Arne Slot made suggestions that Liverpool has won the title of the Premier League will be all that will not lack spectacular this season – and said that the English elite is `better than ever ”.
The Reds head coach spoke after former striker Michael Owen said that finishing the season with a single trophy would leave a “bitter taste” in an interview with Virgil Van Dijk – which the Liverpool captain quickly rejected.
Slot laughed at this idea and said: “ Allow me to understand it correctly, Virgile was a little frustrated because it fell because it is not enough to “only” win the Premier League? Michael (Owen) played for us, right? So he is aware of the fact that in 35 years, we have won the league once?
“There is your answer. If you can win the league with this club then, phew, nothing else matters. If you do it 10 times in a row, I could understand that people say: “Oh but you only win the Premier League”.
“In this club, you can compete for this and even less winning it, so it’s a strange question to ask in my opinion. If Virgil also has this opinion, I agree with him. I’m a little more Dutch media than the media here and … no, let’s leave it!
“I think the league is better than ever, the strength as a whole improves. I think that even Pep (Guardiola) said that there would be no team as long as he lives who gets more than 100 points and will win the League four times in a row.
Arne Slot (right) echoed the reflections of Virgil Van Dijk on “only” the Premier League
Michael Owen said that finishing the season with a single trophy would leave a “bitter taste”
Van Dijk insisted that the fans would have been “ on the moon ” with the title at the beginning of 2024-25
“So many other teams have so many more good players. All the clubs, even some who fight against relegation, have players who can play for City, for Arsenal, for us, for Chelsea and these types of teams.
“The reason why the teams you might expect from having more points have them is that the league has become stronger. This is probably why it is such a compliment for us that we have these points at the moment.
Slot added that for this reason, Liverpool’s only defeat in the League in Nottingham Forest in September does not seem as bad as it thought at the time.
Anfield’s boss also said that his team’s defeat against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final could be a good thing when they look back with hindsight – because he woke up his team again for the last section of the League season.
“Sometimes it’s good when you lose a football game,” he said. “Especially if you lose it in a way that does not correspond to our standards. It keeps them awake, I think. The way we lost against Newcastle is not the way we want to lose a football match.
Liverpool goes to Fulham on Sunday knowing that they need four victories of eight remaining matches to guarantee the title of Premier League. Trent Alexander-Arnold is still unfit, but goalkeeper Alisson should come back after a concussion, Conor Bradley also pushing to return to the team.
Meanwhile, Andy Robertson insisted that his good friend Alexander-Arnold is not stretched by speculation about his future and focusing solely on the return to fitness and the victory of the League title.
“Trent’s head is not great because it is injured,” said the Scottish captain. “He hates being injured, none of us likes to be injured but that makes a little more trouble in Trent. That’s all he concentrated on.
Owen (left) made the comment during the interview with Van Dijk after the Merseyside derby
But Van Dijk retaliated with these statements and insisted that “we have to change the story”
“It is impossible for me to say that we have not seen all the noise and everyone by commenting. But for us, we focus on him to come back in shape and healthy. Once he will do it, what will happen, he will happen.
“No one knows it yet. People can speak and speculate, but for us, we want Trent to come back very soon.
When asked if he was enthusiastic about the potential to raise a Premier League trophy, Robertson added: “Go (laughing)! No one here allows us to believe or think like that. We have to focus on the next game. I can guarantee that there are 60,000 fans who think like that.
“It suits them. They can get carried away, we allow them to get carried away and we take great pleasure. But we have to stay focused. We are the players, we have a job to do.
“Continue to push and continue to win matches to make us pass the line. If the time comes, we will be sure to appreciate it, but we do not think so far.