Arne Slot press conference: Every word on PSG 2

On what chance he feels Liverpool have of progressing after this first-leg defeat…

Probably I have to refer to last season what gives me the best feeling, and I have to refer to the history of this club: how much impact Anfield can make for a performance. We were outplayed here last season, which led to a 1-0 win from us, which was unbelievable. Paris Saint-Germain was by far the better team today and could have scored more than two goals. But the good thing was that the players of Liverpool today showed fighting spirit, kept going, every time or almost every time when they had a shot we had a lot of bodies behind the ball or protecting our box, which was necessary because what we said: if you don’t track back, if you don’t run back, these players, like the ones from [Manchester] City, are able to hurt you a lot. So, last season at Anfield we played a completely different game, after 10 minutes we could have been already 2-0 up. But we need to have a better performance and we definitely need our fans to help us to create an atmosphere where we can rise to a better level than we did in this game.

Read our match report from Parc des Princes

On the thinking behind deploying a different formation, with three centre-backs, and how he feels it worked…

They have pace from everywhere, all the pitch, so it doesn’t just matter where you look you see pace and incredible pace. [Achraf] Hakimi and Nuno Mendes are unbelievable offensive threats apart from all the others. So, we played them with Jeremie Frimpong and with Milos Kerkez, so that was the thought behind it. And that way I thought we could try to press them really high and aggressive because Jeremie and Milos are also two players… if you press Hakimi and if you press Nuno Mendes they play and they start to run more. They don’t start to run, by the way, they start to sprint and actually it’s not even sprinting, it’s just a level above sprinting and you have to cope with that.

And usually, usually, players like Jeremie and Milos are better equipped for that than out-and-out wingers, but I think we can also see that every time we try to press them high and aggressive, those are also the moments where we were completely ripped apart. I think it led to five or six big chances of them when we tried to be high and aggressive. So, it tells you how difficult it is to play against this team, and we try to do this in a high press with the players I just told you, and in the low block means that we have probably more defenders on the pitch, more tired, more aggressiveness. In the second part, I think you noticed this as well, with bringing Joe [Gomez] in you add some set-piece quality as well.

On why Mohamed Salah didn’t feature in the game and the positive of Alexander Isak getting some minutes as a second-half substitute…

I think in the last part of the game, it was more about surviving for us than there was ever a chance that we could score. Yeah, you never know, because last season we scored five minutes before the end, Harvey Elliott [scored] when I took Mo off. But I think this was a 20, 25 minutes where we were only defending and Mo has so much quality, but for Mo to be 20, 25 minutes defending inside his own box, I think it’s better for him to save his energy for a lot of games that are coming up in the upcoming weeks.

On whether it is case of being in ‘survival mode’ when facing PSG away from home…

Of course that’s not the plan and of course you think you can do better and when you press them you can force them to mistakes. But I think the way you describe it is the perfect way to describe it. We were in survival mode for large parts of the game but maybe also in the period of the season we are in, we are in survival mode. So to try to find ways where we can try to make sure that their qualities are not seen that much, but that’s really, really, really hard against this team, because last season we were in survival mode as well. But as I said, Paris Saint-Germain was the better team, but we didn’t give up and that’s why we have a chance now still in this tie, because they kept us alive by not scoring a few open chances. And now, we can bring the tie back to Anfield, but in between there is still a very important game to play for us against Fulham.

On using the system again...

There seems to be a lot of focus on the system, but what is the difference if I had played let’s say Rio [Ngumoha] or Cody Gakpo as a left winger? Because actually Milos had to play almost as a left winger facing Hakimi and then there were four defenders left, which we usually have. I could also explain it as a 4-3-3 with Florian [Wirtz] on the right, Hugo [Ekitike] in the middle and Milos on the left, three midfielders and four defenders. But because they are defenders, people now see it as five – and that is the way I would describe it as well, by the way – but I think the margins are really small. Just try to think about it, what if we had tried to play with real wingers here today, how would that have looked like against Hakimi and Nuno Mendes?

On still having hope for the second leg...

Yes, of course there is. I think football has shown so many times that everything is possible. I think it was 10, 15, 20 minutes after the game when I looked at my phone and I saw Atletico had beaten Barcelona at home 0-2 because of a red card. So in football, red cards, incidents, penalties yes or no, and don’t forget that Anfield can do a lot. I was sitting after the away game at Galatasaray in front of most of the same journalists who were also not very positive about our game and one week later at Anfield we played probably the best game of the season. Our fans do make a big difference for us and that’s also needed because I think it was completely clear today that we need our fans more than ever if we have to face this Paris Saint-Germain team.

On changing tactics to face PSG...

My first question to that was, have you ever seen a team playing tactics over here that didn’t allow Paris Saint-Germain to constantly have the ball and create chance after chance after chance? I’ve watched many games and there was all the same pattern and almost all the same pattern you saw tonight. They outplayed almost every opponent that they faced here. I think now first of all it is time for me to reflect on this game and focus mainly on the Fulham game.

Then we will try to come up with a game plan that will hopefully show a different game at Anfield and I think, and I’ve said this now a few times already, that if you want to press really aggressive then fans can be really helpful. The atmosphere being loud, it can give you the extra that you sometimes need. It is clear and obvious that we will not play the same tactic as we played tonight, but as I almost mentioned just a second ago, Milos 10 yards further up or 10 yards further back means it is a 4-3-3. It is completely fine with me if everyone wants to focus on the tactics, but for me that’s absolutely not the story of the game today. Every tactic has been tried over here but the result is always the same: Paris Saint-Germain blowing the opponent away.

On the threat of PSG’s full-backs...

It’s Hakimi, it’s Nuno Mendes, it’s their midfielders... you have to be really tight on them. If you’re not tight on the midfielders, they make the play, they dribble, they are so fast and you have to be really tight on them. If you then start to help a little bit more with your full-backs towards the midfield or closing the inside a little bit more, then their wingers come in one-v-one situations, which they dominate completely against any defender in the world. And if you then are really tight on their wingers, they make deep runs, so it’s not an easy team to play against because they have so many weapons – and Nuno Mendes and Hakimi are two of them. They have more, but again – I’ve said it multiple times now – I am convinced about the fact that we can show something different in less than a week’s time, because we play Wednesday-Tuesday and have a game in between. That means even less time to recover, less time to prepare, but I am convinced about the fact that we will play a much more similar game in a week’s time as we played last season at home.

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