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Liverpool boss highlights need for ‘difficult balance’ as he struggles family disagreement
Arne Slot discusses disagreements with dad ahead of Ipswich clash
Ahead of his side’s upcoming Premier League clash against Ipswich, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot discussed, among other things, the need to be patient during tough encounters, sharing bits about the conversation he had with his father in the midweek after a testing game against Lille in the Champions League.
That is difficult for fans and my father is a fan as well and when I call him after the game he can also say, ‘It wasn’t as exciting as other games of Liverpool’ when he watched the game against Lille. And then I have to try to explain [to] him that these games you can easily lose if you are starting to force all kinds of difficult balls – but he’s not always agreeing with me then!
But as a manager, I was quite happy with our performance against Lille because they were a team so well organised and [have] so much control, and I think there was one moment in the game I can remember that Curtis tried to play on the halfway line a ball that was a bit of [a] risk and we lost that ball and they counter-attacked us. So, that’s the risk you have if you play against a low-block team. [Nottingham] Forest is probably the best in the league if you play these stupid balls – which I call stupid balls [and] what my father would love to see us playing a bit more. That is the risk of them creating then much more chances.
There’s a difficult balance between taking the risk and conceding a lot, or having control [and] maybe not creating as much. But against this team, going 1-0 down – as we’ve seen against Forest – is an even bigger problem, especially against a low block. So, it’s a balance we have to find and I can understand that it’s sometimes difficult for fans as well that come to the stadium to see us winning but us hopefully scoring a lot of goals and an exciting match. But you need two teams for that and the better we do, the less likely it is that teams come to Anfield and say, ‘Let’s go to a high press and let’s press them all over the pitch.’
Slot, as quoted by the club’s in-house media team.
The victory over Lille has secured automatic qualification to the Round of 16 for the Reds, allowing them to have a more relaxed February compared to the teams who will be needing to try their luck in the playoffs.
The last Liverpool met Ipswich was the first week of this season, as they won the game 2-0 at Portman Road.
TKT Opinion
This moment nicely encapsulates the brilliance of Arne Slot and how he has managed to pick up things at Liverpool where Jürgen Klopp had left them. He comes off in the media as someone with a cooler temper and gets along with the personnel better than his peers. Of course, being top of the Premier League and Champions League tables help, and maybe we shall see him clashing with journalists on the odd occasion when things start going awry.
The “dad disagreement” highlights another way in which Arne Slot has been able to get Liverpool to where they are right now. In a trying test, Liverpool had to make sure they dug in and remained patient, waiting for their opening, instead of losing temper and giving Lille too many chances to strike; Slot has imbibed his own temperament onto this team.
