Arsenal dismantle West Ham | Slot on the power of Anfield | Pep Guardiola exclusive interview - “Now it’s time to suffer.”
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Hi there, welcome along to the Sunday Supplement podcast with me, Vicky Gommasol and the assistant editor of The Mirror, Darren Lewis. Joining us this week is our very own Gary Cottrell. Welcome along to you both.

OK, only one place to start then, and that is, of course, Liverpool against Manchester City. The leaders go into the game eight points clear of the champions with Pep Guardiola's side without a win in six games in all competitions, which is very rare indeed. So let's start to talk about it then, Darren. Jamie Carragher has made quite a bold prediction ahead of this one, saying that if City lose this game, their title defence is over. Do you agree with that?

It's a really hard one because just as City have lost their form and just as we've seen Arsenal derailed without Martin Odegaard, it's really hard to kind of make that pronouncement this early in the season. Having said that, Jamie is a veteran of having played in pivotal matches and we've all watched enough football to know that sometimes in what is the most competitive league in the world,

It's the small things that make the difference. Arsenal lost the title last season because they slipped up against West Ham and Fulham.

So if you're nine points behind if you're Arsenal, if you're 11 points behind if you're City, it's a big, big mountain to climb when Liverpool are so good defensively and they've got so many options in attack. Yeah, we're just not used to seeing them there, are we, at the moment in the table for sure. Arnaud Slot, what about him, Gary? Because he's lost one game since he arrived and that's 17 victories out of 19. Do you think he's getting enough of the credit that he deserves right now?

what does uh slot translate from dutch into english oh i don't know castle oh okay he built a castle at fine lord didn't he he said elkmire before that they were going to win the title until the season was postponed because of covid so he's been there before in terms of

sorting out teams and winning things. And I think he's building a castle or certainly putting the finishing touches to a castle. Liverpool, obviously the foundations were there. Yes. And most of the castle was there. Maybe a few repairs to the roof after Jurgen Klopp left. And everyone thought it was an impossible job to follow Jurgen Klopp, but he's done it amazingly. Everyone there loves him. The players love him, the board love him, the fans love him.

he's gone in really quietly without making massive changes. He has tweaked things, I'm told, around the training ground. Yeah. But he puts his arm around the players. That's what I was told at final, that all the players love him. We remember last season, don't we, when Mo Salah had that touchline tiff with Jurgen Klopp. I was speaking to the coach of Jurgen Klopp on the slot

when he was an eight-year-old boy about his attitude to difficulties like that. And he says he'll take him into a room, sit him down for an hour and a half, ask him what he wants and try and give it to him. And I think if these three players who are being linked away, there is a head coach and manager who can convince him to stay, then I think it is Arne Slott. When you were there, before Slott came to England...

You obviously got a chance to see him in action as final head coach, dealing with the media, dealing with the pressure of what was going to be an impending move. Did you get the sense then that he was the kind of manager that could go to a massive superpower in European football and be as calm as he has been so far, getting everything to work? Loads of confidence, but

but not arrogance, just confidence in his ability to deal with everything that the modern game brings, particularly the club like Liverpool. You've got to be great around the training ground. You've got to make the players buy into you. You've got to make the fans love you. You've got to deal with the media. I mean, that glint in his eye, a bit like Jurgen Klopp, he always had it. And this coach, his first coach as a footballer in his hometown, and by the way,

on a slot after a couple of news conferences with him at Vinaldi, on the way out he said to me, "Gary, go to my hometown. Leave my parents alone, but go to my hometown just to find out about a bit of my story." So he gets what it is we do. And I went to that hometown and his head coach, when he was eight, said he was playing in the age group, two age groups above, and at the end of every training session would come up and say, "Well, why are we doing it like this? This is an eight-year-old."

old. Why don't we do it like that? Can you explain to me why we're not doing it like that? And there was one story very quickly where we knew that they were going to go to a hotel before an away game. We wanted to have a word with him, as I do. Didn't know where the hotel was. So we followed the coach out of the training ground and he was in the back, I'm told, by the press officer and

aware that we were following him saying to the driver go around the roundabout go around the roundabout go around the roundabout and loving every moment of it and then when he didn't shake us off he gave us a quick word at the other end yeah see that that's the thing isn't it it's that we've talked about it on this show a lot actually about that communication and how important it is nowadays in terms of dealing with the media and actually that you've kind of won half the battle haven't you if you can get the media on side and you can have that rapport and it's very clear particularly at the

the moment when he's having to deal with three subjects, three contracts, and he's quite light-hearted about it. Is that the difference between him, perhaps, and other managers, do you think, Gary? Yes, definitely. You keep the media happy, then you can get on with doing what you need to do, which is winning games, winning trophies, winning silverware.

