Arne Slot says 2 players “showed themselves” during ‘refreshing’ break

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot feels the international break may have provided an important reset for his players.

The Premier League leaders headed into the recent hiatus in fixtures on the back of suffering consecutive defeats for the first time this season, having exited the Champions League to Paris Saint-Germain before losing the Carabao Cup final to Newcastle.

Slot says of all the breaks, this was the one he “needed the most,” and he believes his players have returned refreshed and ready for the final nine matches as they try to close out a second title in five years.

“The first three [breaks] were after one or two months’ work, this one was after four months of non-stop work so I like this one the most for the simple reason it was four months in a row,” he said ahead of the visit of Everton for the 246th Merseyside derby.

“It was my first experience of playing in the winter so this one I liked the most, I needed the most as well.

“The mental break [for the players] comes more from going to a different environment with different team-mates.

“For that reason it was maybe a good moment after you lose two games. If you stay at your club you have to win your next game, but if you go to your national team things are new again.

“Lucho Diaz had two goals [for Colombia], Cody Gakpo had a goal [for Netherlands], so a few of our players showed themselves in a very good way again.”

The Reds’ successive losses before the international break led to suggestions Slot’s team were running out of steam, but the Dutchman rejected the premise fatigue was starting to play a part in their campaign.

“If I look at the Paris Saint-Germain game, I don’t think, in the eight or nine months I’ve been in the job, I saw my players work as hard as they did for 120 minutes,” he said.

“Maybe that was also the reason why we looked tired in the final, but maybe I don’t give the right credit to Newcastle, who made it difficult for us.

“They are maybe a bit more refreshed than in a normal international break because we didn’t play at the weekend.

“Most of them had a few days off as well, for the first time in months they had three, four, five days off, so that is maybe the reason why I use the word ‘refreshed’.”

One player who did not go on international duty but still found himself in the headlines was the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold, with speculation continuing about a move to Real Madrid in the summer when his contract expires.

Slot, however, insists the situation has been rumbling on in the background all season so last week made little difference.

“Unfortunately he is injured and for him that means he is fully focused on his recovery,” he said. “For us it means we will try to help him to be back as soon as he can.

“For eight months it went a bit up and down with talks about him, Virgil or Mo, but we have never been focused on those talks, we have always been focused on what we have to do.

“For Virgil and Mo, that is trying to win the Merseyside derby and for Trent it is trying to be fit as soon as he can.

“I think all these three players have performed so well under these circumstances so it doesn’t affect me at all.”