Arne Slot had much to say ahead of Liverpool's match at Anfield against Brentford.
Liverpool will face Brentford on August 25th at Anfield in what will be manager Arne Slot's first competitive home match as Reds boss. His first match as Liverpool manager saw the club earn a 2-0 away win over newly promoted Ipswich Town. Now, the focus has turned to Brentford, who won their opening Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace, 2-1.
The pre-match media availability provided plenty of insight into Arne Slot's thoughts ahead of the match.
The best highlights from Arne Slot's presser ahead of Liverpool's Brentford clash
Arne Slot hopes for "loud" home crowd at Anfield
Liverpool's trip to Portman Road last week saw the club face a passionate atmosphere from the home Ipswich supporters. With the East Anglian club having its first taste of Premier League action in 22 years, it was always expected to be a crowd that cheered after every tackle and every pass forward. Despite the atmosphere, Liverpool found a new level in the second half of that match to secure its first win of the campaign.
Ahead of Slot's first Anfield fixture, he was asked about what he expects an even bigger crowd to feel like and if there was any nervousness about playing in such an environment. Slot made it clear that it doesn't feel a sense of nervousness as everyone is well prepared for the match.
""I hope they're twice as loud as the Ipswich crowd because the Ipswich crowd was really loud... but no I am not nervous at this moment, certainly not as I am in the middle of preparation, preparing the team.""Arne Slot ahead of Brentford clash
Trust being built between Arne Slot and his players
With the transfer window still open, Slot is still being questioned about incomings but the Dutch boss continues to be tight-lipped about what might happen as we edge closer to the window deadline. When asked about the lack of transfers into the club, Slot remained clear that his trust in the squad means he has no worry about the activity on the market.
""I trust the team. Like I've said many times before I inherited a very good squad, [there's] young players as well, and as we know young players at the age they are can develop. We trust them alot and they've proven last week that they earned this trust."Arne Slot on transfer activity
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Slot praises Thomas Frank's work at Brentford
After promotion from the Championship in 2021, Brentford has established itself as a top-flight side, and that is thanks in part to work done by their manager, Thomas Frank. The Danish coach has been with Brentford since 2018. When asked about how Brentford play, Slot praised the tactical systems in place set-up by Frank.
""You can see [Thomas Frank] has been there for a long time. In their last game, you could see they could play a 4-4-2 or a 5-3-2. So they can change systems within a game. It's so difficult to bring the best out of them in one system, so if you can play two systems with them... you have to make the conclusion Thomas Frank is doing a real good job with them over there.""Arne Slot on Thomas Frank
More on Jarell Quansah's substituion against Ipswich
Jarell Quansah came off against Ipswich Town at half-time for Ibrahima Konate in what Arne Slot cited as a tactical change post-match. Slot's comments suggested that he felt Quansah was losing too many aerial duels and that to stop Ipswich from gaining possession downfield, Konate needed to come on to switch things up. When asked again about the situation, with some media suggesting Quansah was thrown a bit under the bus, Slot brought some clarity.
""[Quansah] reacted in a way I think every player should have reacted. I don't think there was that much into it... although maybe the language [barrier] was a problem. What I said was he did not lose every duel but he lost one or two important ones. He did not lose every duel, we as a team lost too many duels. The only threat at that moment was [Liam] Delap and he won one or two duels... and I was trying to get that strength out of their team by bringing in Ibou [Konate]." "
Slot mentioned that Quansah picked up a slight injury on Tuesday but did not confirm his status for the Brentford match.