Liverpool boss Slot reacts to win over Arsenal as he is ‘a bit hard on’ one standout performer

Liverpool boss Arne Slot was pleased to see his side beat Arsenal in a pre-season friendly match in the USA in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho scored two early goals as the Reds won 2-1 with the Gunners getting a goal back through Kai Havertz before half-time.

And Liverpool boss Slot was just pleased to win the match after admitting that Arsenal “dominated possession completely” in the second half.

Slot said after the match: “I think even though it’s a friendly, you always want to aim for a win. You should aim for a win even if you have a small-sided game during a training session. You need to win your games, you try to do everything to win.

“So that’s a good thing that we did that today but I’m more pleased about the way we did so. Of course I saw the second half that we had a hard time with Arsenal – they dominated possession completely.

“But we defended really well and I was really pleased to see this because [there were] a lot of bodies behind the ball every time they arrived into our 16. Real big, open chances I don’t think they created in the second half.

“First half, after the first 10 minutes, it was an equal game, where both teams could have scored a few goals more. So, [I’m] pleased to see how we played the first half and how we defended the second half.”

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On the young players impressing, Slot added: “Yeah, it’s impressive. If you see that, like you said, we miss quite a lot of players that have played a lot of minutes for us last season, if you then come up to such a strong team like Arsenal had today, you’re always curious to see what they can do.

“During half-time we had to add a few more youngsters. In the end of the game I think both teams had a lot of youngsters on the pitch. But it was good to see that all of them worked really hard and I think that’s the first thing you have to do if you want to compete against a team that dominates possession like Arsenal did in the second half.

“So they did really well and I don’t think one of the youngsters stood out today. The one that stood out last week, you could see today that his defensive duties, he can work on that a bit.”

When asked whether Salah has been a role model for younger players since their return to pre-season training, Slot replied: “Yes, but I don’t think he’s only this for this season: he has been that for several years. He came back really fit, but from what’s been told to me that’s normal for him. He always comes back really fit.

“But if I only use Mo as an example, I would not be fair to the other [senior] guys because the others are strong and fit as well. One of the main positive things until now is all the boys are fit, we have no injuries at all, so we hope we can continue like this and their fitness levels go up and up more.

“We felt today how hard it is and how tough it is to play against a team that wants to press us high – and we want to press them high. So, you need to be really fit to play games like this and we are working on this. We are heading in the right direction.”

On Harvey Elliott’s performance, Slot continued: “He had two great assists, but what I believe is that the team created these assists for him as well. Playing out from the back, getting him in the right positions – or another No.10.

“Then it is up to him to bring the most of these situations and he did that today with two assists. If I am a bit hard on him, I think there were two or three other situations where he could have done better.

“But that’s what the team is doing for him; we make sure he and the other ones like Mo and like Fabio come in the right positions where they can show their quality. Harvey did that today with two good assists.”