with a lot less hassle behind the scenes or, you know, more quietly. I mean, how quietly have Liverpool got to where they are really, comparatively speaking, with all the noise around City, with all the noise around Arsenal, with all the noise around Manchester United, top of the Champions League group as well. And that's because if he is asked a difficult question, he makes light of it. Oh, you're asking me that question again. Oh, why aren't you asking me that question? And he's the same in the news conferences, he's the same in the one-on-one interviews. And Liverpool, of course...

a beautifully run club, always have been. And they really, really needed somebody who could come in off the back of a legend that was Jurgen Klopp and be another legend. And amazingly, he's come in and

equaled Jurgen Klopp in terms of the media, if not better than him. Wow, that's quite the statement. Certainly, Arsenal didn't go about doing anything quietly yesterday, did they? I mean, that was an emphatic victory over West Ham. Seven goals in the first half from both the teams. Are they back, do you think, very much to their best and firmly in this title race? Well, the interesting thing after they've scored five at West Ham is that they are back. Are they at their best?

I still think there's a couple of levels for them to go, only because they conceded those two goals from 4-0 up. But you look at the way that these goals are taken and set up, I have to say, by Odegaard as well. And you can see that in terms of the charisma that they have in that final third, yes, they're back. The confidence is back. The swagger is back in the way that they play. We know that these are key men who are able to grab goals. Odegaard right up there.

with some of the very best in terms of creative forces. And you look at double acts, that's always really key, isn't it? Shearer, Sutton, Rooney and Ronaldo, Vardy and Mahrez, Drogba and Lampard, Silva and Aguero.

Saka and Odegaard are developing a partnership that is as devastating as any in the Premier League right now. The creative talent that is Odegaard, I think, is actually underrated. He doesn't get the credit he deserves. Saka grabs the goals, of course. He is the face of Arsenal, he's the face of England. But Odegaard, he was a young man who had a huge hype around him. Obviously, he went to Real Madrid and the hype just exploded out of him.

All recognition. But I think he's finding himself. He was terrific last couple of seasons for Arsenal. I think if they're going to be back in this title race, he is going to be the man who's going to drive it. I know we're giving Saka the credit he quite rightly deserves, but they lost their way without Odegaard. With him back in that side, they're finding it again. Vicky and Darren. Yeah, I was going to say, I was wondering when you were going to mention that.

Odegaard's so important off the pitch as well, of course. Yes. I mean, we mentioned the fact that Saka is, you know, you've said it actually, haven't you, that kind of single-handedly at times is, you know, carrying Arsenal on his shoulders, certainly when Odegaard wasn't there. He's got now 15 involvements in Premier League goals. I think it's only Salah that can better that. It's quite the record. And he looks this cool, calm...

assured player and he's still such a young man as well but like you say that relationship with Odegaard it's something special isn't it yeah no tips either about who takes the penalties which is uh which is interesting yeah I mean I think that partnership is it's telepathic isn't it yeah they really don't even look up do they when they're linking with each other we've seen that before of course but these two it's certainly the case and I think Odegaard was

was dreadfully missed we were discussing before whether any team misses a player more than arsenal mr god you came up with a few but it is he is very important and sakura of course still so young when terry henry when he arrived was the same age as sakura is now and he's already been at the club 16 years around the first team for six years so really i've got legendary status on the way i think will he get to this the levels of tearing on me if he isn't carries on yeah yeah if he carries on he's got the right attitude he's a lovely he's a lovely lad

not lad anymore you think of him as a lad don't you yeah we do from the local area ish as I say been at the club since you could you know barely walk and if he carries on playing like that and also go on and win things then of course you know you don't really get one club players these days but you wouldn't rule out I don't know what you think down here staying at the club for the rest of his life particularly if they're winning things yeah

Yeah, I think so. I mean, he's a player who doesn't... It's very low-maintenance football. Yeah. And you get top talents in the Premier League, but sometimes they come with the added baggage. He doesn't have that. Every time you speak to him about his life and about his family and about the way he talks about reading his Bible, he's somebody that doesn't want for the material things. He just wants to be happy so that he can play his football. And just on the top, what you were saying about Thierry Henry...

