Slot: Best to judge Isak in the coming months and years
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has defended Alexander Isak after the Swede’s slow start to his Reds career.
The British-record transfer has scored just once in the Carabao Cup since joining the Premier League champions on Transfer Deadline Day, but Slot says that is normal with the player having arrived on Merseyside without a preseason behind him.
And the Dutchman has reminded people Isak has been signed not for today, but for the long term.
“He’s definitely getting closer and closer to where we want him to be,” said Slot in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports ahead of Liverpool’s clash at Chelsea on Saturday Night Football.
“But I selected one clip in the game against Palace where he made a fantastic counter movement, but the player that had the ball didn’t see that movement, which is something you need videos for and where you need to train for and where you have to play a lot of times together to get this feeling for each other.
“The more we get used to him, the more he gets used to his team-mates, the fitter he becomes, the better he will do. But when he came, I said his preseason starts now.
“I think we are three or four weeks into preseason, where a normal preseason takes six weeks for a player to be 100 per cent fit.
“He had to do this in circumstances where we play games and hardly train. So, I think the best way to judge him is in the upcoming months and years when he plays for us, instead of the first few weeks when he’s with us.
“And in the meantime, also, he already scored a goal for us.”
Redknapp backs Wirtz to be Liverpool superstar
Jamie Redknapp has backed Florian Wirtz to be a Liverpool ‘superstar’ after a quiet start to life at Anfield.
He joined the club from Bayer Leverkusen this summer for £116m, but is yet to make a real impact on the pitch.
But Sky Sports pundit Redknapp believes he needs time adapt, pointing to another Liverpool player who had to adjust to life in the Premier League.
Speaking on Premier League Friday, he said: “He’s finding it difficult. He’s come in to a whole different league – the physicality of this league is so intense.
“Florian might have to adjust and he’s going to have to get used to that and be more robust, more difficult to push off the ball.
“I’m so convinced he’s going to be a superstar for Liverpool, it’s just going to take time.
“A prime example is Ryan Gravenberch. For the first year, he couldn’t get into the team, now we’re talking about him about one of the best No6s in the world. That’s how it can change.
“Right now, with the world the way it is, everyone wants things instantly, but he needs a little bit of time.
“Liverpool aren’t quite flowing, but they will. I love the future of Isak and Wirtz because once Wirtz does start to get his confidence up… because he’s second guessing himself at the moment.
“He’s too good of a player. When you watched him at Leverkusen, he was wonderful and he’s going to be a star for Liverpool. He just needs time, patience and love.”
15 hour ago15h ago16:01
Salah feeling Trent’s absence
What’s up with Mohamed Salah?
The Radar column looks at his dip and explains why Trent Alexander-Arnold’s absence is his biggest issue at Liverpool this season.
Mohamed Salah missing Trent Alexander-Arnold’s service at Liverpool, Arsenal’s defence getting stronger – The Radar
20 hour ago20h ago10:45
‘Slot is searching for answers, but there’s a defiance that the best is still to come’
Sky Sports News reporter Vinny O’Connor at the AXA training ground:
“We are trying to find a way that is not about luck or bad luck…..We need to do better and that’s what we’re going to try…..[last season] teams played in a completely different way in the first half of the season against us than they did when we were top of the league and top of the Champions League. I can see this happening in this part of this season and we have to find answers to that.”
Telling words from Arne Slot summing up the challenge facing Liverpool after suffering consecutive defeats for only the second time since he replaced Jurgen Klopp.
This isn’t a knee-jerk reaction to the way Liverpool’s winning start to the season has ended. If you remember, Slot made the point during their winning start to the season, that he would like greater control in games, especially after needing late goals to secure wins against the likes Bournemouth, Newcastle and Atletico, having surrendered two-goal leads.
This is more a considered reaction to the questions being asked of them by opposing teams.
Of course, it had been hoped that the money spent in the summer would provide immediate solutions.
