Press conference: Every word from Arne Slot after Brentford 0-2 Liverpool

On Liverpool’s current form…

Because we’re in an industry that only talks about the results… as a manager I told the players again this week that I couldn’t have asked for more in the Forest game – just one counter attack conceded and so many chances created against a team that almost never gives any chance at all in their matches. Brentford have never faced this season, I’m 99.9 per cent sure, 37 shots in a game, so what more can I ask of our players?

I saw today that Brentford were more of a threat on the counter attack than Forest were, let’s be clear, but that also has to do with a lot of credit you have to give to Brentford because I watched their game on Tuesday where it was. a completely even match, both teams had numerous chances and they came back from 2-0 behind (against Manchester City). We knew how difficult it was to play here, we knew how difficult it is to play at Forest and we knew how difficult it is to play against such a low block as United played against us and later against Arsenal. (The) second (half) of the season, (it) is always harder to win, but I can’t ask for more from these players, they give everything they have.

On the foundations, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate at the back provide…

A lot, that’s clear, because I think you also saw more today than in the Forest game… I think if I would have been the manager of Brentford, I would have told you that there were moments for us to win the game because there were moments for them to win the game. Most of those moments were defended really well by Ibou and Virgil, they went one-on-one against them on the counter-attack, but we pushed them wide really well, which helped Alisson (Becker) to save those shots. I emphasized that in the pre-match meeting, (Bryan) Mbeumo likes it on his left side and scores a lot by going inside. Of course, one of the reasons why we are so high in the league is because we have two and four very good centre-backs.

On the impact of Harvey Elliott off the bench…

I was (happy with his performance when he came on) and I’m glad we’re giving you a chance to ask another question! All the other interviews there was a lot of focus on Darwin because he scored two goals and every time I said, ‘Yeah, but don’t forget Harvey – he had a big influence on both goals too.’ It is so nice for me, for us as a team, that I have players who can also influence the game on the bench. This happened at Forest with (Diogo) Jota and Kostas (Tsimikas) and today with Harvey and with Darwin.

If you only focus on results again, if you also focus on performance – which I do – I also liked Robbo and Curtis (Jones) when they came in and Federico (Chiesa) was only (on) for five minutes, so you can’t say much about it. But it’s nice to have so many options on the bench, that’s why they have to remain available, they have to stay fit, because one of the team’s strengths is not only four good central defenders, but certainly also players who can influence play from the bench.