Thierry Mouy is a player who took responsibility. That's a big thing. Stats don't tell you about that. You can convert penalties and you can tap goals in from close range. But what Saka's skill set actually is, is grabbing the ball when the chips are down and going past three players. They all know what he's going to do and they can't stop him. How many times have we said that here on the show and in dispatches? And that's what he does do. That's why he's one of the best players in world football. One last thing on that as well.

I remember seeing him when England played against France and Mbappe was in form. At the moment, we know he's hopelessly out of form. But when he was in form and England played France, Mbappe was on the pitch and we expected England to be the ones under the cosh from Mbappe. But actually, it was France under the cosh from Saka because they had no idea how to handle this young player

The pyrotechnics of an absolutely fantastic player. And I think he does have it in his locker to scale those heights. Can I just say as well, on the back of being a fantastic player, more about being a fantastic man. I know for a fact, because I've spoken to his PE teacher at his infant school, just so you can see it from Sky, stays in touch with him, gives him text messages all the time about his progress, good games, bad games. And on deadline day, when I was at Arsenal, he wound his window down on the way out and said, who are we signing, Gary? LAUGHTER

He has got a lovely way about him, actually. I think he's a really good inspirational player for all the youngsters out there thinking, who do I want to be like? It would be, right now, I think, Saka's amongst them. What are the papers saying? Have they got plenty on him? They do indeed. I'm going to go, all of the papers have Saka on their back pages, but the Observer is the one that I've gone with before because that word punch really does sum up his impact yesterday at the London Stadium. I think West Ham were punched drunk by the time they were 4-0 down.

It's described as a seven goals filler. We can see another punch in the top right hand corner. See what the observer did there with Fabianski making his contribution to that collapse during the first half.

But I love the picture. It's a smile on his face. It's the way he goes about his fantastic business. And the numbers say it all because of he's now been directly involved in 15 Premier League goals in 24-25, second only to the 16 by Mohamed Salah. Of those 15 official involvements, 10 have been Saka assists. Only Kane, Fabregas and Ozil.

have reached double figures for assists in fewer games into a Premier League campaign. He is having a superb impact for Arsenal. I want to show you one other as well because obviously Simon Mullock in the mirror has been talking about him as well and he's been suggesting that that Henry record is there for the taking and I think as far as Saka is concerned

the added pressures that come along with it because every time he's interviewed and I even saw it in his interview yesterday he's very much a team player he's not all about him he's very much in the mould of Thierry Henry it's not all about me it's the team and every time you would ask Henry about

feat of footballing brilliance that he'd pulled off. He'd always say, why are you not talking about the other guys as well? Because I can't do it unless they're with me. Well, that's what Saka is like as well. And I can see him reaching that landmark that Thierry and Rissa and Kevin De Bruyne has been up there.

Welcome back to Super Sunday Matchday, though. We're going to be discussing Mo Salah's future shortly, but first to an interview with his manager, Arna Slott. The Liverpool manager has been speaking to Juliet Farrington about their brilliant start to the season, which has them top of both the Champions League and the Premier League. It's been the dream start for him. I bet you they can't believe it. The start of the season, what's happened to the other teams, but Liverpool took full advantage of it. But so far for Arna Slott, that is exactly where you want to be. That's Salah!

And that's 2-2. What a chance to have a win in this title. Salah takes and Salah scores and Liverpool lead. A huge win for Liverpool who capitalise on Manchester City's slip to go eight points clear at the top of the Premier League. Arna, thank you for doing this. What will be vital for you and Liverpool on Sunday to win and to come through this next test that you have because at the start of the season

You said that the fixtures had been kind but since then you keep delivering and producing and to be in the position that you're in it's put you right up there. Yeah but I just said what everybody told me.

You say what they tell you. The officials were so kind, but I had to agree with them because it was true that in the first few games we didn't play a team that was expected to end up in the top five. I think it always helps if you start winning, so the momentum grows and the confidence grows. But it's not a coincidence that this club, this team, wins games because that's what they did last season, that's what they did the season before, that's what they're doing here for so many years. So, yeah, it's nice.

to win as many games as we did, but yeah, still a long way to go. I went back to an interview that you did 18 months ago in May 2023 and you talked about Pep Guardiola and how you said he was a control freak just like you. Not that you want to compare yourself to him, but also how you try and win a game a week before it's played. You try and prepare yourself and you see yourself winning that match. Can you just talk us through that process?

