Liverpool faces Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final this weekend but Trent Alexander-Arnold will not be involved. Arne Slot was also asked about Virgil van Dijk’s future ahead of the showpiece game.
Virgil van Dijk future: “I don’t know what’s happening next season as well in terms of results. But that’s not what you mean. The only thing I know is that I want Virgil to be here next season. The rest is talks about the contract and that is not what I do over here.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold injury: “Trent is not available. He will not be at the final but he is still to be assessed for how it is going to take. We do expect him back before the end of the season.
“Yeah. I think maybe Curtis [Jones] could play there. Or you can play with a left-sided defender on the right, which is what Newcastle does but the opposite way round.”
Is the game bigger for Newcastle? “I don’t along with that. If you reach a final, it is always a big moment for them and also for us. We have two cups but you cannot take it for granted in this country. We don’t play a final every year.
“I said it two days ago, in this part of the season — in England — it is almost impossible to have everyone fit. We have two or three injuries and that is the minimum you can expect after four months of non-stop football.
“So it is a big compliment for us and Newcastle to have so many fit. Trent and Anthony Gordon are big players for both clubs but there are a lot of quality players for both.”
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Bouncing back from PSG: “That is the good thing about where we are now in the league and cup. Everyone wants to play it and that is why we get up and come here to train — a chance to win a trophy. Our league position is a reason for us to keep going. If we leave a tournament then it is better to do it like PSG than Plymouth.
“The intensity levels where the highest they have been all season, we created a few chances which we normally score and yea, I also liked the game, it was pure football. I have seen so many games recently where it is all about diving, pretending to injure,d time-wasting; this was two teams, all in pressing-wise, pure football. Big compliment to PSG to beat such a good Liverpool team.
“In the end, it is normal the players are tired in extra time, especially when it is so intense. I made five changes, so five can’t be tired, I don’t think that is why PSG was better in the last half hour than first 90, nothing to do with tiredness. Four days in between so the players can play Sunday again.”
Darwin Nunez after penalty miss: “I assume Curtis felt the same [after missing]. I assume every player who misses doesn’t feel well, but no one felt positive. They took the responsibility. You can miss but that is what can happen if you take the responsibility.
“We were closer to winning in 90 minutes. You can influence the luck for penalties and we do train them on a regular basis but he missed, not what you want but you don’t want to make anything more it than just missing a penalty.”
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Jarell Quansah ‘more than a talent’: “Last season I think everybody saw what a talent he is. Then this season started with him starting and I changed him as we all know against Ipswich.
“Ibou [Konate] and Virgil [van Dijk] were and are such a strong combination that he didn’t play a lot. But every time he had to play, except for maybe the first one or two games, but afterwards he had to play you could see that maybe he is no longer a talent because as a talent you don’t have any setbacks, but the moment you get setbacks it’s about you and how you react.
“I think he showed in his recent performances that he’s outgrown being called a talent. That’s probably what Thomas Tuchel saw and sees as well by giving him a call-up. He did really well the last few times he had to play for us and even in a position he’s not completely used to as a right full-back.
“But in my opinion, he has also the qualities to play in that position. He’s strong, he’s fast, he’s very comfortable with the ball and it gives us an extra quality if we play him, which we saw [against Paris Saint-Germain], in terms of set-pieces because he was the one that was this far away from us qualifying for the next round by heading the ball onto the post, because that one was not offside.
“He showed mentality and that he had quality. That’s already what we knew when we saw him playing last season.”
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Quansah bouncing back from tricky season: “Although if being substituted at half-time is a setback then almost every player has more than a few setbacks during his career.
“I think it was more that people, from what I said after the game, people were not used to maybe a manager or me being so clear about what I saw and what I did. That in the end probably went to a situation where he got criticised more than what’s normal for a player that gets taken off at half-time.
“Again, it’s so good to see he managed his way back into it. Now already before the winter break he already had a few good moments as well. Every time we now need him, he does really well.
“I think mentality-wise it might’ve been a good or big moment for him that Ipswich game, because now he experienced that people were not only positive about him like last season. Although he made one or two mistakes back then as well.
“He also knows now he can fight his way back if people all of a sudden are not positive anymore. That is something I think every player should experience in the start of his career because a football career is never only going up, it’s always going a bit like this [up and down]. Now he knows he can fight back also after a situation he experienced at Ipswich, or after the Ipswich game.”
Limited chances for fringe players: “It is difficult because these players [on the fringe] hardly train with the starters. The ones who played Saturday only do recovery Sunday, so there is hardly ever time to compete with each other. I agree that the players who don’t start, it’s not an ideal world that we have so many games, that is true.”