Ultimately, that was probably an unrealistic view given Alexander Isak arrived with little or no preseason behind him; the start to Jeremie Frimpong’s Anfield career has been interrupted by the hamstring injury he suffered on the opening day that kept him out for a month; and some signings need time to adjust to the demands being a Liverpool player in the Premier League, which, you could argue, is why we’ve not seen the best of Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez so far.
Add all of that together and it gives a more accurate picture as to why Liverpool haven’t gelled in terms of their levels of performance. Yet, the foundations for success are there. They are top of the league, three points clear with the opportunity to at least consolidate that at Stamford Bridge.
Slot has not lost three on the bounce at Liverpool. Yes, he’s searching for answers, but there’s an underlying defiance that the best is still to come.
21 hour ago21h ago10:35
That’s your Slot
Right then folks, that is all from Liverpool head coach Arne Slot ahead of the Premier League champions’ trip to take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday Night Football, with the Dutchman having covered these topics in his press conference:
- Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has been ruled out until after this month’s international break
- However, strikers Hugo Ekitike & Federico Chiesa will train today and could still feature at Stamford Bridge
- ‘Quality’ backup goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili has adjusted well ahead of the Georgia international’s Premier League debut at Chelsea on SNF
- Liverpool “inherited” the Alexander Isak situation from Newcastle
- The champions have been “struggling to score from open play” since the second half of last season
21 hour ago21h ago10:07
Alisson ruled out until after international break
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has been ruled out until after this month’s international break.
The Brazil international injured a hamstring in the midweek Champions League defeat to Galatasaray in Istanbul.
“Alisson is not part of the squad tomorrow and he will not travel to Brazil for the national team,” said Reds head coach Arne Slot.
“It depends on how fast the recovery goes but I would be surprised if he is here for the first game after the international break.”
It means summer arrival Giorgi Mamardashvili is set to make his Premier League debut at Chelsea on Saturday.
21 hour ago21h ago10:07
‘I’m not a doctor!’ | Slot’s cheeky response to Alisson injury question
Take a look at Arne Slot’s cheeky response to a question about Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson’s hamstring injury.
21 hour ago21h ago10:05
Slot: It’s been obvious we’ve made a few errors, not just Konate
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot on Konate’s form of late:
“If you lose like we did against Galatasaray and Palace, it doesn’t help if you lose the ball easily. He has been one of them, but not the only one. It happened to him once in both games.
“If you then lose a game of football there is so much focus on that one moment, that suddenly your 90 minutes have been very, very poor. That’s just not the way I analyse the game.
“In the last two games, it’s been obvious and clear that we’ve made a few errors, not just him [Konate] but others, that we’re not used to.
“And if you do things that people are not used to and you lose a game of football, then normally the manager gets criticised.”
21 hour ago21h ago10:01
Slot: We still struggle a bit to find enough goals from open play
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot on Mo Salah’s slump in form:
“I see the same as at the end of last season, where he scored 12 goals, five from a penalty and one from a set piece, so six open-play goals.
“He is part of a team that faces different opposition than the first half of last season.
“If you compare how we won the away game against Man Utd where they tried to play out from the back, and compare with how they played at Anfield, when Onana just kept going long, that’s what has changed.
“Then that is one of the answers why it is more difficult to score open-play goals in the second half of last season and first half of this season.
“What I’m trying to say is we’re not scoring as many open-play goals. This is something we are working on very hard. The more we play in the new setup, the better it will go. But yeah, we still struggle a bit to find enough goals from open play in the second half of last season and the first part of this.
21 hour ago21h ago09:58
Slot on the battle for the right-back berth
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot on Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong having not featured at right back:
“Bradley was out with an injury coming into the season and Frimpong had an injury then as well. I would be surprised if players were complaining when they had been injured.
“Yes they have come back from their injuries, but like with Isak we don’t think it’s possible to come back after three or four weeks out and play three games in a week because you are not prepared for that. We had to adjust in that position with Dominik Szoboszlai, who has adjusted really well, except for the moment he conceded the penalty, but that is just one moment.”
