Arne Slot believes Ange Postecoglou has given Tottenham its identity back as the Reds prepare for a Premier League game in north London on Sunday.
After an up-and-down season that saw them claim impressive wins against the likes of Manchester City, Aston Villa and Manchester United, but also lose seven of their 16 league games so far, Spurs currently sit in 10th place.
Their inconsistency has led some to question Postecoglou’s attacking approach but Slot, whose Liverpool side currently sit top of the Premier League, believes the Australian is pointing them in the right direction.
Ahead of Sunday’s clash, the Reds boss said: “I really have to give them credit when I watch Tottenham, I’m from the Netherlands but I watched a lot of the day’s games.”
“You think of Paul Gascoigne, Glenn Hoddle, Gareth Bale. For me they have always represented a certain type of football and a certain identity, and Ange Postecoglou completely gives them back that identity.
“It’s always a pleasure to watch them, every now and then the results go against them, but I think they’re one of the teams that can beat City.”
We were drawn against Spurs in the semi-finals of the season @Carabao_Cup 👊 pic.twitter.com/VWgI4rrlRO
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 19, 2024
Tottenham Carabao Cup draw
Tottenham and Liverpool will play each other on home and away in the new year after meeting in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Speaking about the draw, Slot added: “Interesting game but any draw would have been interesting because I don’t know if it’s always like that in England but there are still four top teams in the draw so it wasn’t an easy game. “”
Slot reiterated his admiration for Postecoglou by insisting he hopes the 59-year-old brings Spurs their long-awaited trophy – but he hopes it won’t be the Carabao Cup.
He said: “I hope, hope, hope he wins a trophy. Not the League Cup, but I’m a total fan of his team for the Europa League.
“People talk about trophies, trophies, trophies and it’s so important. For me, his style of football is more important, and if he could combine that with a win, that would be so good for football in general, because then people can stop talking about: “Is this too offensive?”
“How on earth can you play too much attacking football?”
“Assess the table after 19 games”
Despite having played a game less than their title rivals, Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League has shrunk to just two points after a 2-2 draw with Fulham last weekend.
And Slot says previous suggestions that the Merseysiders would run away with the title were premature, claiming they should only be judged once the season has reached the halfway point.
“As I have said for the last three or four months, judge the table after 19 games because then everyone has played against the same opponents.
“We were probably a bit lucky, for example Arsenal had a lot of red cards at the start of the season so they lost points.
“We have now received a red card and lost points. We now have Tottenham away, Arsenal had it at the start of the season, Chelsea were already playing there.
“Don’t look at where you were in the season, look at where you are at the end of the season.”
Liverpool team news
According to Slot, Ibrahima Konate and Connor Bradley remain out for the Reds, saying: “Those are the two who are still in red, so they are not training with us at the moment.” They are on their way back but are not training with them yet Team.
“It’s quite difficult (to predict when they will return). Let’s wait and see, but we have a very good rehab staff here and they have already done a good job with Alisson and a few others.
“The main thing is that when they come back they are ready to come back and we can’t focus on one, two or three games. What’s more important is that they are fit in the long term afterwards.”
Aside from those two, Slot is expected to be in good health with Andy Robertson returning from injury.
