Slot: I'm Learning This Team "Day By Day"
Today at 03:30 PM
The head coach reacted to Liverpool's 3-0 victory against Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.
Arne Slot now has six games under his belt. Five were successful, one was not. That's a pretty good ratio for a new manager on any team. Saturday's afternoon match against Bournemouth has another banger where the Reds ended up on top 3-0. That's four clean sheets in five league matches, an impressive feat for the team.
After the game, Slot said that every game is teaching him something new about the players and how they operate.
"I said to them today in the pre-match meeting that I learn from them day by day and I was really curious to see how we would react after the Milan game," he said. "What I know from the start – and what I knew before I even started – is that there is a lot of quality in this team, that's clear, but we are not the only one. There are a lot of quality teams in this league. So, winning games is not so difficult if you have so much quality, but if you want to win more than only a few games it's also about mentality."
He stated his disappointment with the team's reaction against Nottingham Forest coming off of their victory over Manchester United. This time, they didn't rest on their laurels when they earned that first Champions League win in the midweek.
The player with arguably the biggest impact during the game was Luis Díaz, who scored the opening two goals one right after the other.
"The finishes in both situations were really good, but I think the lead-up to both goals was different and that's why it was really good," Slot analyzed.
Finally, the last goalscorer on the day was Darwin Núñez, who has been under some pressure to put the ball in the net, as he is falling behind both Luis Díaz and Mohamed Salah up front. It was clear when he scored his goal what it meant to him. He looked almost near tears as he celebrated.
While Slot acknowledged that he wants his strikers to score, he said what was more important was their all around contribution to the team. This is a sentiment many might find familiar from what Jürgen Klopp always said about Roberto Firmino.
"So first and foremost, they have to work really hard for the team. In the beginning of the season it was Mo who made the difference and with Lucho and then it was Cody [Gakpo] and Diogo [Jota] who's been involved in goals – and today it was Lucho and Darwin. That's all we want to see," he said.
Regarding the goal, Slot admitted to underestimating Núñez in the moment when he took the shot on himself.
"My first instinct when he shot, I said, 'Why does he shoot? Why don't you keep on dribbling?' Because he made the ball free and I think the defender was on the ground," he began and then joked, "But then there was a fraction of a second later when I saw the ball went in off the post and I was like, 'OK, maybe you are a better football player than I was in the past!'"
While Salah didn't get the goal he clearly wanted against Bournemouth, it's nice to see other players getting in on the scoring action. Liverpool need many strong forward options available to them if they hope to compete in all four competitions. Hopefully this goal is the boost that Núñez needs to kick on this season.
