Arne Slot says he has tried to influence referees in England - but it doesn't work
He admits he tries to create a siege mentality to try and gain an advantage
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By LUKE POWER
Published: 12:40 EST, 17 December 2024 | Updated: 12:40 EST, 17 December 2024
Arne Slot has made an admission that few managers openly confess - that he does, indeed, try to 'influence' referees.
The Liverpool boss will serve a touchline ban for their trip to Southampton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday after accumulating three yellow cards.
Slot was handed a yellow card for reacting frustratedly to Curtis Jones' booking in the 2-2 draw with Fulham on Saturday.
Now he has revealed he thinks he has made 'mistakes' trying to get in referees' heads but insisted it all just comes from a heartfelt place of passion.
'You always reflect but I think, in general, I am calm,' he began.
'I don’t know if it is smart to say this, but there is also a limit for me — let’s put it that way. And then I can get emotional and, unfortunately, that limit is only reached by refereeing decisions or the decisions my players make.
Liverpool travel to St Mary's in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening
'They make more good decisions than the referees do in my opinion for my team! The Chelsea game [a 2-1 win on October 22] was emotional. We should have had a second penalty but the VAR changed it, and there were a lot of controversial decisions being made.
'Then if you are down to ten men that works out even harder [on you]. The Chelsea game and the Fulham game was emotional and maybe I should have stayed just underneath instead of going above.
'You try to influence as much as you can. The mistake I have made two times already here, and one or two times in Holland, is sometimes you think that creating an atmosphere that the whole world is against you can lead to some positive decisions at the end of the game.
'But here, until now, in the Chelsea game and the Fulham game for the whole 90 minutes it stayed the same. It wasn’t like after I tried to influence things a bit, the referee all of a sudden gave us one or two free kicks.
'No, he just kept the whole game the same. I know that it doesn’t work, but sometimes you think, "Can I influence that a bit?" But it didn’t help at all.'
Slot's demeanour on the touchline is generally far less cantankerous than the one some other 'Big Six' managers have exhibited.
His predecessor Jurgen Klopp was known for being particularly vocal with the fourth official while Sir Alex Fergusonand Jose Mourinho have never been afraid to speak up.
Slot will have to sit in the stands at the St Mary's Stadium while first assistant coach Sipke Hulshoff will likely play the role of touchline mediator.