Arne Slot was speaking after his Liverpool side got over the line in the Merseyside derby with Everton at Anfield on Saturday
Arne Slot pictured during Liverpool’s win over Everton on Saturday(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Arne Slot talked up the strength of his Liverpool squad after beating Everton 2-1 in the 247th Merseyside derby on Saturday. And the Reds boss hinted at wholesale changes for Tuesday night when his side’s Carabao Cup campaign begins at home to Southampton in the third round.
Slot made four alterations to the side that started Wednesday night’s 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League as Conor Bradley, Milos Kerkez, Hugo Ekitike and Alexis Mac Allister all returned.
Ryan Gravenberch scored the opening goal against David Moyes‘ men before the Netherlands international supplied Ekitike for the second ahead of the break.
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Idrissa Gueye halved the deficit following the restart but the Premier League champions held on to secure their fifth successive victory of the new campaign.
“It’s the reason why teams like us and the ones in Europe need a squad like this, you play so many games,” Slot said.
“It’s not an excuse, we accept it. We have had some issues with Alexander Isak not training for four months, Mac Allister missing out a lot, I can go on and on.
“The good thing is I have the option to rotate throughout the week, and the ones that played three times 90 minutes are Virgil (van Dijk), Ibou (Ibrahima Konate), Mo (Mohamed Salah), Ryan and Dom (Dominik Szoboszlai), the ones that are used to this intensity at this level, and again they showed up really good.
“I can tell you now you won’t be seeing them on Tuesday.
“We managed the game really well but we didn’t manage some moments really well. I said this before the game. There’s a lot to like but we have to understand that a moment can change momentum.
“This is what happened against Bournemouth, Newcastle and Atletico. We have to understand that a moment can change a game no matter how well you are playing, always fight for those moments.
“This is where we can improve.
“But we managed the game in general really well, I don’t think they had a chance after 2-1. But it always feels a bit difficult if you’re only 2-1 up.
“These are very good players but we have played in different set-ups, really good moments for large parts of the game.”
The Liverpool boss added of the win over Everton: “For me it was because they took the positions we wanted them to take and the other team did what we expected them to do.
“Usually we have to adjust at half-time as the other team comes up with something completely new against us. Which is normal as most teams we face have one week to prepare.
“The only thing we did between Atletico and now is playing six-v-two. It’s the only thing we did in two days. It’s not an excuse.
“I can never come up with something new so the other teams always know what we’re going to do as we don’t have much training time.
“You don’t have to feel sorry for me as I have so many great players.”