpool manager Arne Slot believes the Egypt striker is paying the price for his own high standards.

Salah, 33, has won the Golden Boot four times as the English top-flight’s leading goal-scorer since arriving at Anfield in 2017, the latest in last season’s title-winning campaign. But he has now gone nine league matches without a goal.

That is his worst run in the Premier League, but Slot, speaking ahead of Saturday’s match at home to West Ham, told reporters: “He set his own standards and those are so high and the moment he doesn’t score for a few games people are immediately surprised –- that is the biggest compliment he can get.”

The Dutch boss, whose side are sixth in the table and three points off a Champions League place, added: “We are used to Mo scoring a lot of goals and at this moment in time that is maybe the biggest difference in his performance and game time.

“But we also know this has happened before. I don’t know if it happened nine games in a row, but I’ve had these questions earlier if he didn’t score for three or five, but I know in the end he always starts scoring again.

“He is not our only attacker at this moment in time that doesn’t score as much as we are used to.

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“The focus is totally on him because of everything he did for the club but Hugo (Ekitike) and Cody (Gakpo) haven’t scored that many goals recently as well. It is a team thing which we have to improve.”

Liverpool, meanwhile, announced they had returned to profit after their title triumph last season with a pre-tax surplus of £15.2 million ($20.5 million) that owed much to a £60 million increase in media revenue.

But performance bonuses, plus the contract renewals of high-profile stars such as Salah and skipper Virgil van Dijk, helped leave Liverpool with the highest wage bill in the Premier League as staff expenditure rose by £42 million to £428 million.

That put Liverpool ahead of Manchester City, whose employee costs for the same season were £408 million.

As these figures relate to the 2024/25 campaign, with the accounting period ending on May 31, they do not include Liverpool’s £450m summer spending spree on the likes of British record transfer Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Ekitike.

Liverpool’s chief financial officer, Jenny Beacham, said the figures were welcome but warned tougher times may lie ahead.

“The club does face significant cost challenges, including rises in administrative, staffing and operational costs, alongside the need for us to compete at the highest level of the game, across our men’s and women’s teams.”

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Tottenham manager Thomas Frank has hit back at Arne Slot after the Liverpool boss criticised Micky van de Ven for a “reckless” tackle that left Alexander Isak with a broken leg.

Defender Van de Ven crashed into Isak with a sliding tackle in a failed attempt to stop the Sweden striker scoring in Liverpool’s 2-1 win at Tottenham on Saturday.

Isak, who limped off after Van de Ven’s challenge, underwent surgery on an ankle injury that included a fibula fracture.

The 26-year-old is expected to be sidelined for at least two months after the injury to his left leg.

Slot launched a scathing attack on the centre-back when he faced the media on Tuesday, saying he was guilty of a “reckless challenge”.

“If you make that tackle 10 times, I think 10 times there’s a serious chance that a player gets a serious injury,” he said.

But Frank defended his player in his own press conference.

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“I obviously disagree in many ways,” he said. “We are talking about a defender that will do everything he can to avoid the goal.

“It is a transition, there is a ball down the side, and he is doing everything he can to block the shot, so he is sliding.

“Unfortunately, Isak plants his foot so it makes it look worse than it is, but that is a natural action for a defender.

“Put it this way, if my defender does not do that, they are not true defenders.”

Frank said Van de Ven would not put an opponent’s health at risk with a dangerous foul.

“Reckless challenge? I don’t think you see anything like that from Micky,” he said.

“I see him as a very fair and competitive player. That’s one thing. I know the two players have sorted it out, so that’s a good sign.”

Tottenham’s defeat against Liverpool added to the mounting pressure on Frank.

The former Brentford boss has struggled since arriving in north London in the close-season to replace the sacked Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou ended Tottenham’s 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League, but the poor domestic form that haunted the Australian has continued under Frank’s watch.

