Arne Slot on Challenges of the International Break

Yesterday at 02:00 PM

The Liverpool boss is adapting to the league as we go

In his pre-match press conference Liverpool head coach Arne Slot minimized the challenges in returning from the international breaks to the pace and challenge of the Premier League — though he echoed some of Jürgen Klopp's concerns:

Last time, I said before the Chelsea game that I am not so worried or think that much about the first game after the international break. My main worry is always the game plan of our opponent and the style they play — that makes a game difficult.

I don't think back then against Chelsea it was also about the time we started the game, [if] it was the early kick-off. That can have a bit of influence on the game but the most influence is always our own game plan, our own intensity we play with, compared to the team we face and their game plan.

That is always the biggest challenge there is and all the other things are only small, or smaller, details than the ones I just mentioned.

Slot did speak in more detail on how selections are made following the international minutes and travel distance:

It's a bit of everything...you talk to the players. You want to hear from the medical and the performance staff and what they feel about it. Then you listen to your own technical staff and then you look at the opponent you play and see what is the best team to select.

It's a bit of everything but that's not different to any other game.

The only difference there is now that you always wonder the players who have played in South America how they come back. [They] normally [have] jet lag as well. That's the only difference maybe between team selection for now than for all the other games because in all the other games you also look at the players and get the information from your staff members and look at the opponent.