Arne Slot’s press conference: Tottenham 3-6 Liverpool, top at Christmas, Salah and more

Regarding his comment about players thinking they don’t have to run anymore…

I’m exaggerating a bit when I say they don’t run anymore. Of course they still run, but they no longer block crosses, they no longer defend in front of their goal. Until that moment, every time, no matter where the ball was, we were there with two, three, four players. Yes, maybe it’s human nature that when you’re 5-1 up, you think: “Okay.” And I think, on the whole, that’s enough, because not many teams just do it after being 5-1 down further. But we know Tottenham, they keep going and have the quality to create something because they pose a great attacking threat. In every game they played, they created so, so, so many chances. So you have to keep track of every second of the game. And when you’re not at 100 percent, it immediately hurts – not in every game, but definitely against a well-led team like Tottenham.

Whether it was Szoboszlai’s best performance for Liverpool…

I haven’t seen all of his performances since this is my first year and his second year. I just mentioned the game against Man United and I think he was outstanding there too. When you score so many goals it always stands out, but last week against Fulham for example when you look at the work rate he did there. It was a very good performance (from) him (today). I think it wasn’t his first great performance, but it was definitely one of his best, yes.

Whether it means anything to him to be at the top of the table on Christmas Day…

Of course that means something, because we would always rather be where we are than in a different position in the table. You know, having won the league once, I also know how difficult it is to win it. You have to keep going, keep going. Every three days you have to be at your best for every minute of the game. That’s why it’s so hard to win, because it’s not always easy to show up every three or four days. We saw last week that you can get a red card in a moment – which in hindsight was quite a debate, not with me but with other people – and something like that can happen in a season. At Newcastle, when you’re 3-2 ahead, you expect a win and there was a situation where we lost two points. This is the Premier League. I didn’t expect Chelsea to lose points today too, so that can happen in any game and that’s what makes this league so special. That’s why so many people want to see it and that’s why we play at Christmas time.

How impressed he is with Salah since he started working with him…

You have an idea before you start working with players, but the best way to judge – or experience – it is when you start working with them. I think Mo is showing what he has shown at Liverpool for so many years, that he can score a goal and the team just has to put him in the positions he has often been in today. Then he is able to score goals or provide assists. Apart from being a very good football player, I think he is also a very nice person to work with. He is always there to help his teammates. He’s always down to earth, so tomorrow – or even now, I think – he’ll work on his recovery. He understands what it takes to be at this level every three days and he works really hard for it. That’s perhaps what impressed me the most – that a top player like him understands how hard he has to work for the quality he shows.