Arne Slot speaks
I don’t know if it was that much to do with intensity [in the second half] but we took more risk and weren’t afraid to play one v one. They overloaded the midfield and had a striker who played from the left wing so we adjusted a bit and half-time to play one v one all over. That’s why we got the initiative, I think, apart from being a bit better on the ball than we were in the first half.
They had a lot of possession in the first half because they played without a No9 but in my opinion they weren’t a goal threat at all. But you always prefer to have the ball more.
[You put Luis Diaz up front and he scored a hat-trick – that must feel good] Yeah yeah, the last goal was from the left! We thought maybe a strong striker and a target man wouldn’t fit as well as somebody who is very fast over the first few metres. But it needed an incredible pass from Curtis Jones and then Lucho finished it off brilliantly.
[Could you have imagined it going this well in the first three months?] No. You never look that far ahead, you only look at the next opponent. You’re always a bit frightened of them: ‘Oooh they have this player, that player, how are we gonna handle that? What is the gameplan?’ It’s always one game at a time.
[Slot is asked a question about the players whose contracts are up in the summer, and ignores it] Virgil was criticised in the Dutch press after the Euros for not wanting to step into midfield. Now. I would advise all those people to look at the game today because he was constantly on the front foot. He had a very good game, Mo had … three assists did he? Two or three? And Trent, yeah, like he usually does. It’s good to have them in a good place and they’re really important for Liverpool.
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