After suggesting concern over the depth of his Liverpool squad when comparing them to Man City and Chelsea in midweek, Arne Slot insists he is “completely happy.”
Speaking after the 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup – for which he made 10 changes and filled his bench with academy players – Slot claimed Liverpool were not in the same position as Man City or Chelsea.
He said that Man City, despite making 10 changes for their 3-1 win at Swansea, “felt like they played with their 11 starters,” while for their 2-1 win over the Reds earlier this month Chelsea “were missing eight but could still bring Estevao in.”
That was understandably seen as a complaint over the depth of his Liverpool squad, but asked to clarify his stance on Friday, Slot insisted: “We miss nothing.
“I’m happy that you ask this question: I’m completely happy with the team, with all the quality that we have.
“I’m also completely convinced with the strategy and the policy that we have.
“But the ‘issue’, if you could talk about an issue, is that not all of them have had a proper pre-season or have been injured during the season.
“So then when three or four are injured, you go back to 16 players. I am a firm believer in the fact that 20, 21 players are enough, but you have to keep them fit – as we did last season.”
Alisson, Giovanni Leoni, Jeremie Frimpong, Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, Stefan Bajcetic, Alexander Isak and Jayden Danns were all ruled out Wednesday night.
Slot then made the decision to rest Giorgi Mamardashvili, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley, Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike.
That, he continued, came with fitness in mind, knowing that Liverpool were in a far-from-ideal position after a summer of significant change and tragic loss.
“We are struggling a bit more to keep them fit for, in my opinion, obvious reasons,” he explained.
“Alex is a great example of this, came to us I think September 1. A few others have missed out on pre-season; a few others have had their injuries in pre-season.
“So it has been more difficult than last season to keep them all available. And then if a few of them are not available, then it comes down a lot towards the same players.
“Maybe last season we were more lucky and now we are a bit more unlucky.
“Again, no excuses for our results, before people say this again, but we’ve had to play a lot of away games with only two days’ rest in between.
“And that would have been a difficult schedule for every player last season, and I mean a player who has been fit throughout pre-season and throughout the whole season, but that has not been our situation.
“Then I think you have to manage it, because the upcoming week is again three [games] in seven or eight days.
“So that’s nothing to do with the squad depth, it has to do with how we’ve run through the season in terms of injuries and availability, and players available to play every single time two games in three days.”
Slot can welcome Gravenberch back from his ankle injury for Saturday’s visit of Aston Villa, while he will be hoping for positive news on Jones and Isak next week, when his side face Real Madrid and Man City.
Per The Athletic, while Liverpool have used more players than any other Premier League team so far in all competitions this season (32), Slot’s comments on the availability of his regular starters are accurate.