Tottenham are languishing in 14th place in the Premier League ahead of this weekend’s trip to Crystal Palace, but Frank remains confident he can turn the tide.

“This is one of the biggest clubs in the world so it makes it a bigger and different challenge,” he said.

“Where this makes it extra challenging is we also play Champions League and Premier League at the same time. We are trying to improve when at 100 miles per hour.”

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Arne Slot said Liverpool have “moved on” from the furore caused by Mohamed Salah’s explosive outburst at being dropped and are showing signs of growing into the side he wants to see.

The Reds begin what could be up to a month without Salah, who is representing Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), away at Tottenham on Saturday.

After a run of nine defeats in 12 games, Slot has steadied the ship in a five-game unbeaten run, during which Salah did not start a single game.

“Actions speak louder than words. We moved on,” Slot told reporters on Friday, referring to his decision to bring Salah on as a substitute in last week’s 2-0 victory over Brighton.

“Now he’s at the AFCON playing big games for himself and the country. All the focus for him is over there and there should not be any distraction of me saying anything because we moved on after the Leeds interview and he played against Brighton.”

Despite a difficult second season for Slot in England, Liverpool sit seventh in the Premier League and would move into the top four with victory against struggling Spurs.

The English champions transformed their squad over the summer transfer window, spending nearly £450 million ($602 million) to bring in Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, and Milos Kerkez.

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Apart from the impressive Ekitike, all the new signings have struggled, and Slot conceded he had been overly optimistic over how long it would take for his new-look squad to perform consistently.

“I think we are getting closer and closer to the team I want us to be and that has gone with ups and downs,” said the Dutchman.

“But for me, that makes complete sense because all the changes we’ve made during the summer, and we made them on purpose because we thought we needed to.

“If I’m completely honest, maybe I didn’t expect it to take maybe as long as it did, but, looking back on it, reflecting on it now, I think I’ve been too positive because if you go with a new group where not all of them are completely ready to play every single game, 90 minutes in this intensity, you have to adapt.

“Sometimes he can play, then he cannot play. So it takes maybe a bit of time, and we’ve been very unlucky.”

Joe Gomez and Cody Gakpo will miss the trip to Tottenham due to injury, but Slot is hopeful that Dominik Szoboszlai will be fit to start. Frimpong returns after a two-month absence.

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Mohamed Salah has been included in Liverpool’s squad for their Premier League match at home to Brighton on Saturday following talks with manager Arne Slot, according to several British media reports.

Both the BBC and Sky said the decision was made with Slot, who had made it clear he would have the final say on whether to recall Salah, wanting to act in the best interests of the club.

The Dutchman had previously said he would speak to Salah on Friday morning following the Egypt striker’s outburst last weekend that raised doubts about his Anfield future and saw him omitted from the squad that travelled to Italy for a Champions League win over Inter Milan in midweek.

Salah accused Liverpool of throwing him “under the bus” after he was left on the bench for last week’s 3-3 draw at Leeds — the third match in a row that he did not start.

He also said he had no relationship with Slot when he spoke to reporters after the match at Elland Road.

On Tuesday, Liverpool won 1-0 at Inter Milan, while the 33-year-old Salah posted a picture on social media of himself alone in a gym at the club’s training ground.

“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning — the outcome of that conversation determines how things will look tomorrow,” Slot told his pre-match press conference.

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“I think the next time I speak about Mo should be with him and not in here. You can keep on trying, but there is not much more to say about it.

“After the Sunderland game (a 1-1 draw on December 3 in which Salah came on as a second-half substitute) there were a lot of conversations between his representatives and ours, between him and me.”

Slot batted away further questions from reporters about the forward, but said: “I have no reasons not wanting him to stay, and that is a little bit of an answer to your question.”

Salah, who signed a new two-year contract at Liverpool in April, which made him one of the highest-paid players in the Premier League, is due to join the Egypt squad for the Africa Cup of Nations after Saturday’s Brighton game at Anfield.

