Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has issued a warning to his players ahead of Premier League showdown at Newcastle United
Sport
Comment
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot(Image: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Several hours had passed since the final whistle was blown on another tumultuous afternoon for Liverpool and the strains of "Allez, Allez, Allez" could still be heard emanating from various establishments on Anfield Road. For Arne Slot, though, Sunday was already in the rear view mirror.
Having seen their team follow the midweek dismantling of European champions Real Madrid with a similar undressing of Premier League holders Manchester City, what could easily have been a week in which their trophy hopes took a first significant dent has instead given new reason for Reds supporters to celebrate the unexpected strides taken under the new management.
But Slot remains firmly focused on what's next. And with tonight's trip to Newcastle United followed by a last-ever Goodison league derby at Everton on Saturday, the Reds boss has had no time to celebrate recent successes.
READ MORE: 'Best? No' - Sam Allardyce dismisses Virgil van Dijk and makes 'impossible' Liverpool claimREAD MORE: I heard Arne Slot response to Gary Neville claim and it speaks volumes about Liverpool change
"We play so many games that the moment we have an evening off after a game, my staff members like to go to their families and I like to see my family as well," he says. "So I didn’t take the staff out after the game (against City).
"The next morning it is immediately about preparing for Newcastle. My staff prepared Newcastle already so we sat down to look at what we can expect from them and made a gameplan for that.
"Unfortunately in football the only moment to look back is in the summer break when the season ends, and hopefully enjoy something you did then. During the season it is quite hard to enjoy results."
Indeed, Slot regards the forthcoming road assignments as more difficult than Liverpool's last two games, the start of a run of six away matches out of the next eight fixtures to end the year.
"We have shown that at home we are very physically strong, but after two wins like this it is sometimes difficult to show up again and again and again in an away game," he says.
"Newcastle won at home against Arsenal, at home against Chelsea and drew with Manchester City, so maybe it is even more difficult to play Newcastle away than City or Real at home. I am not talking about quality. I am talking about how difficult it is to win at St James’ Park."
Given Liverpool have won 18 out of 20 in all competitions this season and seven on the bounce, there's sufficient evidence Slot's team are capable of consistency. The Reds boss, however, believes there has to be more.
"That is what we have to prove," says Slot. "Everyone really looked forward to Real Madrid and Man City and now we have had it and that can sometimes lead to feeling it was such a great experience that you want to enjoy it for a few extra days.
"But we don’t have that time. We immediately have to show up again in probably one of the most difficult away games that you can have in a season. One of them, definitely."
Asked if that there is rarely a let-up in intensity in England is the big difference from his time as a manager in Holland, Slot adds: "Yes, normally if you have beaten Ajax or PSV a game comes up that you can win. That is true.
"But I do remember last season when at Feyenoord we outplayed Lazio at home and everyone said that we can go to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and those kinds of things were said in the Dutch media. We had to then face FC Twente, who you can compare with Newcastle when it comes to the league table, and we had a lot of difficulties (Feyenoord lost 2-1 away).
"If you beat Real Madrid and you beat Manchester City, the teams you are facing want even more to prove against you how good they are. This is what you always have to be aware of and then go into a stadium like that, which will probably help them as Anfield did for us, and a combination of these factors makes Newcastle away such a difficult game."
Slot is aware Liverpool's remarkable start is realistically unsustainable for the entire duration of the campaign, with a drop-off in results due at some point - even if the Reds boss is only willing to contemplate the impact should it eventually happen.
"Not that we have already made plans for what we will do if we drop points, no; we just look at it one game at a time," he says. "It doesn’t have to be inevitable but a normal season of every team, even City when winning it four times in a row, they have difficult spells.
"That is because you face so many quality teams that you can come into a situation where you have a few difficulties and drop points, but we are not planning for this at all. I’m not thinking ‘How will I react then?’. It's just one game at a time.
"Newcastle is a difficult one. Saturday is a difficult one. But that’s the beauty of working in the Premier League, almost every game is difficult. And combine that with playing in the Champions League. But that is also what we want, me as a manager and the players as well. We want to be in this league and in the Champions League. We want to play all of these beautiful games."
Article continues below
Liverpool are still without goalkeeper Alisson Becker, defenders Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley and Kostas Tsimikas and striker Diogo Jota for the trip to Newcastle, where they have won on their last three visits and are unbeaten since 2015.
Federico Chiesa could be fit enough for bench duty having been missing since late September, while Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez are both pressing for a recall in midfield and attack respectively.