Arne Slot has made his feelings clear on Erik ten Hag and Manchester United's summer transfer business ahead of Sunday's Old Trafford showdown.
The Dutchman takes his side up the M62 for the first Northwest derby of the season this weekend and has given his view on the Red Devils squad following a $263million (£200m/€238m) splurge, with add-ons, on five players.
In comparison, Liverpool has spent just over $53m (£40m/€48m) on Federico Chiesa and Giorgi Mamardashvili , who is staying at Valencia on loan, in what had been an unnaturally quiet window for the Reds prior to the start of Slot's first season in charge.
READ MORE: Federico Chiesa's first words to Arne Slot after Liverpool transfer sum him up
READ MORE: Every word Arne Slot said on transfers, Man Utd, injuries and Federico Chiesa
But the Dutchman insists he is happy with his squad and has told fans it is pointless to compare the spends of both clubs ahead of Sunday's clash at Old Trafford.
“I don’t look at the outside and I don’t look at other clubs,” said the Liverpool head coach in Friday's press conference . "I only focus on what we have and the situation we’re in.
"I’m completely happy with the team we have and it’s no use comparing yourself with other clubs. The only way we have to compare ourselves is on Sunday and then we’ll see how we level against them.
"Afterwards I will find moments where I say we have to improve and I’ll be happy with a few things. It’s only about us. That’s the only influence I and we have. We don’t look at other clubs and what they’re doing in the window.”
Slot can head into his first Northwest derby with relative confidence after his Liverpool side recorded a 3-0 victory over Man United at the start of the month in a pre-season friendly in the United States, albeit without a number of missing first-team stars for both sides.
However, the main talking point will be how the Reds saw their quadruple hopes fade in two separate visits to Old Trafford last season. In March, they were knocked out of the FA Cup with a 4-3 defeat , before a 2-2 draw in April left a major dent in their Premier League title ambitions.
It was during that second fixture when Bruno Fernandes's equalizer became the turning point for the game, completely changing the stadium to help the Red Devils earn a point against the odds. In order to avoid a repeat, Slot has told his players to quieten the crowd.
And even though the Dutchman has no experience of such intensity seen in English football’s biggest rivalry, he is backing his players to handle the occasion nonetheless.
“I haven’t experienced this game yet, but the players have experienced it many, many times,” said the Dutchman. "So of course we have not only to prepare them for the tactic part, but how you should play in the best possible way so that it doesn’t happen that the crowd is going completely crazy.
“Having experienced at Ipswich the atmosphere around that game, I’m expecting this to be even more. United have shown last season that every time the game was on the line or there were hard or tough moments for them, they could step up.
“One of those moments was the FA Cup Final and if you can beat Man City in a final - not on a Wednesday evening, but in a final - that shows how much quality United have.”
Slot also insists there will be no friendly reunion between him and Ten Hag, insisting that the pair are "not friends" despite their "very good relationship".
"No, no, not friends, no, no, no," he insisted. "Friends is something else, I think. A very good relationship, but a friend is someone you see a lot and go out to dinner with. But that is not something we've done in the past, for that we don't know each other well enough."
Comments / 0