Arne Slot press conference: Liverpool 4-0 Bayer Leverkusen, Luis Diaz, intensity and more
Arne Slot saluted the intensity and tactical flexibility his Liverpool side produced in the 4-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield in the Champions League.
The Reds scored four times in the second half on Tuesday night to overcome the Xabi Alonso-managed opposition, with Luis Diaz firing in three of those to net his first hat-trick for the club.
Diaz opened the scoring in the 61st minute and was joined on the scoresheet by Cody Gakpo soon after.
The Colombian grabbed two more goals in the closing stages as Slot's men maintained their perfect start in the competition after four matchdays.
Like many times now, managers change their game plan when they come to Anfield or when they play us – that's also what we saw today. We've seen a lot of games from Leverkusen but I've never seen [Victor] Boniface playing from the left. So, they played without a nine and that's why they overloaded the midfield a lot. It was quite difficult to press them high. But the good thing was that we hardly conceded anything and I think during the first half if there were chances, they were for us. But [in the] second half we could adjust to the game plan of the first half, we took a bit more risks, we were better with the ball as well. Normally they defend more in a 5-2-3, now they defended in a 4-4-2, so they changed quite a lot and we could adjust to that at half-time.
On the decision to play Diaz through the middle...
A few things [why]. I only have four attackers available at the moment with the injuries of Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa, and Darwin [Nunez] didn't play that much in the beginning and then he started to play a bit more. With this fixture list, it's almost impossible to play them all, especially if you haven't played that many games before. So, that in combination with the fact that I think [Jonathan] Tah – who is a real good defender and is one of the best defenders in Germany, maybe the best defender in Germany – maybe likes to play more against a target man, someone who's there in the middle. We chose to play Lucho more from the left or the midfield and then maybe surprise him afterwards with runs in behind – not only him but in general. If you look at the first goal, that played out – what a pass from Curtis Jones.
On whether using Diaz in that role is something he could do regularly...
If we have our injuries like we have at the moment then this could happen, yeah. But that also depends on who is available and how the other team lines up, what the formation is. Last season, I think if both of them played – Cody Gakpo and Lucho – then it was more Cody who played as a nine and Lucho as an 11, and that's also a possibility. But then we had maybe, again, this height from Cody against Tah instead of someone who's a bit more versatile and who drops into the midfield.
On Diaz...
Not only the people in Colombia like and love Lucho, the fans of Liverpool love him a lot as well. I heard many times the fans signing his song. And the manager likes him a lot as well – I don't love him but I like him a lot! He's played many, many games but I just said something about Darwin Nunez: in the Premier League and the Champions League, you have to play so many games at the highest level and it's not always possible for every player to play every game, especially in certain positions. So, if you are a centre-back, normally you run not as much as a left-winger or a full-back or a midfielder – and especially our wingers. But because you all look at the goals Lucho scored and the goals Cody scored, I also look at the fact how hard they track back, how much they have to defend. I ask a lot from them, so that's why sometimes we have to rotate them. But Lucho, for me, is a starter. And I said this three days ago about Cody as well – he's, for me, a starter also.
On whether he's finding it 'easy' managing Liverpool...
No, no. Not at all. You only look at the results but Brighton last Saturday was a difficult one where we were 1-0 behind, we had to fight really hard – and I think that's also what you saw today. We have to work really hard, play with an incredible high intensity to win our games, and that has a lot to do with teams – I heard Bayer Leverkusen saying this as well – they think, and I have to agree with them, that Anfield is the best place to play in, one of the nicest stadiums to play in and against a very good team. So, every team that plays against us is in the top of their game. And if you want to win that, you always have to be consistent in your intensity, and that's not always easy but that is what's needed. And if we can keep producing that then it's still not easy but then we get our wins in and that is what we want.
On whether he feels pressure...
I think if you work at any club around the world, there is always pressure. So for some clubs or some managers, there is pressure not to go down. For some, they have to win a lot. In our position, there is always pressure. This is the pressure we give ourselves as well because if you work for Liverpool or play at Liverpool, as a player or a manager, you know the manager is probably going to come next and so many other great players have set the standard so high over here, so it always feels there is a bit of pressure. But we also embrace this because that is also what we want. We want to be there, where we are now, we want to compete for everything and, therefore, you have to accept that if you work here or play here that there is pressure. The other side is, if you work or play here you can enjoy incredible evenings and enjoy it because today the atmosphere… I said last Saturday, this was impressive – but I think this was even more impressive today.
On whether Liverpool's ability to maintain intensity in the latter stages of games pleases him...
No, I would love to see this from the start but then the other team normally has [the same intensity] because when the game starts everybody is still very fit and there's a lot of intensity from both sides. What I like until now is that we are able to keep producing this energy – and even go a gear higher – and some situations led to the fact the teams we faced – not all of them, but a few of them – had some difficulties with that intensity. But preferably we start like this from the start, but like I said, you have to credit the opponents we played. Brighton had a very good game plan on Saturday; Xabi Alonso – we all know this from him – had a very good game plan today as well, which made it difficult for us in the first half. But even if it is difficult for us, and not difficult in terms of them getting a lot of chances but they have a bit more ball possession than we would like, we still don't concede a lot and that has a lot to do with the work-rate the players put in.
I think many of them [the players] have a lot of goals and assists. I still learn on a daily basis about every player and Curtis is one of them. When I started off, the first game I played him as a six, which you didn't see because it was behind closed doors [against Preston], but that wasn't his best game – from us but from him as well. It's one of his qualities that at this moment he can play in every position because he's in a very good place at the moment. So comfortable on the ball, so you can trust him closer to your defence. But like we saw against Chelsea and I saw today as well, he is also able to penetrate inside the 18-yard box and give the last pass. He's really made a step up after pre-season and that's why he gets his chances now because if players do well – and I have quite a lot of them at the moment – they will get their chances.
On the Kop singing his name towards the end of the game...
It's always better for a manager that this happens than when they start to boo! It's special. It was special from the start and, therefore, I think I have to thank Jürgen [Klopp] because he was the one who came up with the song. It is always special if you are a player if they sing for you. Some players get used to this – I didn't, they only sung a few times for me in my playing career. That's what you see a bit more [and] people singing for a manager is not that common, at least not in Holland but maybe here it happens a lot. So, it was nice to hear today, but I also like it a lot that after that they sang for Xabi as well because he was so special for this club, so he deserves it for this, but also his achievements at Leverkusen – champions last year, won the cup, played a final in Europe. For all these reasons, he deserved the fans to sing for him as well.