21 hour ago21h ago09:48
Slot: We inherited the Isak situation
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot on Alexander Isak’s form:
“I said to him when he started that the difficult thing is you will have your appearances, but if you add minutes together it probably won’t be more than two or three 90-minute games.
“That’s what we inherited from his situation with not being in the team at Newcastle. So we knew this before so it’s not an excuse.
“He has already scored a goal and is getting fitter and fitter, but the main thing is he has to adjust to his team-mates and they have to adjust to him. The more you play together, the better things will work.
“He had a great counter moment in the Palace game, but the midfield didn’t see it and he had already played the ball to the right. And if he had seen it, he would have been one on one with the goalkeeper.
“So these are the things you get when you do not play together and playing more together is a bit harder than last season because of Alexander, Alexis, Conor and playing Dom, who has played as a No 8 & 10 and a full back for the reasons I said.
“But in my opinion we are too focused on this season, but the second part of last season had a lot similarities to the start of this season, except the second half of last season we scored seven goals set-pieces goals that led to a lot of wins. And this season we’ve already conceded four.
“Tomorrow we play Chelsea and they have scored more than 50 per cent of their goals from set pieces and this is the new reality in the Premier League.
“This season we have had many good chances from set pieces , but unfortunately we did not score from that.
“Ibou had big chances against Galatasaray and Palace. I’m happy with the amount of chances we are generating from them, is that luck or bad luck? I would say we have been unlucky, but we need to score more.
“I don’t see us doing much different, but other teams are. Teams are now playing totally different against us than when I first came here and we have to find answers to that. Last season it was set-pieces, this season we haven’t done that yet.”
22 hour ago22h ago09:35
Slot: We need to do better and that is what we are trying
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot on recent back-to-back defeats:
“If the reaction is after you lose to Palace, you lose again to Galatasaray, that is not positive, but I saw a team that wanted to try everything from the first to the last second to get a result.
“It was different to the Palace game, we won much more second balls and were like in the Palace game close to a result. And I said many times last season that the margins were so small and that’s the same this season again.
“We are trying to find a way that isn’t about luck, or bad luck, or a set-piece goal that is scored against, we are that just better than that.
“So it does not matter of Ekitike goes through one on one with the goalkeeper, he twice gets a pull on the shoulder, but he does everything to stay on his feet like our players mainly do.
“And then one second later in our 18-yard box, one of their players goes down with what appears the worst hit he ever had and the referee gives a penalty. Again, this can happen and we should be better than that and it does not matter if you have bad luck, or you are smart or not smart, or you score a set-piece goal, or you concede two against Palace.
“By the way, we would not have lost against Palace if we had had the referee against Galatasaray as he blew up immediately after eight minutes! But we need to do better and that is what we are trying.”
22 hour ago22h ago09:23
‘Mamardashvili is a quality goalkeeper’
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot of Giorgi Mamardashvili making his Premier League debut at Chelsea on SNF:
“We have seen against Southampton how well he has adjusted. We knew we were bringing in a very good goalkeeper. But when he plays his first game, it’s always the best way of seeing he’s adjusted well or not, and we seen in that game against Southampton he adjusted really well to our club, which isn’t a surprise as he is a quality goalkeeper.
“Now he can do what Caoimhin has had to do so many times in the past by replacing Alisson. Hopefully in a way like Caoimhin did so many times.
“I’m not a doctor, so I can’t tell you if it’s every time the same [hamstring injury]. I’m mainly interested in is can he [Alisson] play on the weekend and how long is it going to take? There are other people in the club who can give you a better answer to your question.”
22 hour ago22h ago09:15
Slot: Alisson out until after the international break | Ekitike to train today
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot on the injuries suffered by Alisson & Hugo Ekitike:
“Alisson is not part of the squad tomorrow [at Chelsea on Saturday] and won’t travel to Brazil as well with the national team. So he will be out for Saturday.
