Arne Slot is hoping for a midweek return to form for his Liverpool team following a weekend defeat to Nottingham Forest – which would be a birthday present for him in the Champions League, as he turns 46.
The Reds boss won his opening three games after taking over from Jurgen Klopp but was critical of his team’s use of the ball after losing at Anfield on Saturday.
Despite that setback, the Dutch coach expects a response and says although the loss was a shock one, it wasn’t without some positives – in the same way that previous wins were far from perfect.
“The team and me were really disappointed. We always put it in the right perspective,” Slot told media ahead in his press conference ahead of facing AC Milan. “We were positive after beating Manchester United but I saw things we had to improve. And against Forest we didn’t do as many things good as against United, but still some were quite well.
“But this is a totally different game with their style and players. You should be disappointed if you lose to Nottingham Forest and you play for Liverpool. It’s a good start but not a great one.”
With Milan being the first of eight opponents for the Reds in the new-look European format, Slot is reluctant to make predictions about improvements or requirements – simply focusing on each game at a time and assessing the situation as it unfolds.
“If you want to end up in the first eight you need a lot of points but it’s hard [to pick a number needed to do so].
“As someone who loves football, every night there’s a nice fixture. In the former format sometimes there were evenings you could be ‘hmm, tomorrow is a nicer game!’ so it’s positive for the person at home in front of the television.
“For the players how is it going to be, how exciting is it going to be at the end of the group stage? That’s something nobody has the answer for at the moment.”
Slot was also pressed on the involvement of new signing Federico Chiesa by the Italian journalists assembled and he hinted a debut could be in the offing – albeit from the bench.
“I always like to bring in quality players and he combines quality with enormous work rate. The culture is working really hard when we don’t have the ball and he can play in several positions up front. It will be a big surprise if he starts but he can make a few minutes for the first time tomorrow if we need him.”
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker, meanwhile, also addressed the media and was asked about the increase in number of Champions League games – and made it clear it was another decision taken without asking players their preferences.
“For the supporters it’s amazing, more games and bigger teams playing each other,” he said. “For players as well you’re going to play the best in Europe and it’s always a good idea to add games to the calendar which is not busy. I’m being ironic a little bit!
“Nobody asks us what we think about adding more games so maybe our opinion doesn’t matter. Everyone knows what we think of that, having more games. Everybody is tired of that but we have to stay focused on the big challenge.
“It’s not a matter to say now what number, 30 or 40 [games] but it’s to sit down and talk. We are not stupid we know people want games, but we want people responsible for organising the calendars to talk and listen to the players. That’s what we would like, to understand what is the thinking over the direction football wants to go, not just adding games, adding competitions.
“Not being able to play [in the Champions League] last year was really hard but here we are again after a really good season, so we’re looking forward to the beginning.”