Amazing opportunity for all the diamond shouters, it might be once in a lifetime…
… and still not happen.
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Weeks pffftt longer than that
There we go, just as I was hoping we were closing in on having only 1 injury in Leoni.
I guess there are a few options, but I don’t expect anything too wild.
He could go with a narrow 4-4-2, without wingers, so basically a 4-2-2-2 in possession. Szobo on the right, Wirtz on the left.
If he doesn’t want to go 2 up top, he could throw Jones in a 5-man midfield, with Szobo supporting the striker. Could be important to stop Calhanoglu orchestrating from deep.
If he doesn’t want to go 2 up top and wants a bit of width, he could play Gomez at RB and Bradley at RW. If it has to be a full back on the wing, Bradley is a better fit for that than Robbo or Kerkez. Plus, Bradley sometimes has to play very offensive for Northern Ireland.
He could go 3 at the back and test Inter 1v1 all over the pitch, like we tried against Palace in the LC, but I don’t think we’ll do it here.
I don’t think he will start Ngumoha, nor do I think he should. But he might see a bit of action off the bench.
Arne says Cody picked up a knock against Leeds, out for a couple weeks. Chiesa is ill, might travel if he makes an ‘amazing recovery’.
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And now as predicted… Allison talks about his friendship with Mo.
Edit
Now he talks about freedom of speech, and that’s a personal matter for Mo etc.
“I don’t think his goal was to disrespect anyone. He had the freedom to talk how he feels about his own situation. Now it’s important how we react.”
And again that Mo has the right to talk about his feelings.
But he has to take the consequences etc.
Edit
This isn’t a situation that makes us happy. On a personal level we all love Mo and he’s a hugely important player for the team. He is a wonderful human being and a spectacular footballer.
“Him not being available is a consequence of what he did and he is smart enough to know that.”
Alisson on the mood in the dressing room: "It’s as good as we can be.
“All the players will have different thoughts about the situation, that’s okay.”
Edit
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https://www.youtube.com/live/3YXwG2g9LiY?si=lDYzR1qX-YU54xIu
Start 3.37 min
Highlights from the presser from the BBC:
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Slot was firstly asked whether he believes Salah was referring to him when he said he had been “thrown under the bus”: “The only one who can answer that is Mo. It’s hard for me to tell who he means in that situation. We let him know he is not travelling with us. That is the only communication there has been from us to him.”
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Does he feel his relationship with Salah has broken down?: “That’s not the way I feel but he has the right to feel things how he feels things. I have not felt that at all until Saturday evening for sure. He was very respectful to my staff members, to his team-mates and he trained really hard. It was a surprise when I heard he gave the comments he gave after the game.”
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Slot was non-committal when asked if Salah could be back for selection for the weekend’s match against Brighton: “We are sitting here before a big game for us. The most thoughts I’ve had are all about tomorrow. In the meantime, we’ve chosen not to take him for this game.”
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On whether there is a way back for him at the club: “I am a firm believer that there is always a possibility for a player to return. I can leave it at that.”
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On if he was on speaking terms with Salah before the draw at Leeds: “Yes, we were. But it doesn’t mean we always agreed on things. I spoke to him twice in the two days before Leeds. I’ve already said a few times I didn’t speak to him [at length] after Leeds.”
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On Salah’s response to being left out of the squad to face Inter? “A short one.”
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On if Salah has played his last game for Liverpool? “I have no clue.”
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He explained his decision to drop Salah: “He has every right to feel what he feels and if he shares it with the media then we have to react with it. Usually, I am calm and polite but it doesn’t mean I’m weak. When a player says things like that, we have to react as a club. And you can see he is not here.”
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He gave an update on Federico Chiesa and Cody Gakpo, who didn’t travel with the squad to Milan: “Federico is ill. Poor timing. If he has an amazing recovery that the doctors don’t expect, he might travel tomorrow. Gakpo unfortunately picked up an injury against Leeds and will be out for a few weeks.”
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On Inter and their manager Cristian Chivu: “He was a very good defender but very comfortable on the ball, which you can see in his team. His team defends really aggressively in a high press and can maybe defend the box like no other team in the world. But, they can also bring the ball out from the back.”
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By the way Mohamed, you’re not traveling to MilanWell we’re surely going to see some kind of significant change in approach. Will it be Ekitike tried off the left finally? Maybe a really compact 4-2-3-1 with the three being midfielders rather than forwards. Perhaps more of a box midfield perhaps with both Ekitike and Isak starting up top. Maybe wing backs and no Gravenberch, although risky playing three CBs when that’s all the CBs you have.
Whatever he goes with, those wanting to see a side without Gakpo starting are going to get their wish. For Slot this is a chance for him to really try something different in the hope it gives us more solidity if nothing else.
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Any mention of Endo or did he actually travel in the end?
Least it’s the flu with Chiesa, hopefully same with Endo.
I only found this
Endo hurt his knee in a tackle against Leeds, looked pretty bad too. But he limped on and continued until the end of the game.
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He’ll recover remarkably and then have some fans criticize him for getting sick in the first place
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He isn’t above criticism though? He has been in a poor vein of form recently.
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Poor Chiesa, gets diarrhea when our only available winger is a 17-year old kid.
What are you eating mate, some suspicios carbonara?
By the way, the press conference was more or less as expected. Slot got 10 minutes of questions on Salah, then our guy told the journalists to change subject and talk about the game.
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Wouldn’t bother Fede lad, put the TV on and stick on some fifa.
Any chance you can do that? since you wont support the team, let the fans who want to support the team through the hard times as well as the good watch the match without having to see the usual " he’s clueless get him out " every 5 minutes ?
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Do hope he gives Chiesa a game or two now in rotation with Rio.
Klopp could be stubborn a bit like this but when it was forced he did actually accept it.
Badly formatted, sort of like our game plan, so I will allow it.
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Asymmetrical!
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