In the third round of the Carabao Cup, Liverpool will host Tottenham. Before the match, Liverpool manager Arne Slot attended a press conference to answer questions from the media. Below is the first half of the press conference.

Related reading: [Slot: We won the ball back too deep in the last match, it's a collective problem]

Andoni, this is obviously the third competition of the season. Where does it rank in terms of importance? Or, in the context of the entire season, how important is this competition to you?

No, it's not about prioritizing competitions. It's a different competition in its own right. I think if you had to choose, you'd probably prefer to win the Champions League or the Premier League. But there are no absolute guarantees in football. You can't say that just because you rotate the squad or rest key players, you'll definitely win the next Premier League match. Ultimately, we want to win every match, we want to play at a high level, and that's what we'll try to do tomorrow.

You've spoken this season about having to deal with playing matches midweek and on weekends continuously, and obviously you just played on Saturday and now there's another match on Tuesday. Although there will be a slightly longer rest period before the next match against Bournemouth, I'm curious—to what extent will fatigue so far affect your team selection again? Especially considering there's also a match against Bournemouth this weekend?

Yes, I think it will definitely have an impact, because this is the third match, and it's the worst fixture schedule: play a match, rest two days, play another match, rest two days, then play another match. As for the schedule, we haven't been very lucky, because after this match we'll have a bit more rest before playing Bournemouth. Similarly, we also have a bit more rest between playing Ipswich and Atlético Madrid. You'll find there's a big difference between resting four or five days and resting two or three days, but that's how it is. I think we'll also go through a period like this after the international break, playing four matches in roughly 9 or 10 days, so we have to adapt to that.

So, regarding team selection, is it impossible to field your strongest starting eleven as you'd like? Especially considering the opponent is also a Premier League team, Tottenham?

No, you can do it, you can decide to field the same players in every match. But the problem is there will always come a point when they get very fatigued, and the injury risk will increase significantly. However, we also can't generalize and say it doesn't work for everyone. Some players have no problem playing a match every three days—they're very strong, their bodies can handle it, and their performance won't fluctuate much. But for other players, the injury risk is greater and their performance will suffer. Additionally, we're in a discovery process, and I need to understand who is ready to play every two or three days for three or four consecutive matches, and who needs rest to ensure their performance level isn't affected. I think I already have a very clear picture of the situation for some of these players, but for others, even for themselves, this is a new situation because they haven't played so many matches before, and we're all learning and adapting.

Based on what you just said, can I ask whether you think the current squad depth is sufficient to cope with the Premier League, European competitions, and the two cup competitions that are about to get going?

I'm very happy with the current squad. You know, I value the players we have very much. If we can win matches, this squad will look very good and complete. If we don't win, all sorts of issues will emerge, and people will say the squad depth isn't sufficient, or something else. But I think tomorrow we'll also see some players who haven't played before, and I'm very eager to see their performance, because I believe they'll play well and can help the team—they just haven't had the opportunity before.

When you say you're still getting to know the players, and it's a new process, and the match cycle is very short, one after another—do you really get the opportunity to train with the players in the way you want?

Yes, yes. I have... The thing is, if you ask me, how do I know how a new player, like Jaquez, will cope with playing every three days for two months? I don't know, because he hasn't experienced it before. You know, so we're at a stage where we have to communicate constantly with the players and feel how they're recovering. We also have some experienced players who've been through this before, and I know they can do it. Van Dijk can do it because he's played that way before. We have experience, he can perform well and his athletic level won't be very affected. But for younger players and those coming from foreign leagues, there are more question marks for them, for me, for everyone, and we have to analyze each situation specifically.

Hi Andoni. Obviously there was some frustration after Saturday's match. But to what extent does that require some patience? After all, you haven't been training with the full squad for very long. Do you feel like perhaps you're at the beginning of a journey and need a bit more time to build the team as you envision it?

Yes, I understand the frustration from the last few days, because we were frustrated too, because I think we'd just played two good matches, and we thought, okay, against Ipswich was a step forward, and against Atlético Madrid was also a step forward, and we thought, no, now we're going to keep moving forward step by step, and then boom, we took a step back. Our level of performance wasn't as good as in the two previous matches. But this is common in football. I think we have to accept that there will definitely be ups and downs in this process. But we're very clear that our goal is to show more of our previous form. Matches like against Atlético Madrid and Ipswich, that's our style, that's the football we want. I think the key now is to maintain the stability of this high level of performance.

Will you change the goalkeeper tomorrow?

Yes.

How do you see the current goalkeeper situation? Obviously, Alisson's contract is in its final year. Mamardashvili had some difficulties in his first year here, and then the club obviously spent a lot of money on Luca Brumans, who will join next summer. So how do you see this competitive dynamic?

I think Alisson is... I think there's nothing to question about Alisson, he's proven his worth, he plays very well. I also have a very good opinion of Giorgi Mamardashvili. I got to know him during my years as a manager in Spain. I told him, you know, before coming here, we wanted to sign him for Bournemouth. For me, he's a very good goalkeeper, and he will start tomorrow, yes.

Is Joe Gomez fit to play at the moment?

Regarding Joe, he's currently training with the team. I think he can play tomorrow, now it's just a matter of deciding how much he can play, or what the safest arrangement is, yes.

Traducido por IA.

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