Luis Enrique, head coach of PSG
Luis Enrique, head coach of PSG (Image: Franco Arland/Getty Images)
When I heard the comments of the PSG players and manager after the first leg, the arrogance of them struck me. You're looking at a club that has never won a big trophy, so to come out and say what they did post-match...
They should have won, but they didn’t. We sucker-punched them. And they have been so disrespectful to us and to Anfield.
And I'm hoping the fans respond on Wednesday night and the players win their personal battles. We will play better, we will pass it better. And if we win our personal battles, we’ll win the game because we’re a better team than them.
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What they’ve said is like a red rag to a bull. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, obviously, but if I was a player or the manager, I’d be fuming. I’d want to go out and really show them on Wednesday night.
They’ve given Arne Slot a free team talk. I did it at Tranmere when we played Bolton in the semi-finals of the League Cup. It was massive for us to get to Wembley, little Tranmere Rovers.
We went to Bolton, won 1-0 and played very well I thought. But we got some derogatory comments from their camp. I got the Bolton Evening News. It’s old-school but I got Les Parry to put them around the dressing room.
I didn’t have a team talk. I just said that’s what he said, that’s what he said, that’s what he said. There you go, it’s up to you. In the first 20 minutes, we were 2-0 up. Game over. We battered them.
The players will be talking about what PSG players have said in the dressing room. Virgil’s the one who will relay it to them.
So win your battles, don’t let them bully you, don’t let them get the best of you. There are three or four really crucial combats in this game. We have to win our battles. Especially in midfield.
We can’t be any worse than last week. That’s as bad as I’ve seen and I was gobsmacked we won 1-0. Imagine if we play well!
Last few games, we’ve not been at it but if we play like we did against Man City or Real Madrid, we’ll beat them. They are a good team but we made them look better than they are.
They have some brilliant players. The crowd will do its part, I’m pretty sure about that. And PSG won’t know what’s hit them.
What’s up, Mo?
I have been very critical of Mo in the last two games. If he wants to win the Ballon d'Or, which I'd love him to go, he can't play like he did last Wednesday. It was just nothing.
He didn’t win one challenge, he was really poor, and on Saturday again. But he wasn’t the only one last Wednesday night. We were pretty horrendous on that day as well.
The alarming thing for me was the pass completion was 73% or something. We’re normally 90% plus. That’s not good enough. That’s got to be 85% to 90% on Wednesday.
But worse than that was the battles. We won 34% of our battles. That tells you we were out-battled and bullied all over the park.
But the one reason Mo Salah is on that teamsheet every single game is because he scores goals, he creates. He might not play well. For me on Saturday, he struggled like hell but he got the two penalties.
His stats are there so you have to play. Gakpo plays more on the left than Diaz because look at his stats. Strikers, you live and breathe and earn your money by scoring goals.
If you want to get your name on the teamsheet, you have to score goals. It’s as simple as that. I know the game has changed and it’s rotated more. But Mo Salah isn’t rotated.
If you have a forward like Haaland, he plays every game. Salah plays every game. Jota is rusty at the moment because he’s been in and out and had a couple of bad injuries at the wrong time.
I’d love to see Nunez go on and score some vital goals for us before the end of the season, but he has to play one million percent, and go through a brick wall. If he doesn’t do that, he gives us nothing.
Elliott future unclear
I think the problem Harvey has got is where do you play him? For me, he's not a right winger. He's got to be involved.
When he plays right wing, he doesn't get the ball enough. He’s one of those players who you’ve got to give him the ball. He’s a really good footballer. Talented lad, young lad with a lot of experience for his age.
He can actually play in the midfield three that we've got, though he might need to work on his defensive responsibilities a little bit. But going forward, his link-up play with Mo and Trent is brilliant.
He gives you something different as an impact player. He’s got to be more than that. I really like him but we don’t know what’s going to go on in pre-season because of the lack of game-time he’s had but he is a massive Liverpool fan. It will be interesting to see.