Liverpool's Arne Slot: Hard Work, Not Luck, Behind Premier League Success
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has dismissed claims that his Premier League-leading side has been fortunate this season, insisting that any perceived luck is the product of exceptional hard work from his players.
Following Liverpool's 1-0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last-16 first leg, where the Reds were outshot 27 times but emerged victorious thanks to Harvey Elliott's late winner, Slot acknowledged they had been fortunate but quoted basketball legend Michael Jordan to explain their success.
"We weren't a little bit lucky [against PSG], we were really lucky - but as Michael Jordan said once, 'The harder you work, the more luck you have,'" Slot said. "This is the biggest compliment you have to give the players, they worked incredibly hard."
The Dutch manager, who is serving a two-match touchline ban, highlighted his team's mental and physical resilience in Paris: "That also has to do with the players being - if you were 45 minutes with the other team having the ball a lot and having to defend so much - mentally and physically so strong to come up with the second-half performance of not giving away as many open chances as we did in the first half. And, even scoring a goal on the counter-attack shows you how mentally and physically strong these players are."
Liverpool currently sit 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League and could extend that lead to 16 points with a win against Southampton on Saturday, before second-placed Arsenal play their games in hand against Manchester United and Chelsea.
Some rival fans have suggested Liverpool's success has been aided by facing teams missing key players, including Manchester City without Erling Haaland and Newcastle missing Alexander Isak. The Magpies will also be without suspended Anthony Gordon and injured defenders Sven Botman and Lewis Hall in the upcoming Carabao Cup final.
Slot addressed these claims head-on: "If you want to win something you need to have once in a while a game where you don't play your best football and you are lucky - which is maybe not luck if you work as hard as we do - to get away with a result."
He added: "There are almost no teams that play 38 games [in the league] or in the Champions League that play only good football. Real Madrid are the best example of that, they also find a way to win a game if the other team are better than them."
The Liverpool boss also rejected suggestions that his team has been fortunate with injuries compared to title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City. While Arsenal are currently missing Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, and Kai Havertz, and City have been without Ballon d'Or winner Rodri for most of the season, Slot attributes Liverpool's fitness to excellent preparation rather than luck.
"If you think injuries are only a part of luck or bad luck then we've been lucky but we try to believe in the fact that we try to prevent them from a certain way of working," said Slot, who replaced Jurgen Klopp last summer. "That we don't have many injuries, I don't see that as luck. I see it as, first of all, top professionals - our players do everything to try to stay fit - and, second of all, great facilities and a great staff."
The manager also pointed out that Liverpool have had their share of injury problems: "Diogo Jota was out for three or four months without a start, Alisson has been out for weeks, maybe even months, Trent Alexander-Arnold has been out, Conor Bradley [is injured]. Joe Gomez is out now for three months."
As Liverpool continue their march toward potential Premier League glory in Slot's debut season in English football, the manager remains focused on the long-term approach to success: "You need to show this over a longer period of time to consider it luck or bad luck. If we can continue doing this for years without many big injuries then it's probably also quality, although you cannot go through a season in the Premier League, Champions League and all these cup competitions we play in this country without any injuries."