Yeah, but I don't think I'm an exception to any manager anywhere around the world. We all try to prepare our team in the best possible way. But yeah, it is true that we try to win the game before it's even played. What is it about him that you admire so much? Look at his track record, that's one. But second of all, because it's not only about the trophies you win, it's also the way you win it. And I think...

Yeah, his Barcelona team was, of course they were great players as well, but the way he let them play was, every time when it was Sunday evening, you were hoping that Barcelona was on, that they had to play a home game so we could watch them again. But also, just referencing that interview you did 18 months ago, it's like...

You probably didn't expect you'd be here, let alone top of the Premier League, when you were talking about Pep Guardiola at that time. And now you're going into battle with him as well. And that's a challenge for you. And that would bring the best out of you as well. Yeah. For me, it was a great time half a year ago to join another club. And now it is indeed what you just said. It's not only in the Champions League when you face the best managers in the world. You see the same if you play Premier League. So that makes it...

Hard work, but also a nice experience. One thing that intrigued me, I spoke to you at your first press conference here at Liverpool and I was asking you what it was like to get that phone call to say would you like to take on this new position? But also, did you ever get like first day nerves like other people would get going into a new job when you arrived here?

Yeah, I think we all do because everything is new for you. The building is new, the people that you're working with is new, the players are new. But nerves, you can have nerves and still function in the right way. I just wondered in the first four months, what's been the best thing about being here, being in this city, this environment? Winning.

And away from winning. But that has nothing to do with the city and the environment. I would say that my expectations about the weather were terrible because Jürgen warned me more than a few times for this. But till now the weather has been quite kind to me. So that's a positive thing and apart from that I think, I knew this before I went here, but you can just feel what it means to the people in this city.

what Liverpool means for them and this is what you feel every time you step into the stadium and it's every time a joy to be there, especially if we win. I just wanted to ask you as well about Mo and Virgil van Dijk in the fact that the responsibility they seem to have taken upon themselves even more so this season. You've got such a good blend of senior players and younger players and it just seems that

Everything is coming together, but they like that responsibility of reminding the younger players that are coming through what playing for Liverpool means. Yeah, I think the mix is very good and it's great and that's what we assessed from the start of the season when everybody was talking to us.

from the outside world, where are the signings, where are the signings, where are the signings? And we thought from the start that we had a great mix of characters and quality of players. So you are talking about responsibility and knowing what it means to play for this club with Virgil and with Mo. Yes, they do because they played here for so many years, we're so successful over here. But we also have the academy players that played here for so many years. So it's a great mix of players.

that are doing really well at the moment, but we also know how hard the Premier League and the Champions League can be because who would have thought that City would have had the results they have. So we know that this can happen again in a difficult league like this, so we have to keep on going to make sure we keep these results as they are now. It doesn't feel like a false position though, that you find yourselves in? No, we like to be in this position of course, but we also know

that City doesn't like the way it is now. And if you've won the league four times in a row, that probably means it's a dangerous starting position for both teams. A dangerous weekend. A dangerous weekend. They will want to show why they've won the league four times in a row. And we want to show that we can compete against them and that we want to be their competitor. We've been their competitor for a few years. They've always been on top of us, except one season.

That's why this game, just like Real Madrid won, is such a great game to look forward to.

Really good to hear from Arnaud Slotvay. He's also had to deal with, of course, the fallout from that Mo Salah interview last weekend in which Salah said he was probably more out than in regarding his Liverpool future with his contract expiring at the end of the season. So, Darren, what did you make of the Salah interview? Jamie Carragher has actually come out and been very critical of him and calling him selfish. What did you think?

I didn't really see it as anything other than what you normally see in any negotiation, where when there appears to be a stalemate, one or other party takes a step to maybe move things along. We've seen it happen in football a million times over the years. There's interesting context, player to player, from Robbie Fowler. We'll get to that when we do the papers.

