I was at Arne Slot press conference and he gave perfect Liverpool answer to difficult Italian question
Arne Slot was asked whether his Liverpool team would be "scared" of facing AC Milan
Arne Slot during the Press Conference - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD1 training and press conference at AXA Melwood Training Centre on September 16, 2024(Image: John Powell/John Powell)
Arne Slot doesn't do booming statements when he speaks to the media, but the Liverpool boss struck the perfect note when asked by an Italian journalist about AC Milan's vaunted reputation in the bowels of the San Siro on Monday evening.
While maintaining a healthy level of respect for the seven-time champions of Europe and one of the great names of the world game, Slot insisted that lofty standing did little to intimidate a Liverpool team aiming for back to back wins against the Rossoneri in their own backyard.
"The word scared was used in the translation," Slot said "I don't think any manager or any team is scared to play the other team but we have a lot of respect for the quality of the players and the history of AC Milan.
"They have quality players, we're not scared but we do respect all their players. They have shown they are in good form with a very good 4-0 win. So we respect Milan a lot but scared is not the word we would use.”
Respect? How could you not. But fear? No. That’s not the done thing at Liverpool. As tones go, it was pitch perfect from a head coach who is growing into the part. The Reds boss doesn't seem like the type of man to get misty-eyed or emotional at his own progress but the Dutchman will surely reflect that he is heading in the right direction in his career as he takes charge of the six-time champions of Europe in one of football's true cathedrals on what will be his 46th birthday on Tuesday evening.
"I think it is the first time that my birthday is not so important tomorrow," Slot said. "It's a big game for me but also a big game for us because it is a big game, and it is the next game and the next game is always the most important one as you know. But because of the history that these two teams have, the venue that it is played in, it is one to look forward to."
Asked about his rotation policy - or rather lack thereof - after Saturday’s shock reverse at home to Nottingham Forest, Slot rejected the theory that the decision not to rest several of international stars was the root cause for a first defeat as Reds boss.
“At Feyenoord indeed we didn’t rotate a lot. For me it is too simple to put the loss on rotation. It’s because I think too many players didn’t reach their normal level. That was not only the ones that started but also the ones that came in.
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“For me it had a lot to do with the playing style of the opponent, who made it really difficult for us.
"In the end, if you don’t win you try to look at as many arguments as you can find. I ask myself the question ‘does it have to do with the things you said [rotation] but I prefer to look at the game back at what we did well and what we didn’t do well.
“I think we could have done a lot of things much better that was not related to rotation but we would never know if I rotated three or four players if we would have won them.
“I think the day before the game someone said 10 of our players started for the national team. Which ones were completely rested then? The rotation now I can do something about it in the upcoming games because they’re all with me but before that we were with the national team and almost all of them played 90 minutes twice.
“We tried to prepare them for that. For me this loss didn’t have to do with rotation, it was more to do with the opponent and us, too many players not bringing what they can bring