“Hugo is going to train again today [Friday] and let’s see where he is and the same can be said for Federico [Chiesa]. So we have to wait and see after the session.
“That depends on how fast the recovery goes, so it is clear he will not play for Brazil if he is not playing on Saturday. And I would be surprised if he’s there for first game after international break, but from then on things can go a bit faster, or slower.
“So it is always difficult to say the exact amount of days and weeks, but for the upcoming games, he will not be part of for us or the Brazil team.”
22 hour ago22h ago09:02
22 hour ago22h ago08:58
How long will Liverpool be without Alisson & Ekitike?
Just to mark your cards folks, with Liverpool head coach Arne Slot set to speak to the media at 9am ahead of the Premier League champions’ huge clash at Chelsea on Saturday Night Football.
There should be a lot on the Dutchman’s agenda this morning after Liverpool suffered back-to-back defeats in the Premier and Champions League this past week – the Reds will be looking to avoid losing consecutive top-flight games for first time since April 2023.
Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool: Jamie Carragher says Arne Slot’s side are not playing like a top team and calls for Florian Wirtz to come out of the side
As well as those losses at Crystal Palace and Galatasaray, Slot is sure to be quizzed about injuries to both Alisson and Hugo Ekitike, with the Brazil goalkeeper having already been ruled out of the trip to Stamford Bridge.
Meanwhile, big-money summer signing Florian Wirtz’s form will also come under question ahead of a tricky-looking trip to west London, with Liverpool having not won any of their last 4 games at the Bridge.
22 hour ago22h ago08:47
‘We’d expect them to now bounce back from those setbacks’
Sky Sports News reporter Vinny O’Connor at the AXA training ground:
“Arne Slot has made the point, even before the last two defeats, that Liverpool needed to improve their performance levels.
“And that was then borne out in those two defeats, before which they had a 100 per cent record in the Premier League and Champions League.
“They have lost games against a very good Crystal Palace side and in a difficult environment in Istanbul against Galatasaray – prior to that, they had shown the kind of mentality we had come to expect from them to get late goals.
“And we would expect them to now bounce back from those setbacks, but we need to find out about their squad, with the injuries to Alisson and Ekitike, when we hear from Slot at 9am.”
2 Oct2 Oct14:07
Boost for Liverpool? Ekitike gets France call-up
Hugo Ekitike has been called up to the France squad in what could be a boost for Liverpool amid his injury news.
The striker was named in Les Bleus’ side for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Iceland.
Ekitike limped out of Tuesday’s Champions League game against Galatasaray with injury and is a doubt for Saturday’s trip to Chelsea, live on Sky Sports.
But Ekitike’s inclusion in the France squad could hint at the injury not being serious.
Ekitike has been called up by France amid other injury woes to Ousmane Demeble, Desire Doue, Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot – who is without goalkeeper Alisson for the weekend after his Istanbul injury – said of Ekitike’s blow: “He felt something when he had to reach for the ball. After the game, that’s always the difficult thing with these moments.
“Sometimes you feel, it’s not too bad. But when you walk around, it’s something different – or if you have to sprint, and have to take a shot on target.
“He said he couldn’t continue so we had to take him off. Let’s see how he is for the weekend.”
Ekitike and Alisson injuries compound disappointment for Liverpool
Sky Sports News’ Vinny O’Connor:
“The added disappointment of picking up two injuries [in loss to Galatasaray]. Hugo Ekitike seemed to be a case of Arne Slot thinking it would not be too serious.
“The bigger worry was Alisson; he stayed down after making a save. After the game, we saw him walking through the mixed zone with a limp.
“It seems like there will be no Alisson for the weekend so [Giorgi] Mamardashvili will be set for his Premier League debut as Liverpool look to avoid three defeats on the spin.”
Creidt: www.skysports.com
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