Comforts abroad must come home

SLOT AND REDS FINDING IT EASIER TO HIT LAST SEASON'S HIGHS IN CONTINENTAL COMBAT

- By PAUL GORST LFC Correspondent

F Arne Slot was comfortable enough laughing off questions over Xabi Alonso in Marseille on Tuesday night, the Liverpool boss came out swinging when job security was put to him in more general terms this week.

Slot, bizarrely, was asked as he faced the media at Orange Velodrome to preview the following evening’s Champions League clash with Roberto de Zerbi’s side if he had been in touch with Alonso, who is now without a job having been relieved of his duties at Real Madrid earlier this month.

The phrasing of the question may have been lost in translation somewhat from a reporter whose first language was not English but after initially seeing the funny side, Slot conceded it was “one of the weirdest” he had ever fielded as a coach.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk went one further, branding it “disrespectful” when he spoke to reporters after Wednesday's 3-0 win over the Ligue 1 side and even for many of those who feel Slot may never rescale the heights of his first year on Merseyside, the direct poser over Alonso was beyond the mark.

Asked more widely if he felt under pressure in an interview with TNT Sport to preview the game, Slot talked up his achieve ments on Merseyside, which, of course, included the Premier League title in his maiden campaign. It remains, regardless of the varying opinions on this year’s trials and tribulations, a spectacular feat of coaching from the Dutchman and his staff.

“Because people don’t expect that it is possible for me to be successful? That is news to me,” Slot said. “But if you are oneand-a-half years in the job and you have won the league once at a club that has won it twice in 30 years then I am surprised to hear what you're saying.”