Arne Slot said he’s “never walked alone” ahead of Galatasaray clash

Arne Slot hit back at recent criticism, saying he has never “walked alone” since becoming Liverpool manager ahead of the second leg in the last 16 of the Champions League against Galatasaray.

Liverpool trail by a 1-0 loss in Turkey in the first leg, registering their second loss to Galatasaray in this Champions League campaign.

But Liverpool manager Slot is not concerned about fans becoming more restless following a 1-1 draw at home to Spurs at the weekend.

Optimism despite recent disappointment

Slot said: “It’s never nice to disappoint the fans, but in these circumstances, I’ve  disappointed myself first.

“Before coming to Liverpool, people told me they (the fans) will support the manager for a long time, and I also know how the football industry works.

“Winning can change a lot, and that’s what we’re trying to achieve tomorrow night.

“We’ve lost twice against them, but we will continue to have the fans’ support, as we always have.”

Despite the recent loss of form, Slot remains optimistic in front of his home crowd.

He said: “History has shown that we are much better at home and we deserve to be in the round of 16.

“We’ve beaten big clubs here, we can look at the goal conceded against Tottenham and say ‘what a shame’ or keep our heads up and say ‘we have a chance to be in the Quarter-Final of the Champions League’.”

Slot also praised his team’s attitude despite their recent loss.

“There were positives after we conceded- they sprinted back to make sure we didn’t concede more, and they sprinted the other way as well.

“That shows they are ready to fight.

“There haven’t been many games where we’ve created fewer chances than our opponent.”

Is the pressure mounting?

Regarding the mounting pressure on the Dutchman and whether he felt he had made errors, Slot responded: “We all make errors, I made errors when we won the league.

“All the decisions I make are for the good of the team, to try and create more chances.

“90% of the games I’ve managed, we’ve created more chances than the other team, but we haven’t always had justice.

“Of course, I feel pressure because we are in an industry where there is pressure every day.

“But it’s also nice to feel that pressure.

“We embrace it, and we’re looking forward to the game tomorrow.”

A tough second leg

Despite his confidence in being able to turn things around, Slot recognises that the task at hand will not be easy.

“We had our chances against Galatasaray, they threw themselves in front of every ball, and there’s a great energy in their team.

“For them to keep a clean sheet twice shows they have good defenders, and the home support helped them massively.

“Both games were really tight against them, and details decided the games.”

Sky Sports pundit and ex Liverpool player Jamie Carragher had argued that Slot’s side were a “team of individuals and not a team”, a comment the Liverpool manager did not agree with.

“I agree with a lot of things Jamie has said this season, but this time I disagree.”

On the Spurs game, Slot added: “We worked hard when they had a counter-attack, eight of our players ran back and were in our 18-yard box.

“They (Tottenham) hit us back on a counter off that, so I don’t know what he meant by it.”

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The most important game of the season

Concerning team news, Slot said Alexander Isak is not fit and will therefore miss out, while defender Joe Gomez did not train due to discomfort in his hamstring but will be assessed tomorrow.

Centre-back Ibrahima Konaté is fully fit and is expected to start.

The Liverpool manager reminded everyone that “this is the most important game because it’s the next one” and that “we can never take a quarter-final spot for granted”.

(Featured image by Alex Parker)