Merseyside derby preview: Every word from Arne Slot ahead of Everton v Liverpool
Read every word from Arne Slot’s pre-Merseyside derby press conference ahead of Liverpool’s visit to face Everton in the Premier League.
The Reds head coach previewed Wednesday night’s 7.30pm GMT kick-off at Goodison Park by speaking to reporters at the AXA Training Centre.
See everything he had to say in the media briefing on Tuesday morning below…
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On what impact exiting the FA Cup has along with losing the opportunity to win four competitions…
It should have an impact because if you’re working at a club like this you should compete for every trophy. We said this from the start. To go out in the second occasion, so we beat Accrington Stanley, but to lose against Plymouth is of course not acceptable as a team.
Our fans as well are disappointed by that result, now we have to show a different side of us tomorrow, because it wasn’t only the result, the performance was far from what Liverpool standards are as well.
On this game being the final Goodison Park meeting between the two teams…
I think it’s an extra reason why the atmosphere will probably be even better than all the occasions before. I haven’t been to one but people tell me at Goodison Park, as at Anfield, it’s always a fantastic atmosphere. Home supporters are there to support their team and the away fans are mostly loud as well. It’s probably going to be a fantastic atmosphere and that’s never easy to play against because every single time they cross the halfway line, or they get a corner kick, or whatever happens, the fans will cheer for that.
Then you have to be mentally really strong as an away team to resist all that, the complete atmosphere, and you still have to be focused on what you have to do; defending the corner kick, defending the set piece. When you have the ball, be as calm as you can in this fantastic atmosphere. But it’s not the first time for these players that they are playing in atmospheres like this. I hope they can focus on what they have to do, but it’s not only tactical, you also have to stand up to those emotions because I’ve noticed also in the Plymouth game that the intensity of the tackles and how aggressive they were. That was a quality of their players, but it was definitely also because of the emotions in the stadium, so we have to be up for that.
I’ve seen the game of last season, for example, I think we were quite ready because after 10 minutes the referee blew his whistle 11 times and 10 times in favour of Everton! The Liverpool players were ready to compete, but every time they touched them it was a free kick. I assume our players are ready for another battle tomorrow for the simple reason that they have been ready for the whole season and many of them are experienced for this tie.
On how important keeping a ‘cool head’ will be for his players…
Yeah, cool head. But not cool legs. Every time you play against a team that wants to fight with you, and that’s almost every time we play against any opponent, but maybe this one even more, you have to be ready for that. You have to run just as much, you have to be just as intense in tackles, not going across the line, but be cool enough to play a good and firm tackle.
That’s where it starts with, and then nine out of 10 times after 20 minutes the game settles down a bit and then you can start to think even more about playing football. Like I said, last season in the first 10 minutes there were 10 free kicks in favour of Everton, and I think you know what they did with those, they brought them in [the box] every single time and it led in the end I think after about 10 or 15 minutes to their 1-0. So, yeah, cool head, but not cool legs.
On how different this Everton team are now under David Moyes compared to the originally scheduled fixture…
They were to a certain extent [struggling]. I think they picked up some good results as well away at [Manchester] City and I think away at Arsenal as well; some clean sheets, some draws. I think those were very good results from an Everton perspective as well. If you have to play away games like that. I’m aware of the fact that David took over for four games and they’ve won three. That is definitely a great accomplishment from him. They are definitely maybe now in a better place now than they were a few weeks or months ago. The weather circumstances are a bit better maybe as well!
On the amount of draws between the sides in recent history…
That definitely tells you how difficult it is for both teams to win [against] each other. When David Moyes went there in 2002, he took a team that was fighting against relegation and he made it a club that was in the end playing top four. He did incredibly well, but the last few seasons Everton were more
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