‘Never nice’ to hear boos after reaction to Spurs draw
Liverpool face Galatasaray looking to overturn deficit
Arne Slot has said that he must have “done a lot of things wrong” for Liverpool fans to boo their team, but he does not feel the Anfield crowd has turned against him before a crucial Champions League tie against Galatasaray.
Slot believes the glum mood around the Premier League champions can be transformed by overturning a 1-0 deficit in the last 16 and reaching the quarter-finals at the Turkish club’s expense.
Liverpool were booed off after conceding another costly late goal against Tottenham on Sunday, when Dominik Szoboszlai admitted the team were being affected by fans leaving the stadium early. Slot disputes the frustration was aimed squarely at him.
“It’s never nice that they are frustrated because usually fans are not frustrated after you win,” said Slot, who expects Ibrahima Konaté to return having missed the Spurs game with a hamstring problem. “So first of all you’re frustrated yourself and disappointed we haven’t won. Second of all, people told me when I first came here that if it [the booing] was towards me … this club is different than other clubs and the fans will support the manager for such a long time.
“So if it’s true what you’re saying – and I don’t feel this at all – then I must have done a lot of things wrong and that’s never a nice feeling to have. Being in a club that’s always so supportive of the manager, in good and bad times, if they are not happy with me then apparently I’ve done so many things wrong and that’s never a nice feeling to have. But I know how the football industry works. Winning can change a lot. That’s what we are trying to achieve tomorrow. And we’re completely ready for that, I can tell you.”
Slot did not go into the specifics of his mistakes but insisted that, in terms of work-rate and chance creation, Liverpool remain superior to most opponents. “I did something wrong in the season we won the league and I definitely did make a few decisions that were not perfect in hindsight. But all the decisions I’ve made I’ve always made for the same reason; to help us to try to win the game.
“I can say at this club and all the other clubs I’ve worked, 80%-90% of the games I’ve managed my teams have outworked the other teams and my teams have created more chances than the other team.”
Liverpool have been beaten twice by Galatasaray this season, on both occasions at a raucous Rams Park, but Slot believes the prospect of a quarter-final place against Paris Saint-Germain or Chelsea can inspire a different outcome at Anfield. “We feel the importance of this game,” the head coach said.
“We are able to reach the quarter-final of the Champions League. That would be special for me as it would be my first time. It would be special for all of us. We can never take a Champions League quarter-final for granted no matter how often this club has done it in the past.”