Robbie takes an opposite view to Jamie. I can see what Jamie was saying because Jamie is very, very much in step with the view on Merseyside and that has to be respected. I think as far as Salah is concerned, he felt that he...

needed to kind of articulate his position given that we are approaching January. In January he is free to speak to other foreign clubs so it needed to get to a point where someone takes a step towards maybe shifting the dial a little bit. I saw what Jamie was saying the other night and you know

he was suggesting that they would, and I think he's right, there would have been contact from Liverpool in some way, shape or form. It might not necessarily have been in the shape of a contract, a firm contract, but there would have been an indication as to where they were going. But in, you know, the chaps that

Salah stopped to speak to. They did a terrific job as ever of representing him fairly, of giving him the platform to be able to speak. I would imagine that given that he speaks so rarely in the mix zone, and we'll talk about that in a second, they couldn't believe their luck when at such a crucial point

in his Liverpool career, he decided he would like to speak because that's what you want when you go into a mix zone. You do want the key player from any given match to speak to you. But when it's from a given situation, which has far wider implications for the season, for the club,

you obviously give them every opportunity to be able to represent themselves. It's fascinating, isn't it? Because if you didn't know what a mix zone is, it's kind of like the aftermath of a game, isn't it? It's not the press conference, it's the mix zone. The players can talk if they want to and talk if they don't want to. That's their prerogative. And we know that this is only the third time that he's actually stopped in a mix zone environment in terms of the English media, perhaps.

Was it poor timing ahead of such a big week for them? They had games against Real Madrid, of course, which they go on to win. And of course, today they've got Manchester City. Yeah, I've got a sleeping bag in my car, spend most of my life, my second home, a mixed zone. And actually, there's some confusion with this interview because the mixed zone at St Mary's is in a really strange place. The players...

some of them come off straight off the game in their kit do what we call the flash zone interview for the rights holders i'm sure everyone at home knows this but for those who don't then they get changed they make their own way so what's a flash just explain what a flash flash zone is like an instantaneous interview with the managers right with the

players, usually the man of the match or the goal scorer that you see straight after the final whistle or by the time it gets on air, five or ten minutes after the final whistle. Then they all get changed, the manager goes to the news conference, the players make their way either to their cars or to the coach. But at St Mary's, unusually, this mix zone is between the exit and the coach. So I think initial reports where they've gone over to speak to supporters, but actually that was the mix zone.

journalists or journalists have the right to ask questions and players can either answer or not. Now Liverpool actually are pretty good. I'm not sure Mo Salah only doing three mixed interviews in the past is quite right. He speaks to Egyptian media if they take the time to come over to Premier League games certainly and obviously International Duty is one of the main players. He does a lot there but yeah probably he's not one of the most regular speakers

Liverpool and I don't think he's done any harm at all he's got a right to express himself he's a grown man and I think it's actually now been a great move for him because the pressure is all on the club and not on him the

The fans are wondering, you know, get him signed up. And I think he'll stay, personally. He's got two children of school age as well, both born in this country. I think the sticking point is... I don't know if we've got time for a quick quiz, but the sticking point is supposed to be the length of contract. He's going to be 35 still by the time a three-year deal, which is what he wants, comes to an end. There's loads of examples of players who have made a real difference at that age or more than that age. We know about Messi, we know about Ronaldo. I won't ask about those, but...

Zlatan. How old was Zlatan when he was in the Europa League Team of the Year and in the final six of the PFA nominations Player of the Year? Well, he was quite old. He was quite old, wasn't he? So I'm going to say 34. He was 35, not far off 36. Wow. Yeah, that's what I said. Jamie Vardy. You got the next one. Jamie Vardy, we saw him again yesterday making a difference. How old is he? Him? 35. 35.

37. 37 years old. Lewandowski, 22 goals in 20 appearances for Barcelona already this season. Me first again? No, I'll go first. I'll take this one. 35. 36.

Didier Drogba, when he lifted his Premier League trophy the final time... I know this, 37. 37 years old. And of course, Luka Modric, different position, but 39. So these players, if they're good enough and fit enough... And look when he took his shirt off, by the way. I know, yeah. I think he's a better player now than when he arrived at Liverpool. I mean, listen, it's a really interesting point because there is a debate that I think could be had maybe on another week...

but a wider debate on whether we should rethink the way we perceive players who are over 40 because players are far better now looking after themselves over 30. Salah in particular lives his life the right way, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, refuels in the right way. His extracurricular activities, you don't find them in the front pages of the newspapers and he's an exceptional role model in that regard. And I think more and more players are following

that kind of approach because they want to prolong their careers. And whereas we've had that perception of players who are over 30, well, you know, they're getting older, they've lost a yard of play. That feels like that was yesteryear, doesn't it? Exactly. And I think so many players, you've just mentioned four or five of them there, but there are so many players who just shred that to pieces. So, yeah, it might well be that if that sticking point is...

