Arne Slot Exclusive Interview: Liverpool boss says Manchester United showdown will provide ultimate measure | Football News

In an interview room at Liverpool's training ground decorated with signs commemorating six European Cup winners, a senior staff member provided a concise summary of the new manager ahead of his conversation with Arne Slot.

“He doesn't pursue romanticism, but he triumphs,” he said.

The 45-year-old, who has had a flawless start to his career, joined the pack by refusing to take an emotional approach ahead of their Super Sunday clash with Manchester United. Sky Sports.

Slot believes poetry happens on the pitch, not in front of the press. He wants supporters to be captivated by Liverpool's football, not his soundbites.

Sunday, September 1st at 3:30pm

Starts at 4pm

He has a pragmatism that extends to the team's playing style, and his discipline and control when on the ball have improved significantly.

The slot refuses to be swept away or faded, and the expected form comes after their first two wins this season against Wexwich and Brentford.

He says Sky Sports News The showdown at Old Trafford is where Liverpool's true potential will be measured.

Arne, two wins in a row. One of the most notable elements so far has been Liverpool's control when they don't have possession. Was that one of the key changes you were trying to introduce?

It was a good start, but I said after the Brentford game that we have to understand the competition we face. Brentford and Ipswich are two really good teams, so I want to respect what they did, and it was really hard to play against them.

But we still have a lot to prove, as we don't expect them to be in the top six. And if you talk about control, going to Old Trafford is one of the places that is hard to control. And even if you are in control, they can still beat you at every moment.

So if we can do something similar to what we did against Ipswich and Brentford on Sunday, it will be a big test for us. It was a good start, but we will see exactly where we are in the coming games and hopefully we can show the same. If not, we will work really hard to do the same in other big games.

It's clear that the standards are very high, because you don't want to get excited. But it's comforting to know that the team has adapted very quickly to your needs. The style hasn't changed much, but there are differences that they noticed pretty quickly…

Yes, but I think the main reason for this is that there are far more similarities than differences between the old and new styles.

And it is completely normal that there is something new. If Jurgen (Klopp) had stayed, he would have implemented something new. So football is evolving or changing. You always try to find new ways to surprise your opponents.

But what we've done is we've kept a lot of things the same, and so it's not that hard for the players to understand what we're asking them to do. We're just continuing to ask for consistency.

We don't ask them to do that much new. We ask them to do what they've already done well, and we ask them not to do it 6 times out of 10, but to do it 10 times out of 10.

That's the ideal world. They'll do it 10 times out of 10, and that's what we're trying to do every day. And if you're playing United, you're going to need that because if you don't switch up for a second or a minute, they can hurt you on the counterattack. So we have to be ready.

Was the build-up different this week given the match situation?

I already felt the players were looking forward to this game after Brentford, but if we do this week completely differently, if the players are completely different in this game than in every other game, I don't think they will be treated fairly in all the other games we play.

Yes, we know the importance of this game, but it would be strange if we did something completely different this week than other states, because that wouldn't be a good thing either.

You've mentioned counter-attacking a few times when talking about Manchester United. Is counter-attacking the main thing you're focusing on defending on Sunday?

No, I think they have a lot of threats, but one of them is the counter-attack. So we talked about control, and if you talk about control, one of the things you want to prevent is the counter-attack. So I used the word counter-attack a few times, but United have a lot more weapons than the counter-attack this season. So we'll prepare the team for that. And let's see how it goes.

Erik Ten Hag has been very complimentary about your start as Liverpool manager and your view on football. Have you ever met each other?

We had a management meeting a few weeks ago. We saw each other. We saw each other occasionally when we were in the Netherlands, but not like going out for lunch or dinner.

But when you play against each other, you talk to each other and you get to know each other little by little, and I know Eric, but I don't know enough about his personal life to talk about how he works. Of course, I know how his team plays, but that's what I know from every manager I'm going to meet in the next few days.

You've talked about your personal life there. Have you had a chance to personally adapt to the city of Liverpool? Do you have a favorite place?

As a Liverpool manager you could say you have no private life, but that's a bit of an exaggeration. I think I'll be back in Holland for a few days next week, so I think I'll feel like I have some private life again. Here, most of my private life is at home.

And sometimes I went to a few restaurants, which was nice. And I like what I do, so I came here not to enjoy my private life, but mainly to enjoy my life as Liverpool manager, and that's why I came here. I've enjoyed it a lot so far.

My privacy – especially when my family comes to visit – is better, but right now they are on vacation so I am alone, but that will be the case in the coming weeks and months.

Before you walk through that door, you probably have an idea of ​​what it's like to be a Liverpool manager. Is it what you imagined?

I'm not one of those people who, the night before my first game at Anfield or my first time coming to this building or to Old Trafford, thinks, 'Oh, what will tomorrow be like?'

Have your interests changed?

To be honest, I don't feel like I've gotten that much media attention while I'm here, and it's probably going to come with a loss. So we'll have to wait and see, and hopefully it'll take a long time for it to happen.

You joked about focusing on transfers, but it seems to me that you are the type of manager who prefers to make improvements on the training ground rather than always looking for solutions in the market.

There are two ways to improve and strengthen the squad, one of them is definitely on the training ground, and the second is to bring in new players, but as I have said many times, it is not easy to bring in players of our level at this club, because the players I have already brought in are really high-level players.

We don't have to do much in the market because we have almost every position that we double, and we only act if there is a good opportunity to improve the team and the players want to come to us. And I'm very satisfied with the players I have so far, and I think they have earned this trust in the first two games.

About covering almost every position. So is it difficult to keep all the players happy and share the time? With the Trent Alexander-Arnold incident, is it difficult to keep everyone as happy as possible?

Yes, but that's the hardest thing in any coaching job. Right now, I've got 21 players on the training pitch today, and they're all working really hard and they all deserve to play 90 minutes, but unfortunately they can't.

And the most important thing is that everyone accepts that I have to make choices, and sometimes I'll be right, and sometimes I'll be wrong, but ultimately, they accept the choices I make. So far, they've done really well.

And I don't think the Trent situation was about not accepting my decision at all. At least for me, it was bigger than that. So everyone has accepted it so far. But it also has to do with the fact that we won the first two. And you are tested as a team, and of course as a manager. When you start losing points, it's even more so. But again, I hope that won't happen in the near future.

Watch Man Utd v Liverpool live on Sky Sports Premier League from 3.30pm on Sunday. The match starts at 4pm.