REINFORCEMENT : NICO WILLIAMS SIGNS , £50m TRANSFER , Darwin Nunez Out – ARNE SLOT’S DREAM LIVERPOOL STARTING SQUAD 2024 /2025 SESSION

Slot hits back over tactics – ‘who told you we play 4-2-3-1?’

Arne Slot on whether his Feyenoord tactics translate to Liverpool:

“I was hoping, if people looked at my team, they would not say it’s 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. I was hoping they would say there is a lot of freedom.

“Sometimes it’s a 4-2-3-1, sometimes it’s a 4-1-4-1, sometimes we build up with three. There’s a lot of freedom when we have the ball.

“But when we don’t have the ball, there’s not so much freedom. We want to be aggressive and everyone mostly keeps their position.

“I wouldn’t put myself in the situation where I say I prefer 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1. There’s a lot of players taking in a lot of different positions.

“If you asked me, I would say we played 4-3-3 instead of 4-2-3-1 at Feyenoord. I’m curious who told you we play 4-2-3-1 – maybe they should go to get their license or analyse a bit better!”

Slot hoping for ‘special’ relationship between team and fans

Arne Slot on experiencing Anfield:

“I’ve been there twice, once as a fan and once when they showed me the stadium.

“One of the reasons to join Feyenoord was that it’s nice if you have fans that appreciate your playing style. Everyone will tell you the Feyenoord fans bring more energy to the team than any other fans do.

“This is what has been told to me about the Liverpool fans, too. I also felt what it means for the fans to see the team.

“It’s win-win situation – a very good team to play with and implementing a playing style that is going to be similar and will lead to a lot of enthusiasm from the fans.

“Hopefully it will lead to special things.”

Slot: I must convince the players – regardless of my predecessor

Arne Slot on his message to the players:

“That’s a general feeling – it’s nothing to do with who worked here before.

“As a manager, you go to bed at night and think about what you’re going to do, and what you’re going to tell the players, every day.

“People tend to think we are only thinking about the tactics board – which we do as well – but it’s also about convincing players and the way to talk to them.

“That has nothing to do with being the successor of Jurgen – it’s part of the job to think about how to get the best out of the players as an individual or as a team.”

Slot: Van Dijk, Salah have hunger to stay and win

Arne Slot on whether he feels Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah are still hungry to win trophies having spoken to them:

“I think in general every top player wants to win. I am hoping Virgil wants to win the Euros first, and then when he comes back after a few days of holidays, he will want to win like all players.

“They have the hunger to win. If you don’t have that, you’re not playing for a club like Liverpool.”

On whether he felt Van Dijk and Salah’s hunger to stay at Liverpool when talking to them:

“I did, yes.”

On Cody Gakpo’s performances for Netherlands at the Euros:

“Cody has had a very good tournament, like his last one. The World Cup was really good for him as well. He has been impressive until now and I can only hope that he can continue doing so in the upcoming games.

Hughes: Slot’s style suits Liverpool players

Richard Hughes on criteria used to appoint Slot:

“That playing style that attracted us to Arne is based on subjective footballing opinion and data, as you would expect.

“In all the metrics, Arne’s Feyenoord team came out really well, playing front-foot, attacking football, with intelligence and passion.

“It think it blends really well with our current squad, our supporters and football club as a whole.

“It depends on the players you have and the players you would like to recruit. This style of playing that Arne has is the most attractive to watch, in my opinion.

“I believe it will be so in the opinion of the fans and that is the most important thing.

There is a duty here to play that kind of football and grab games by the scruff of the neck.

“It’s not going to be a hugely different style to what has been successful in the past. We hope to emulate that.”

While Newcastle United recently approached Liverpool regarding a possible deal for Anthony Gordon as they looked to raise funds in order to comply with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules, even if the Reds did sign the England international this summer, he would likely not be back in time to make an unofficial debut against Real Betis due to his Euro 2024 exploits.

Possible Liverpool XI vs Real Betis (4-2-3-1): Kelleher; Bradley, Van den Berg, Quansah, Robertson; Endo, Jones; Elliott, Carvalho, Szoboszlai; Salah.

Other squad members: Pitaluga, Jaros, Davies, Tsimikas, Clark, Chambers, Bajcetic, Phillips, Scanlon, Gordon, Doak, McConnell, Beck, Nallo, Koumas, Danns, Morton, Nyoni.