At 3:00 am on October 1, in the second round of the Champions League phase, Liverpool will play away against Galatasaray. Before the game, Reds coach Slott attended the press conference and talked about some of the current situation of the team. Abou...
About Chiesa Jr.
-I think he suffered a minor injury in the last game against Crystal Palace. He tried, but failed to complete all the training, so we decided not to let him play because he was going to play against Chelsea in a few days.
About learning from the game against Crystal Palace - whether it's lost, won or tied, if you want to compete for the trophy and wear Liverpool's jersey, you have to go all out and play great football. We gave our opponents a lot of opportunities against Crystal Palace, so we can improve, and I will show these improvements to the players tonight.
About signing Isaac and Ekitic
- I didn't know (my record), and in the 170 games I coached, we usually hold the advantage when we lead 1-0. I have coached two very good clubs, always at the top of the standings, and the players always win games.
We have introduced two No. 9 players, how do you say it? Due to Jota's major tragedy and our continued intention to replace Nunez, we eventually had to bring in two. We were always looking for very good players, but from the beginning we made it clear that we wanted both players (Isaac and Ekitic).
About ball possession rate
-We play football not for the ball possession, but for the goal and win the game. Since the establishment of Liverpool Football Club, the ball possession rate has been higher than other teams, and sometimes the team is happy to defend because they are very strong. The team is managed very well, in good shape, and the offense is getting harder, so we brought in excellent strikers who can help the team break through these obstacles, but it is not an easy task for any team.
About asking Van Bronkhorst about the situation
-Van Bronkhorst is one of my assistant coaches, so he participated in our discussions and preparations, including against Crystal Palace, Everton, Atletico Madrid or Galatasaray. He knows more about Turkish football than other staff members, but in modern football, video analysis is also important, so we take advantage of Van Bronkhorst's experience, just like we use the advantages of other assistant coaches, who is known in the Netherlands for winning trophies.
As for Galatasaray's loss to Frankfurt, I watched it. Galatasaray was very unlucky in that game. Coupled with Frankfurt's strength, they conceded 5 goals. If they play again, they will never concede 5 goals. Other games of the season, Galatasaray won 7 games, conceded only 2 goals, and scored a lot of goals, so, they knew what it took to win the game and we had to be prepared.
About Defense
- In my opinion, defense is about small details, and one of our strengths (last season) is to stop opponents from getting closer to our goal, and it's not just the job of a defender. We conceded four from the set ball, so we replaced the fullback, but made some other adjustments. I will review the situation of conceding the ball in detail, but the first thing I think of is not the new full-back problem.
We need 11 players to work together to prevent the opponent's chances, but even if you work hard, set pieces are a different part of the game. We hardly lost the ball from set pieces last season, so we have to prove that we were just bad luck this time because that does happen, but we certainly need to improve because I see some teams winning Premier League games with set pieces.
About the atmosphere
-Crystal Palace did not take the initiative, but we lost a corner kick, which, by the way, explains the reason for the yellow card. Afterwards, we gave the opponent too many opportunities in the counterattack, and we conceded the ball where we shouldn't have lost it. I wouldn't sit here and say we played well in the first half, and it wasn't actually, but it wasn't that they completely suppressed us.
They passed the ball to our last line of defense several times and then won the second landing point. Galatasaray is a hard team to beat and they have won the first seven games so they are very strong psychologically. It's a very difficult opponent to deal with, but they have their characteristics, you can't compare these two teams, which are different players, coaches and formations.
About Setting Foot
- We have shown that we can defend settling football, but more and more games have become settling football battles. I know it's part of football, but I watched Brentford against Manchester United, where there were 20 minutes of powerful hand throws and goal balls, a style that is becoming more common in the Premier League. In my opinion, the Premier League is more focused on set pieces than other leagues because you can attack goalkeepers more, which is different in Europe.
We have always been strong in set pieces. In the last Champions League game, we won by set pieces, so we must prepare for set pieces very seriously when facing every opponent. In my time, there were no dedicated set piece coaches, let alone meetings, and now set piece meetings are as long as tactical meetings, which shows how much we value set piece. ”
