In the dying moments of last weekend’s Premier League clash, referee John Brooks stunned many at Anfield by penalizing Darwin Nunez for an altercation with Chelsea substitute Renato Veiga. Liverpool’s manager was visibly more animated than his bewildered striker. Clearly, Arne Slot, the Reds’ boss, has already ingrained himself within the team. Slot expressed his view on emotional reactions during such intense moments.
Arne Slot said, “But we are also human beings and human beings have emotions. We sometimes feel – if it is right or wrong, let’s not judge that – that if too many decisions go against you, then emotions take the most out of you. I can only speak for myself but that’s the way it is with me. So I try to be calm but in my opinion, and again I am biased, in the Chelsea game too many important decisions, not minor ones, went against us in the first half. No I don’t [respond in kind], unless I feel (the actions of an opposing manager) influences the referee. But I think we are in England with good referees so I haven’t seen that happen here. In the past, I did see it one or two times, I don’t mean in Holland but when we played in Europe, I saw one or two managers that were able to influence the referee and then you feel you maybe need to do something against that. But here in England I haven’t experienced that at all. The referees are just not being influenced by my emotional act on Sunday and that has also not happened in all the previous games that I’ve managed here before.”
Looking ahead, last weekend’s intense atmosphere serves as preparation for Liverpool’s clash against Arsenal. As the Emirates Stadium’s environment has significantly intensified, much of it stems from the home fans and their energetic manager, Mikel Arteta. However, Slot emphasized his focus on the positive aspects of the game.
Arne Slot said, “And that both teams for every second of the game have an idea of what they want, what their principles are how they want to play. Both teams are very well managed and you can see that at both clubs there are two managers who have worked there for a long time because they implemented a playing style now for every second. It’s your (the media) words that they are implementing those tactics. The only thing I know is that my players are experienced and they know how to handle certain situations. I am not using the word streetwise, I am using the word experienced and you have to cope with if the other team is better than you and how you react in those moments but again if I think about City and Arsenal and even Liverpool I think about the quality of the players and the quality of their playing style and not those other things.”
Liverpool aims to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League with a victory against Arsenal that would widen the gap to seven points. While Liverpool has injury concerns ahead of the Emirates showdown, they come off a midweek 1-0 Champions League win at RB Leipzig, adding to Slot’s impressive record of 11 wins in 12 games.
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