In an exclusive interview, Liverpool Football Club manager Arne Slot talked about the team's performance, stating that the team had outperformed their opponents in 8 out of 10 matches.
Slot said: “We are well aware of how difficult it is to replicate the brilliant achievements we made last season. We reached the EFL Cup final and came extremely close to defeating Paris Saint-Germain Football Club in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. As for this season, I think it can be said without dispute and fairly: compared to last season, we have indeed had a much harder time this season.”
“But even so, we still have the ability to compete for honors - we have reached the quarter-finals of the Emirates FA Cup and advanced to the round of 16 in European competitions. I believe we have a squad that has proven this season that we have made progress. In the next few years, these players still have huge room for improvement. So, as I have emphasized many times, the future of Liverpool Football Club is bright.”
“We have indeed failed to achieve the kind of consistency we expected, but if we look back at the past two months, I think there have been more positive aspects than negative ones in terms of match results. In my opinion, the only glaring defeat was the one against Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club two weeks ago, but at the same time, we have won quite a few matches recently, which fully proves that both the team as a whole and individual players have made progress.”
“I am 100% convinced that the team's best form is still ahead, because individual players still have room for improvement, and this progress is already happening now. The longer the players fight side by side and the more tacit their cooperation, the better the team's performance will be - this is a universally recognized truth in world football: successful teams often have a core group that has fought together for a long time. And this is exactly the goal we hope to achieve by working together with these players.”
“I know exactly what we lacked in that match, but sometimes, as a head coach, it is better to keep these thoughts to yourself or only tell the players, rather than revealing them to the media, because publicly discussing my views on that match is not always beneficial. For me, what we need to improve in each match is clear, and in the match against Galatasaray Sports Club, we undoubtedly hope to have the opportunity to defeat them.”
“I'm not saying we played the most exciting football I've ever seen, but in ten matches, eight - and possibly more - we outperformed our opponents and created more scoring chances than them. All the statistical data is in our favor, but these advantages are not always reflected in the final score.”
“Even in the match against Galatasaray Sports Club - although it was not our best performance of the season - we had many excellent scoring opportunities but failed to convert them into goals. This season, we have encountered this situation too many times: the opponent's first scoring opportunity often turns into a goal in an instant, which can completely change the momentum of the game.”
“This situation is usually very unfavorable to us. In addition, there are some issues that I need to communicate with the players and improve. However, these details are currently only discussed internally among the players. For multiple reasons, this analysis work has become quite tricky.”
“How should we expect? First of all, because the opponent has just changed their head coach, and in the few matches he has coached before, he has tried a variety of different tactical approaches and formation configurations. Secondly, 8 out of 10 teams often adopt completely different tactical deployments when facing us compared to their previous seven or eight matches.”
“This is because I conduct a detailed analysis of every previous match of the opponent, striving to prepare the players as fully as possible before the game. Therefore, it is quite a common phenomenon in football that opponents often line up in a completely different formation when facing us compared to their previous match.”
