Arne Slot's Pre Match Tottenham Hotspur Press Conference | Everything You Need To Know
Liverpool will be hoping to top the tree come December 25 with a win over Tottenham Hotspur in Sunday’s late Premier League kick-off. The Reds head into the huge game on the back of a 2-1 win over Southampton in the Carabao Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Arne Slot Rules Out Two Key Liverpool Players Ahead Of Tottenham Clash
Arne Slot's side will face Tottenham, who defeated Manchester United 4-3 in a two-legged tie next year for a place in the final at Wembley Stadium. The Reds have lost only once in their 24 matches under Slot in all competitions – against Nottingham Forest back in September.
Slot has already confirmed Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley will not be available for the game as they continue to step up their rehabilitation from their respective injuries they picked up against Real Madrid in the Champions League last month.
Ahead of the Tottenham clash, the Dutchman spoke to the media during his pre-match press conference.
When asked about his reaction to the Carabao Cup semi-final draw versus Tottenham:
"Interesting game but I think every draw would’ve been interesting because, I don't know if it's always the situation in England, but four top teams were still in the draw. So, there was not an easy one. Now, with Tottenham especially, with us playing them on Sunday and then in January we play them again, so [it’s] interesting draw."
Slot was asked about Tottenham's style of play:
"I really have to give them credit because if I look at Tottenham and I come from Holland, but I did watch a lot of Match of the Day, I think about [David] Ginola, Paul Gascoigne, Glenn Hoddle, and more recently [Luka] Modric and, for me, Rafael van der Vaart... and Gareth Bale.
"They've always been a certain brand in football for me and have a certain identity. I think Ange Postecoglou gives them that identity back completely.
"It's every time a joy to watch them and sometimes results once in a while go against them, but I think they were one of the teams that beat [Manchester] City, like us, not all of them beat them in the manner like we and Tottenham did, because it was completely deserved in these two situations... it's great work that Ange is doing over there.
"I hope this has been seen a bit more. I also hope, hope, hope that he wins a trophy - not the League Cup! But I'm completely a fan of his team for the Europa League because people always talk about trophies, trophies, trophies [and] that it's so important.
"For his brand of football and his style, it is so much more important and if he can combine that with winning something that would be so good for football in general because people can stop talking about it's too attacking or whatever. How an earth can you play too attacking football?"
READ MORE: Tottenham Could Be Without Nine Players For Premier League Tie Against Liverpool
Slot was asked about his views on the Premier League table with Chelsea potentially being top ahead of Liverpool kicking off on Sunday:
"I look at it like I’ve said after three, four, five months. Just the table after 19 games, because then everybody has played the same opponents. Probably we all had a bit of the same bad luck and bit of the same luck. That means Arsenal, for example, had a lot of red cards in the beginning of the season, which is why they dropped points.
"Now we were unfortunate to receive a red card and we dropped points as well. We still have Tottenham away which were games that - I compare now with Arsenal - they had to play at the beginning of the season. Chelsea already played there so [we] don't look at it where you were during the season, it's about where you are in the end of the season. The best other moment to judge the season is halfway."
When asked about whether it's difficult to 'know what to expect' from Tottenham after recent results:
"They are consistent in their playing style and what they want. For me they are sometimes a bit unlucky as well because what happened yesterday [against Manchester United] they dominated the game. They always like to attack.
"Sometimes they play with three attackers then with two attacking midfielders [and] the full backs join so much. For me they were so unlucky. People say why do you bring the ball out from the back because they lost the ball and then the second one the goalkeeper wanted to kick it away, which is what everyone wants then, but it's still a goal.
"So, 4-3, I don't think there are many season ticket holders in the country that can say they watch so many great games. Maybe the ones at Liverpool! I think it is a privilege to be a season ticket holder at Tottenham. It's a privilege to be a fan of them at the moment because they play such a great style and it's not like since Ange arrived they don't win anything anymore.
"Before that they were not a club that won many things, but they always won the sympathy or the fans in Europe, maybe also in England as well, I don't know, but definitely in Europe because of the style of play they had. That is something which you cannot underestimate. If I think about Spurs, I think about the shirt, the playing style and their identity and certain players. For me, he brought that back completely."
Slot was asked about the boost of Harvey Elliott returning to his squad:
"Every time a player comes back from an injury, or a player is available, it’s a boost for us and for the team because it has shown now many times already that we need every player. You saw this in the Fulham game, so you're talking about the Southampton game, I am talking about the Fulham game, the way Diogo [Jota] came in and Harvey came in, the impact they had, Darwin [Nunez] with an assist as well.
"In this league, especially if you also play Premier League and you're still in the League Cup and in the second half of the season we get the FA Cup also, it's so important to have all your players back and Harvey is one of them."
When asked about whether Federico Chiesa is 'getting stronger and closer to where he wants him to be':
"He definitely is. You see him on the pitch, which means he’s getting stronger and he's getting better. He had to adapt for quite a long time. I've said so many times, [it is] as [to be] expected if you miss team training sessions for so long and then you go to a league where the intensity is so high as well, and to a team that plays with a lot of intensity. Yes, he is getting strong, but he is also facing competition in the right wing position."
Slot was asked about whether he is asking 'new things' of the players:
READ MORE: EFL Cup Semi-Final Draw LIVE - Liverpool To Face Tottenham Hotspur
"No, I don’t think new things. I think it’s constantly getting them aware of the same things, coming back to this every time. Sometimes you have a lot for our attacking play, final-third play or build-up and then you feel like we have to work on our defence again.
"Then, after three or four weeks, you feel not it’s time to talk about build-up or our final third again. So it's just getting the message across as much as we can because it’s normal, not only with football players, but with my children as well - if you don’t tell them a few things regularly enough they tend to forget these things! That’s why this constant repetition is so important for a team.
"I don't think we do a lot of new things - maybe small details because football changes and you have to adapt wherever you can and introduce new things. The main message has always been the same and it's about repetition."
When asked about Trent Alexander-Arnold's quotes about his ambition to be remembered as the best right-back of all time:
"I definitely like this in a player, I think this is something every player must have if you play at this level. If you don't have this, you probably don't play at this level.
"As long as they understand they need the team to be special as an individual, as long as they put the team first and as a result of that be special themselves. That is what they all do including Trent. All the top players have this, they want to be special, they want to be the best.
"If that's not what you have I think it is so hard to put the effort in to stay fit, to play, to be good every three days. You always see them during the game and then you probably feel like, 'What a life these players have' - and that is true, they have a great life but they have to put a lot of work it to be able to be at their best every three days.
"That's not given to everyone, that mentality and that discipline. Therefore, that's the mentality of a top player and part of that is that you need and want to be the best possible player in your position, or the best player in the world.
Slot was asked about dealing with the pressure of being a football manager:
"It is true in certain situations there is a lot of scrutiny and pressure, but once in a while it’s also a nice job to have. It's not only negative. I experience this job in the last four or five months, and I know we've won a lot, as actually only positive.
"Of course there is pressure, but I haven't felt scrutiny. Maybe there was some scrutiny after the Nottingham Forest game, but that doesn't always come to you. If you lose a few more then there might be some negative emotions as well.
"It's not only negative for me, especially 2024, I only look back at it as positive. It's true because this room is filled in here now and there are probably many, many people at home giving their opinions as well on social, it is true people have a lot of opinion about us, but sometimes that is also a positive. It's not only negative."
READ MORE: Ibrahima Konate Offers Fresh Liverpool Injury Update On Instagram
LFC Transfer Room Football Correspondent. Covered the fortunes of Liverpool for the past three years. Follow Joseph on X (formerly Twitter) @joseph_agbobli