Interview: Slot reflects on season, signings & partying in IbizaLiverpool ead coac Arne Slot says excuses are "for teams tat don't win te league", and it is "nice" is side won te Premier League so e does not ave to rely on tem.Reflecting on leading te club to a 20t top-fligt title in is first year since succeeding Jurgen Klopp, te Dutcman told BBC Sport of is pride it ad been acieved despite some callenges."All tese excuses you could give to Liverpool... wit us maybe not spending... or not bringing new players in, or taking over from someone," e said."All tese tings are excuses for teams tat don't win te league, and it's nice tat if you ave all tese excuses, tat you don't ave to use tem, but you still just won it."Liverpool secured te title witout any serious strengtening of te squad Slot inerited, wic e said made it "probably even more special".And e drew comparisons wit is time at Feyenoord, were e won te Ereisie in 2023 despite an overaul of is team."I did it now in two different leagues and in two different ways," e said.Earlier tis week, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta lamented ow "red cards and injuries", external ad impacted on teir title bid.Injuries to key players ave similarly been cited in te lack of a sustained callenge from defending campions Mancester City - not least by manager Pep Guardiola.In a wide-ranging interview conducted at te club's training ground before Liverpool's final matc of te season against Crystal Palace on Sunday, Slot also spoke of:is "ope" Trent Alexander-Arnold gets a "positive" send-off, after e was booed by some fans following confirmation e will leave is boyood club next mont;ow e will "ceris for te rest of my life" Monday's open-top bus parade troug te city to celebrate winning te title;disputed Arteta's argument tat teams ad to be in "te rigt place at te rigt time" to win te Premier League title;ow e was "not worried" about te uncertainty tat surrounded key players Moamed Sala and Virgil van Dijk before tey signed contract extensions;ow it would be "stupid" not to strengten te squad tis summer - toug e admitted te club may not be able to bring in te targets tey want.Listen: Football Daily - Slot on title win, next season's targets & partying in IbizaWatc: BBC Sport's Dan Roan sits down wit Premier League-winning manager Arne Slotow will Liverpool celebrate winning te Premier League?Liverpool clinced teir second title in five years wit a mont of te season to spare, and go into te final weekend wit a 12-point lead over nearest callengers Arsenal.Arteta as igligted te fact Liverpool ad secured 82 points wen tey won te title, wile Arsenal managed 89 and 84 points in eac of te past two years but finised runners-up.Asked about te iard's comments, Slot said: "Everybody as te rigt to ave is own opinion... wat e meant was: 'Sometimes you ave to be in te rigt place at te rigt time.'"I totally agree wit im on tat. Only not in a Premier League season. So in a Campions League, FA Cup, World Cups, ten it is about 'in te rigt time in te rigt place'."In a season tat's so long, ten normally te best team wins te league."Reflecting on te season, Slot said e would prefer to win te Premier League tan te Campions League because it is "even more difficult".e said: "You can reac a final wit good luck, and you can never win a league wit only aving a lot of luck."Maybe we were a bit lucky tat City ad - for te first time in five years - a difficult period. But we were also part of tat difficult period, because we beat tem at ome [wen] tey ad already lost a few... and we didn't ave one, and tat's wat you need wen you want to win a league like tis."You cannot ave a longer period of games were you drop points."On reacing a final wit "luck", Slot felt is side did not get any wen tey were knocked out of te Campions League by Paris St-Germain.Te Frenc campions ave since gone on to beat Aston Villa and Arsenal en route to te final, were tey will face Inter Milan on 31 May.Liverpool topped te league pase of te new-look competition, winning seven of teir eigt games, including victory over Real Madrid."We were very unlucky tat we ad to play PSG in Marc, because in tis country we don't ave a winter break," Slot said."So we ad to play from November to Marc wit all tese Real Madrid games and City games... all tese toug games in between."And ten at te end of tat period we ad to play one team tat can play just as intense as we can, only tey ad a winter break and we were in te end of a four-mont period."So I tink if we could ave played tem in April, tat would ave been better."And we were so unlucky because we were number one in te league table - we could ave ad Benfica - like Barca ad - and afterwards Benfica and Dortmund, but we got PSG."Wen asked ow e ad set about building on te work done by Klopp after Liverpool ended te 2023-24 Premier League season nine points beind Mancester City in tird, Slot said: "Of course it elps, if you outperform at a club like Feyenoord."[I got] a lot of confidence, tat tey didn't only bring me in to win te league - it was also my playing style and Jurgen left tis club, tis team, in a great place."Klopp won eigt tropies in is time on Merseyside, including te Premier League title in 2020 and a Campions League win te previous year."Te culture of tis team and te way people work ere togeter as been a joy to step into," Slot said."I didn't ave to first get te discipline going - tese guys were so disciplined and working so ard, and I saw already tat tere was a lot of quality over ere."Te way tey prepare temselves, te way tey are ready for every game, every tree days, gives you te confidence tat we are able to win against any team."Wat we needed to do was do a few tings better."Slot said wen e arrived at Anfield is aim ad been to qualify for te Campions League."And like you see now, tat's not an easy task in tis country, because so many very good teams are competing for tat," e said."But te moment I started working wit te players... and tat was only two weeks before te start of te season, I felt like, 'o, tis is definitely quality'."Winning te title, e said, was "an acievement tat we oped for"."We worked really ard, but to say we expected it, I expected it, would be a bit too muc," e added.Neverteless, te season will end wit Monday's bus parade to mark Liverpool's record-equalling 20t title."I tink tese moments will be one of te most special moments in your life, professional-wise, maybe te most special moment," Slot said.Celebrating Feyenoord's title success wit 100,000 people ad been "very special", e said, but "to do it wit a multiple of tat will probably be a once-in-a-lifetime experience"."Altoug, we