Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has aimed a sly dig at reporters after being questioned about the club’s transfer business, lauding the quality at his disposal.
Slot’s Reds side breezed into the fourth round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night, picking up 5-1 win at home to a struggling West Ham side.
Liverpool fell behind to an unlucky own goal by Jarell Quansah, but from that point on they were easily the better team, with Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah all finding the net.
While there was plenty of frustration at a lack of business during the summer transfer window, the early signs under Slot suggest that he has still inherited a fantastic squad from Jurgen Klopp.
Speaking after the West Ham game, with quotes provided by Empire of the Kop, the Dutchman had a jibe at the media, suggesting that his players are proving that lots of additions weren’t needed:
“For two months you only asked me about new players and I constantly told you guys how many quality players we already had. That is what we showed in the last weeks and today again, that we have many quality players.
“What pleases me most is that even if a lot of new players come in, they don’t come in and try to have a good individual performances. They try to work really hard for the team because there was a lot of desire not to concede, and as a result of that, we had some good individual performances as well.”
Our thoughts on Liverpool’s squad depth under Slot…
The truth is that there is a middle ground when it comes to being happy with Liverpool’s squad but also demanding more transfer activity.
This is a group of players that many managers in Europe would love to have, but at the same time, failure to bring in a proper No.6 was negligent, even though they pushed hard to sign Martin Zubimendi.
If anything, the decision to sign Federico Chiesa from Juventus didn’t make a huge amount of sense, considering the attacking riches already at Slot’s disposal, with other positions more pressing.
In Jota, Gakpo, Salah, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez, Liverpool have five wonderful options in the final third – six including Chiesa – and they can fire the Reds to trophy glory this season.
Hopefully, new signings will be looked at far more next summer, however, while a January addition also wouldn’t go amiss.
