26/07/2025
Read every word from Slot, who was questioned alongside captain Virgil van Dijk, below…
On his assessment of the game as a whole…
I saw a few good things but I think we also have to improve in certain areas. We got counter-attacked too much today, but that probably also has to do with the fact that we missed out on seven senior players and we wanted to give 20 players playing time. As a result of that, too many players didn’t play in their own position. But we still were able to play our normal game, but we were a bit too open once in a while on the counter-attack.
On whether Liverpool need to address the centre-back position…
I’m looking to my left and I don’t think we have a concern at centre-back! In terms of depth? I think Ryan [Gravenberch] showed today, by the way, that he can play in that position. He did it last season as well. Although we all know we favour him as a No.6. Wata [Endo] can play there. Joe Gomez only has a minor injury, he has been good for us last season as well. We have enough options left. But it’s true that Jarell Quansah left and we haven’t replaced him yet.
On why Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez were not involved and if it was because of speculation about their futures…
In Lucho’s situation it was, yeah. There’s a lot of rumours around him lately and I cannot go into that. He’s training really well with us but we have decided for now not to play him yet. In Darwin’s situation he has trained also really well and played a few good games for us already this season. But he was injured so we didn’t take the risk. It was a little bit the same with Wata – he trained with us for the whole week but we didn’t want to a risk with him as well. That’s part of pre-season; the boys need to go towards match fitness and that’s a thin balance, thin line sometimes. In this situation we thought it was smarter for Darwin and Wata to be out today but I assume they will be there with us when we are in Japan playing the next game.
On whether he has spoken to Diaz about the situation…
Yeah, but I’m used to talking to most of my players on a regular basis. Like I said, Lucho is training really well and we’ve decided that he’s not playing at the moment in the games. I cannot comment much more about that.
On if Diaz wants to leave the club…
That is not the person to ask, me.
On the decision about appointing a new vice-captain and if discussions have taken place…
Yeah, but like I just said, we talk more than you guys maybe think. But it’s not like there’s a vacancy; it’s true that Trent [Alexander-Arnold] left the club but Virgil and Trent already got the help from others as well last season. I think there’s enough leadership in the group at the moment. It is probably already decided but I’m not telling it here yet who will be the new vice-captain, but it’s clear we have more than a few that can take that role.
On the support Liverpool have received in Hong Kong...
Wherever we go in the world, if it was last year in the USA, at Anfield, our away games or we are here in Hong Kong, everywhere we go we feel so much support and love from the fans. That was here today, but it was already two days ago when we trained in the stadium... I don’t think many clubs train in stadiums where 25,000 people are watching a training session. It tells you something about the club, but also about our fans. We are really happy to be here because it is for the new players also nice to see what this club means in the world, not only at Anfield but in the world. I asked Virgil two days ago, ‘Was this the first time you trained [in front of] 25,000?’ and he replied and said in Singapore he’d also trained in front of a lot of people. This is what this club means all over the world and we are happy to be part of that.
On his opinion of Hong Kong overall...
My view has mainly been the training pitch and my hotel room, and the hotel where we eat, but we’ve been welcomed really well. We have a great hotel, we have good training facilities. Of course, the weather is a little bit warmer than we’re used to in Liverpool, but you can stay in Europe and it can be sometimes really warm as well. I think there have only been positives what we’ve experienced until now, apart maybe from the result today. For the rest we could work really good. Most players have stayed fit and we’ve had a lot of help and support from the people of Hong Kong.
On how it felt hearing fans singing his name at the stadium...
Weird in general if they sing for you, especially if you are a manager. If you are a player you maybe get used to that a little bit more – if you perform well, by the way! Most managers, when they sing for them it has something to do with a few bad results and then people start to sing for you. It is nice what Jürgen [Klopp] did back then a year ago and it’s nice to hear it, but my main focus is on the game. I prefer to enjoy what I see in front of me instead of what I hear behind me, but sometimes these things can both happen and that’s the ideal world.
On Liverpool’s work in the transfer window...
I think what I’ve also said is I’m really happy with the squad we had. That’s what we also showed by not bringing in new players last season. Now we won the league, but you can see everywhere around us – in the Premier League but also we play in Europe so we want to achieve things there as well – that all of these teams try to strengthen their squads. So, if you do the same as we did last year we will probably not be able to win it again. So, we have to improve – the players that are still here and we’ve tried to bring new energy in but also ‘weapons’, as you called it, and I think the players we’ve brought in have shown already in the few times we have trained together and the games we’ve played. Now let’s wait how Hugo [Ekitike] is going to do that. Really pleased what we did until now, but already really pleased we kept the players that had an extended contract last season
