On the evening of October 13 (CET), Liverpool FC manager Arne Slot attended a pre-match press conference ahead of the Champions League fixture against Austrian club LASK. During the conference, Slot discussed several key topics, including team injuries, Bradley Barcola, and Florian Wirtz. Here is a summary of the full press conference:

Of the three players (Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak, and Dominic Solanke), who is closest to returning? Do they have a chance to play this weekend?

"Their injuries are not serious, but it's difficult to say precisely when they'll be back. We're assessing their recovery day by day. To be honest, with these three players, I don't know if they'll be ready for the Brentford match (October 17 CET) or the Villarreal match (October 21 CET) or even the Brighton match (October 25 CET)."

Of course, with Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo unavailable, everyone is paying more attention to the performances of our other forwards, hoping they'll step up. But Bradley Barcola hasn't scored or assisted in the Premier League yet, and Florian Wirtz has only one assist. What are your thoughts on them? Are you concerned about their confidence?

"Of course, Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak, and Dominic Solanke are our main goalscorers in this tactical system. Right now they're all unavailable, and we missed them in the Manchester City match. We want these players to contribute goals for the team, but I also believe the players we have available now have the ability to fill these roles. It's normal for injuries to happen during international breaks—every team faces this. What matters is how we adapt to the current situation."

"For Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola, like all other players, they have good games and bad games. I believe they will deliver excellent performances for the team in the future."

Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz were clearly signed for significant fees, but they haven't yet made a major impact on the team's results. There's been a lot of talk about them off the pitch. How do you manage these issues? Perhaps you didn't have these concerns when managing Bournemouth, as you didn't have players with such high transfer values.

"In the Manchester City match, if Coutinho had scored that goal, Bradley Barcola would have got the assist. You know he actually performed very well. Sometimes we pay too much attention to statistics, but I'm quite satisfied with his performance. Bradley Barcola had good chances but couldn't convert them. The same applies to Florian Wirtz. I have 100% confidence in both of them."

Regarding Florian Wirtz, do you think we need to be more patient given his age? Do you have confidence in giving him more time? Will he eventually succeed?

"For Florian Wirtz, when you play for a big club like ours, if you perform poorly, you naturally attract outside attention and criticism. I think he played poorly in that match (referring to the Manchester City game), but he's played well in many other games for us this season. Furthermore, he's also performed very well for the national team and has even scored. Every player has good days and bad days."

"Rather than focusing on individual player performances, I prefer to look at the problem from a team perspective—how can we play better and achieve our ideal results? This is more of a team issue than an individual one."

On Friday, you said the team is united and it's time for others to step up. But Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz haven't contributed much yet. Do you think they can step up?

"If you're asking about goalscoring, they definitely need to step up. Let's wait and see."

"But you're absolutely right. There are always players who need to step up, and that's a big issue for us. You know, we lost to Manchester City, and now we're analyzing why. We're reviewing that match. I love this team, and when we played with 10 men on the pitch, even though I didn't manage the situation perfectly, I was very pleased with the spirit, attitude, pace, and performance the team showed on the field before that—and that includes our defense as well."

What were your thoughts watching your team play with just 10 men for the final 30 minutes against Manchester City last week? However, I noticed the team completed passes only 30 times in that final 30 minutes. Do you think this is a sign of mental fragility, or why is that?

"We played well when we had 11 men on the pitch, but once we went down to 10, they scored quickly. If the score had remained 0-0, you could choose to drop deeper and maintain a tight defensive shape. But when you're chasing the game, it's different. We needed to push forward a bit and try to create something, but because they always had more players on the pitch than us, it was very difficult to press effectively. Simply maintaining a tight defensive shape in a match where you're losing isn't nearly enough."

Perhaps there will be some changes tomorrow?

"The upcoming match is one we must win. We want to start this competition as strongly as possible. We won our first match, but winning in this competition isn't easy at all. It will be very difficult to field exactly the same starting XI as the last match tomorrow."

Kerkez just told us the fixture schedule is too congested, there isn't enough training time, and of course it's impossible to build good understanding on the pitch. How do you think this should be addressed? For example, the partnership between Bradley Barcola and Kerkez.

"We don't have much training time. Right now we're just doing our best to prepare for each match, and we'll make some targeted adjustments beyond regular training sessions. But at the same time, we need to consider the players' physical condition to ensure they still have energy. In the end, we have 4 matches in 10 days. For Bradley Barcola, the more he plays, the better his understanding with his teammates will become."

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