“Let’s first start winning again, that is my main focus. Contract negotiations, if there are any, we never talk about that here,” said the troubled Dutch trainer at the press conference.
Slot has lost six times in the past seven matches in all competitions. Earlier this week, the national champions lost 0-3 to Crystal Palace in the League Cup. Due to yet another defeat by the Reds, Slot’s position seems to be under increasing pressure.
Arne Slot defends choice after cup defeat B-team Liverpool, but English media do not understand: ‘Big mistake’
Slot: “My focus now is not so much on looking back at what happened, but more on how we can achieve a good performance on Saturday. For now we focus on the future and how we can achieve a good result, or at least a good performance against Aston Villa.”
Slot does not think his selection is too narrow. “We are not missing anything. I am completely satisfied with the team and with all the quality we have. I am also completely convinced of our strategy and the policy we have. But the problem – if you can call it a problem – is that not everyone has had a good preparation or has been injured.”
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No excuses
“If there are three or four injured, you fall back to sixteen players. I am firmly convinced that twenty or twenty-one players are enough, but you have to keep them fit, just like last season. We are having a little more difficulty with that now. A number of players have missed preparation or had injuries.”
“It was more difficult than last season to keep them all available, and if a few are not available it largely comes down to the same players. Maybe we were more lucky last season and more unlucky now. But there are no excuses for our results.”
| Position | Team | P | GS | W | V | G | DS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | +13 | |
| 2 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | +5 | |
| 3 | 17 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | +10 | |
| 4 | 17 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | +4 | |
| 5 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | +10 | |
| 6 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | +1 | |
| 7 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | +2 | |
| 8 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | +1 | |
| 9 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | +6 | |
| 10 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | +3 | |
| 11 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| 12 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | +1 | |
| 13 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | -1 | |
| 14 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | -3 | |
| 15 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | -5 | |
| 16 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | -5 | |
| 17 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | -5 | |
| 18 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | -12 | |
| 19 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 1 | -13 | |
| 20 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 2 | -12 |