The length of his absence depends on how far Egypt go in the competition in Morocco, with the final taking place on January 18.

Salah, third in Liverpool’s all-time scoring charts with 250 goals in 420 appearances, has won two Premier League titles and one Champions League triumph during his spell on Merseyside.

He scored 29 Premier League goals last season as Liverpool romped to a 20th English league title, but has managed just four league goals in 13 appearances this season.

Liverpool are 10th in the table after a shocking run, with two wins in their past 10 Premier League games.

Salah has been linked with a move to the lucrative Saudi Pro League.

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Liverpool boss Arne Slot said he would speak to Mohamed Salah on Friday morning before deciding on the forward’s availability for this weekend’s match against Brighton.

The Egypt international accused Liverpool of throwing him “under the bus” after he was left on the bench for last week’s 3-3 draw at Leeds, the third match in a row that he did not start.

Salah also said he had no relationship with the Dutch manager when he spoke to reporters after the match at Elland Road.

The 33-year-old was left out of the squad for Tuesday’s Champions League match at Inter Milan, which Liverpool won 1-0, posting a picture on social media of himself alone in a gym at the club’s training ground.

“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning; the outcome of that conversation determines how things will look tomorrow,” Slot told his pre-match press conference.

“I think the next time I speak about Mo should be with him and not in here. You can keep on trying, but there is not much more to say about it.

“After the Sunderland game (a 1-1 draw on December 3 in which Salah came on as a second-half substitute), there were a lot of conversations between his representatives and ours, between him and me.”

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Slot batted away further questions from reporters about the forward, but said: “I have no reason not wanting him to stay, and that is a little bit of an answer to your question.”

Salah, who signed a new two-year contract at Liverpool in April, which made him one of the highest-paid players in the Premier League, is due to join the Egypt squad for the Africa Cup of Nations after Saturday’s Brighton game at Anfield.

The length of his absence depends on how far Egypt go in the competition in Morocco, with the final taking place on January 18.

Salah, third in Liverpool’s all-time scoring charts with 250 goals in 420 appearances, has won two Premier League titles and one Champions League triumph during his spell on Merseyside.

He scored 29 Premier League goals last season as Liverpool romped to a 20th English league title, but has managed just four league goals in 13 appearances this season.

Liverpool are 10th in the table after a shocking run, with just two wins in their past 10 Premier League games.

Salah has been linked with a move to the lucrative Saudi Pro League.

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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot insisted that his relationship with Mohamed Salah has not broken down, even after dropping the star attacker from their trip to face Inter Milan in the Champions League.

“That’s not the way I feel, but he has the right to feel how he feels things. I haven’t felt that at all,” said Liverpool coach Slot to supporters.

The Egyptian forward was not taken to Italy despite training earlier in the day with the first team, after saying he felt like he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club and no longer had a relationship with Slot.

Salah made those comments after he was left on the bench for the third consecutive game in a 3-3 draw against Leeds.

Asked whether Salah, who has scored 250 times for Liverpool since signing from Roma in 2017, had played his last game for the Reds, Slot said: “I have no clue.”

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“I cannot answer that question at this moment in time,” added Arne Slot. “He has every right to feel what he feels, but he doesn’t have the right to share it with the media.”

Liverpool are struggling in ninth place in the Premier League and are in a crisis of form, which has only been made worse by Salah’s criticism of Slot.

Liverpool have won just four times in 15 matches in all competitions and sit 13th in the Champions League with nine points after being thumped 4-1 at home by PSV Eindhoven in their most recent European outing.

Mohamed Salah is the club’s highest-paid player in history, having signed a new contract in April, and played a key role in Liverpool’s two Premier League titles and one Champions League triumph during his iconic spell on Merseyside.

But Salah has been a shadow of his former self during Liverpool’s struggles this season; the Premier League champions are now ninth in the table, with just four goals in 13 top-flight appearances.

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