three years rather than two. Is that so bad when you've got a player like Salah who can make an effective contribution to a team

way into his 30s. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting because he's having the best Premier League season so far of his career. If we look at the stats, he's got goal involvements per 90. I think we might be able to see a graphic for this, potentially. Oh, no, we don't. I'm being reliably told by Seb that we don't. Sorry about that. But he is, believe me, he is. He's having the best Premier League season of his career so far, which is remarkable, like you say, at his age. So the question is, should Liverpool just

give him what he wants? Should they just, you know... I think they will, won't they? It's hard to tell because of, you know, we do this so many times with the contract negotiators and we have done over the years. Meza Ozil, Pierre-Marie Cobameyang,

But pretty much any club where a player is performing effectively during these months of the season, we say, oh my goodness, they could leave if they don't get that. Give them everything. And I think it doesn't make financial sense to do that. There has to be a middle ground, which I would imagine is the reason for this delay, because Liverpool are trying to find that middle ground. But the one important thing about Liverpool, which they've been widely admired for, is

Like all the big clubs, to be fair, they do their contract business quietly. They do not play it out in the public domain. They've been superb at that.

And I think that's going to continue to be the case. Yeah, it's interesting how Arna Slott has dealt with it as well. I'll come to that in a minute. Have you got some papers on this? I have because you didn't get the graphic, but I can give you this. This is superb by James Sharp in the Mail on Sunday. And it's why Mo Salah is hitting new heights. The numbers on this are excellent.

Since he arrived in 2017/18, he has won for Liverpool 150 points. That's 40 points more than the next best, which is Harry Kane.

No player has earned more points with their goals and assists this season than Salah, who is 17. There are all sorts of terrific numbers. I'll just give you a little bit of the intro to this by James Sharp. He says, Mo Salah, at the age of 32 and with his contract expiring, is producing better numbers for Liverpool than he ever has before. That much is clear. The simple maths is as follows. 19 games, 12 goals, 10 assists. Salah,

is averaging a goal or an assist every 69 minutes. Even in his devastating debut season at Anfield in 17/18 when he scored a monster 44 goals, he only averaged an improvement every 71 minutes. Salah brought up double figures for both goals and assists after 17 games from the first player from Europe's top five leagues to do so in all competitions and by far the quickest player to do it for Liverpool in the last 40 years. The previous quickest?

Luis Suarez in 2013-14 who took 23 games. I want to show you one other as well if I can. Robbie Fowler because you asked me about Jamie Carragher. Robbie Fowler is in a far better position. Terrific columnist for

the mirror and he has been saying that he doesn't think Mo Salah was being selfish. In fact, again, I'll just read you a little bit just because this subject is so important. He says, Mohamed Salah wasn't being selfish when he warned Liverpool that there was more chance of him leaving Liverpool than signing a new contract. I think it was a cry for help.

Jamie Carragher was damning of Salah's decision to go public with his side of the story. I can understand where Carragher was coming from because he's passionate about the club he once served. But my view, Fowler's view, is that Salah felt the need to speak out because he is genuinely worried that he will be moving on from Anfield next year. He's free to talk to interesting clubs in January. And you can be absolutely sure that if there is, that there are,

I'll just read that last bit again. You can be absolutely certain that there will be clubs from every one of Europe's top leagues willing to offer him top dollar despite the fact that he will be 33 by the time next season kicks off. In other words, the inference is he's worried that that could be the case, but he wants to stay and he wants to force the issue.

What's fascinating about this whole situation with Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold is that Arnaud Slott gets asked about it and Arnaud Slott seems very relaxed about it. And the words that were used, this probably more out than in, he reversed, didn't he? Because he said, in terms of my lineups, he's definitely more in than out. Yeah, brilliant. Have you been impressed by actually how Arnaud Slott has dealt with that? Because it's been...

you know, at every single press conference that he's attended, he's been asked this question. Yeah. I mean, you do get managers, don't you, who go, look, it's not my department. Why are you asking me? There's people dealing with that. We see them...

at big clubs as well. Not with him because he knows that, you know, unlike other countries, they don't wheel out the director of football or the sporting director or the owner on a weekly basis. The manager has to take the questions, rightly or wrongly, they take the questions. And so people aren't going to be happy with just a straight bat of, well, I spoke about that last week, nothing has changed. So yeah, he uses humour,

For me, he's more in than out. And I think he knows that he's going to play a role in this. He definitely will play a role. I don't think he'll be very happy at all if Mo Salah wasn't happy with the negotiations. I think Mo Salah just wants to have, you know, an arm put round him, a verbal arm put round him, being shown the love.

working hard on this contract. They probably are behind the scenes and Arnaud Slot probably knows that. I mean, would Mo Salah get into an all-time Liverpool XI? I think potentially he would. Yeah, for sure. Just very quickly, I've got to go to Brett, but I think

Gary's right, there is a directness at some clubs across the continent that we possibly don't have here in terms of answering difficult questions and there is that propensity to wheel out the people who do make decisions, to ask questions of them that maybe we don't have in this country which is why slot is so comfortable dealing with that kind of thing because you do get asked that in the other leagues around European football.

