New Liverpool coach Arne Slot said Sky Sports He wants his players to assess the “risk and benefit” of situations better than under his predecessor Jürgen Klopp.
The Dutchman has already announced that he wants to have more possession at Anfield than in recent years, and his first opportunity to show this to the home fans will be when he watches the match against Brentford live on TV. Super Sunday this weekend.
Sky Sports Pundit and former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher described some of their moves in the opening weekend win at Ipswich as “out of this world”. Andy Robertson moved Virgil van Dijk into the middle to play as a centre-back, with Diogo Jota scoring a brilliant first goal.
And when Carragher asked him directly about the differences between his team and Klopp's in an interview broadcast ahead of Sunday's game, he pointed to some concrete improvements he would like to see under his new leadership.
“Liverpool used every moment to play the ball back [before]” he said. “That meant the game was a bit open at times, especially in the last half from Jürgen. Sometimes I tell the players to be more cautious in assessing risk and reward.
“So if you can play a few balls in front of the goalkeeper, please try that. If not, keeping the ball is also a good idea. But I'm sure if Jürgen was here now, he would say that he also wants to keep the ball every now and then. In general, I see that some players still try to play the difficult ball, which is no reward for the risk taken.
“I think the reason why players buy [to my work] is that the differences are not that big. There are only small differences between Jürgen and me and the basic idea of how we want to play football is quite similar.”
Sunday, August 25, 4:00 p.m.
Start 4:30 p.m.
Contract rumors continue to circulate about the future of Van Dijk, Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and when asked, Slot stressed that the trio can decide their own fate – but only if they play well enough beforehand.
“The only thing I can do is get the best out of them,” he said. “If we get the best out of them and they perform really well, it will be up to them whether they want to sign and up to us whether we give them a new contract.
“The most important thing for everyone, whether their contract is expiring or not, is to deliver the best possible performance. And I should and will help them with my staff to get the best out of them. So far it has only been positive.”
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Highlights from the Premier League match between Ipswich and Liverpool
“Mo has come back very strong physically, Virgil has done the same, Trent has done the same and they performed well against Ipswich, which was only the first game. My main focus is on Brentford and not on contract extensions.”
Slot will get his first taste of the famous Anfield atmosphere on the home bench against Brentford and is looking forward to the cheers from the stands as he encourages his players to continue their perfect start to the season following last weekend's victory at Portman Road.
“As a coach you want the fans to enjoy watching the team play,” he added. “If the fans see that we play a style they like, they will be much more positive. If they are really positive, it helps the team too.”
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Liverpool manager Arne Slot says he is not worried about Liverpool's lack of transfer activity and says he trusts his current squad
“Usually at most clubs it starts with the players showing a lot of effort and real intensity and then the fans come. Sometimes you see it the other way round and it starts with the fans and then the players come.”
“I hope and expect [the fans to do a job] because when you come here, people talk about the fans and how special this is. We need to play better than we did in the first half against Ipswich.”
Watch Jamie Carragher’s full interview with Arne Slot ahead of Liverpool vs Brentford on Sky Sports Premier League Sunday from 4 p.m., kick-off at 4.30 p.m.