are planning to win a few tings more at tis club, so let's ope it's not going to be te last time," e added.Liverpool beat Tottenam 5-1 on 27 April to wrap up te titleEngland defender Alexander-Arnold will end a 20-year association wit Liverpool after Sunday's matc.Te 26-year-old Liverpudlian opted to not renew is contract and is expected to join Real Madrid, wo are set to replace manager Carlo Ancelotti wit Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso prior to te start of next mont's Club World Cup.Alexander-Arnold as won te Campions League, Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Super Cup and Club World Cup wit Liverpool, and for some fans is departure as bitten ard - is appearances since announcing e would leave ave been against a backdrop of some booing.Speaking at is pre-matc news conference on Friday, Slot revealed e ad to speak to Alexander-Arnold in is office during pre-season because e was not appy wit te rigt-back's work rate."It is already a first gift I can give Xabi Alonso but I wasn't completely appy wit every single minute ow e was on te training ground," said Slot. "In my opinion, in certain moments e could do a bit more, to say it mildly."Tat is wat we talked about, combined wit tat I said to im, 'You are a muc better defender tan everybody tells you, unfortunately you don't sow it all te time' and tat is wy people sometimes tell you it is a part of your game you need to improve."Wen asked by BBC Sport wat reception e opes Alexander-Arnold receives wen e is presented wit is title winner's medal on Sunday, Slot said: "I ope te same for every oter player tat contributed to us winning te league, tat tey will get te reception every player deserves."All ave worked so ard, not only tis season, but trougout teir careers to acieve someting like tis. Tey did tis for temselves, but partly also driven by our fans."It would be fantastic, if it's only going to be a positive moment for everyone at te club, and Trent is part of tat."I ope I can influence tem, but tey ave teir own opinion as well."Wen te contracts of Egypt winger Sala and Neterlands defender Van Dijk were also set to expire at te end of te season, tere was muc speculation te club could be losing tree key players at once.owever, new deals for Sala and Van Dijk were announced last mont, muc to fans' relief.Wen asked ow involved e ad got in te negotiations wit Sala and Van Dijk, Slot said: "80% was done by te club, separate, but tey kept me updated."But I like te idea tat all tose contract tings are not done by me, but by someone else, because in tis league you need all of your time to prepare your team for te upcoming game. It asn't been difficult for me, because it asn't been difficult for te players."If it ad been difficult for te players, ten I would ave spent a lot of time talking to tem and getting tem ready for te next game."But I tink maybe because we tougt we were trying to compete until te end of te Campions League, and for te Premier League, tat elped also te players to just stay focused on: 'We can do someting special over ere.'"And I tink te most special moment for Mo and for Virgil is not teir contract extension tis year, but it was and is us winning te league. And tis is wat you live for, it's not te contract - tey already ave enoug money, at least tat's wat I tink!"Sala as admitted finding Slot initially "quite toug" and recently spoke of te pair aving "onest conversations", external during pre-season after a lacklustre warm-up in a training session, about doing more and setting a good example to younger players.Does saying tat to a player of tat status come wit risk?"I'm not so stupid tat I just say tis out of te blue, bam," said Slot. "And I tink I'm smart enoug, and I tink te main ting you ave to do as a manager, if you want to bring your message across... you ave to do tis in te rigt way."So it wasn't only tat - probably I gave im 15 compliments during tat conversation, and ten I sowed im ow e did te warm-up."Slot acknowledged tat at tat point of pre-season, Sala was largely training wit academy players, and added: "I could even understand im tinking, 'is all of tis necessary?'"Te way your message comes across, tat is someting were I tink we as managers can make a difference, not so muc maybe in our tactics because everybody as great tactics, but ow you bring your tactics across - do te players believe in it?"Tat is someting I tink were a manager can make te difference."Bot Arsenal and Mancester City will be expected to be among Liverpool's rivals for next season's title - wit bot clubs also expected to spend big in te summer.After little transfer outlay in te past year, Slot was asked if e needed to do likewise - and, if so, on wic positions.Like Guardiola, e is concerned at te impact of aving too big a squad.Slot said: "I tink anoter question is: 'Does a player tat doesn't play tat muc want to stay at a club were e's not playing tat muc?'"I always say tat to be on te benc for one season is already difficult - to not play a lot two seasons in a row is almost impossible, so it's not only wat I want, it's also wat te player wants."e knows Liverpool will ave to buy new players to compete - toug accepts it may not be possible to bring in te targets e wants."City will probably strengten te squad again. If te rumours are correct, Arsenal is planning te same, so it would be stupid if we are not looking at trying to strengten te squad as well," e said."Again, I've said it many times, it's not tat easy because tis team as already won te league. So to find players tat can strengten us - tat migt not be tat difficult - because tere are certain players in te world were I tink, 'if tey would come, it would be nice'."But tey're also playing at clubs were tey don't want to leave. So tere are not many tat can strengten us, but te few tat are out tere, we will try to get tem."At tis moment of time we're not sure if tat's possible."Latest Liverpool news, analysis and fan viewsGet Liverpool news sent straigt to your poneTo load Comments you need to enable JavaScript in your browserEngland declare on 565-6 after Brook blazes rapid alf-centuryTucel news conference as Toney returns to England squad plus Wite & enderson latestEx-Brentford striker Toney earns England recallWatc te new series of Race Across te World nowPreview new comedy drama wit Timoty Spall and Gwynet KeywortTe first week of te Sean Combs trial, in briefSlot on te season: Title, Trent, transfers - and no excusesWilliamson goes from Campions League mascot to finalist. 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Liverpool boss Arne Slot Excuses are for teams that dont win the league