Welcome back to Super Sunday Matchday as we continue build up to a potentially pivotal day in the Premier League title race as Liverpool host Manchester City. Pep Guardiola's side head to Anfield knowing a defeat would leave them 11 points behind the leaders. And this week Pep sat down with Pat Davidson to explain why he thinks his side are struggling following a run of five defeats and a draw in their last six games.

So you said a few times now, "This too shall pass." How important is it to remember that? Because sometimes, not just in football but in life, it doesn't always feel like that when you're in a bad moment. It doesn't feel like it will pass. It's hard to be positive. So how important to remember just those few words? Yeah, but I felt it when we were winning four Premier League in a row. Not now. I felt it even in that moment that this too shall pass.

I never thought that we were winning, winning, that it would be eternal, that that moment would come, these two shall pass. And the bad moments, I don't know. Hopefully as soon as possible, but except when you pass away,

The rest, next day is another chance it would happen. For us guys watching from the outside, we're always waiting for what's Pep going to do to fix it? Will we turn up one day and Haaland and De Bruyne will be the wing-backs and you'll do something that no one expected and it will fix everything? But it's not like that, right? No, if I believe that there's a wing-back... I don't mean that, be what I mean. I understand perfectly the idea of your question and I believe that I would do it. I was...

praise or analyze or judge about how overthinking I was in the certain moment, how stupid I was, because I believe in that moment that was the best because I know my players because I... Listen, I played a final of the Champions League against Chelsea without Rodri.

I remember. I remember. How do you reflect on that now? What do I do, Pep? You learn from your mistakes and good or bad things. In that, I never, never thought I am much special because we win and now I don't feel I am. It's not going well or the team is not good enough. The group is exceptional. The group of players I have is beyond good and all of them proved a few months ago were able to do it.

The problem, the biggest problem, it looks like an excuse because always you give an argument when you don't win it always sounds like an excuse. So we had a lot of, a lot, a lot of important, important players injured. And with that it's more difficult. The reason why, the calendar for the next eight, nine years winning everything, arriving the last stages in all competitions. And a moment, arrived a moment that the body, the body, not the player, the body of the player said, "I need to rest." And he cannot sustain anymore.

Do you know what I thought when we won the treble? It was in the writing in the stars. We played really good that season, of course, otherwise you cannot do it, but it was written. And it happened. So sometimes, why don't leave that sometimes? We need to leave this. Always, I want to be honest, the club needs that period. Why? What does it need? To realize what you have done for the future. It's so important. You have to lose sometimes. I don't know, it would be love, take it. But you have to sometimes...

The people say, "Fist Premier League we won." All the media. It's normal. Spend a lot of money.

I think sometimes you've made it look easy. You've explained really well what's happening with your team. But it was not easy. That is the problem. You are sitting watching the game and it's easy. But it's not. They are an incredible effort. Do you know the rival we've beaten in the last years? It's the best team I've ever faced in my life.

Can you tell me how is Mané, Salah, Firmino, Fabinho, Henderson, Van Dijk in his prime, central defenders, Jurgen Wiesel, Anfield and everyone. We beat that team. Easy? Nah, come on, man. There are hours and hours of thinking and work and work and work and work. And that's why this looks easy, like you said, even in the club can think about it. Even our players can think about it. Even myself think about it. And there is just one way to solve that. Just one.

lose to realise, oh, how difficult is that business? Because that business is so difficult. And that's why you have to realise, take good decisions and come back. Do you think, on one hand, you can look at it and say, oh, Anfield, Liverpool, it's the last thing we need at the moment. On the other hand, you said many times over the last few seasons, as a rivalry, you've driven each other to new levels.

Could they almost be the team that gets you out of this? You know that only your very best gets you anything at Anfield. We will come back when all the players will come back. We will not come back winning in Anfield and after the players will come back, we will not come back. I'm sorry to tell you, I would like to tell you, we are going to win in Anfield after going to win 20 games. In the situation they have, we will not come back.

The only chance to come back is if Jonas Sturgeon is injured, it will be for a long time. And we have Ruben who comes back after one month when everybody's come back a little bit fit and after we come back. To stay in every three days? We cannot. Now it's time to suffer.

Now it's time to be there and be positive and then in one moment that will change and we come back. But we want to solve right now the situation that we are. I'm saying that winning that will not change much. The mood, there will be five points. Of course, we are lovers in doing that. But what I'm saying is because I know the reality, the team, like many things, we cannot make a target to win the Premier League or win the Champions League or the FA Cup.

It's a necessary pressure on your shoulders, a necessary pressure when we are losing. In the next six games, we are not able to win one. So what they had to do is win. The next game is Anfield, try to win the game.

Goodness me, what a great interview that was. And it was really clear to see that the passion certainly hasn't left Pep Brody earlier at all, even though they find themselves in this different form at the moment. Just stick with, if I can, I'm only going to move on. Pat does a great job because Pat kind of... That interview is almost like a chat. And if you were in sat with Pep, they're the questions you would want to ask in the way that Pat asked them. He did a terrific job there. He does always so, doesn't he? Very good. Look, he obviously thinks...

City need to have this period of struggle as well in order to kind of like look back and reflect on how good They have been and you know him so saying that wasn't easy all the stuff that we've done wasn't easy Do you understand where he's coming from in order to kind of put it into perspective? Yeah, listen, they've clearly at the moment lost the x-factor haven't they lost the R factor as well?

Ruben and Rodri, for example, the two Rs. Obviously, Ruben Dels is on his way back, so that's going to help. Kevin De Bruyne on his way back as well. But I think...

He's reinvigorated by the fact that he's hitting a rocky patch again. I mean, we saw he hurt his nose, didn't we know about that? He didn't make any attempt to cover that up, which I found interesting. He didn't make any attempt to cover up the hurt he's feeling inside as well. He says he needs to prove himself again, but he's not going anywhere. He's not running away. He went all Arnie Schwarzenegger on us, didn't he, in the news conference and says, we'll be back. And I think...

Even though it could be 11 points by the end of the day, I still think it's a very unwise person who writes City off with Pep. City need Pep more than Pep needs City. Let's never forget that. Yeah, it's funny. I think Arnaud Slott is echoing what you're just saying there. He said, you know, beware Manchester City. Don't write them off at all just because we could go 11 points clear. What are the papers saying about this game? Well, I'm going to give you just one piece on the mail because it's a terrific piece by Jack Gawne.

And it's terrific insight inside the city dressing room, not just on the night of that

remarkable game where they surrendered a three goal lead to draw 3-3 of final but also they're weak as well and he says that there were objects thrown in frustration inside the dressing room after the final game as the angst bubbled to the surface he says that Guardiola stewardship has always encouraged players to hold each other to account

So there were raised voices, the calling out of individuals and units and that would have given Pep some kind of hope that that passion is still there. He talks about a long team meeting the day after the defeat to Bournemouth where again opinions aired on each other's performances. But there's other detail in there as well, not least the fact that

the XG shows that if Haaland doesn't score nobody scores Josko Gvadil is a scorer for them on a number of occasions Mateo Kovacic as well but the

the big guys and I'll give you a bit more detail later in the show about the big performers in the final third who are underachieving at this point in time statistically according to the XG and Jack also says there's a growing feeling within the industry that City will go out and land a midfielder in January and that Martin

Zubi Mendi at Real Sociedad, Edison at Atalanta or Crystal Palace is Adam Wharton. All three of those, says Jack, have been watched by City. He says that there is a lot. I mean, it's a terrific piece and there is so much detail in it, too much to go through right now. But I'd recommend it because it's a terrific piece that gives you

real insight into the trouble with City at the moment. We've got 10 seconds. Go on. After the game in Lisbon, which obviously they lost in the Champions League against Amarim Sporting, I was in the bar of the hotel after I was having a lemonade with some Manchester City fans and they were pleased is wrong when you've lost a game, but they weren't concerned at all. They were actually in a way pleased because they said this is the thing, this run now, which was three at the time, it's got worse, it's the thing that will make Pep stay because they were concerned he was going to leave and of course 10 days later he signed a new deal.

That's it for this week's Sunday Supplement podcast. We'll be back next Sunday, Sky Sports News from 10am with the podcast dropping as soon as we come off air. If you don't already, please give Sunday Supplement a like, follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening.