Arne Slot has hit back at Michael Owen for his ‘strange’ question to Virgil van Dijk following Liverpool’s win in the Merseyside Derby on Wednesday evening. The Reds triumphed 1-0 against their bitter rivals at Anfield, with Diogo Jota getting the only goal of the game.
Owen was covering the game as a pundit for Premier League Productions and he spoke to Van Dijk following Liverpool’s win. In the interview, Owen asked Van Dijk: “I’m just thinking in terms of the season so far, if you’d have said at the start of the season you were going to win the Premier League I’m sure people would’ve been over the moon.
“However, it was building into something really special – how hard was it after a couple of big defeats in cup competitions to get your mind tuned back into the Premier League and to finish the season well?
Van Dijk did not react very well to Owen’s question, saying ‘that the narrative needs to change’ and that the season is ‘still looking very special in my eyes.’ Arne Slot has now addressed Owen’s comments and, like Van Dijk, he also did not agree.
Arne Slot Responds to Michael Owen’s Comments After Merseyside Derby
He called his question ‘strange’
Slot was asked about Owen’s comments in his press conference ahead of Liverpool’s match against Fulham on Sunday afternoon. He replied, per the Daily Mail: “Let me understand it right, Virgil was a bit frustrated because it came across as it’s not enough to only win the Premier League?
“Michael did play for us didn’t he? So he is aware of the fact that in 35 years we won the league once? There is your answer. If you can win the league with this club then, phew, nothing else matters I would say.
“If you do it 10 times in a row then I could understand that people say: ‘Oh but you only win the Premier League.’ If [Manchester] City only won the Premier League then I could understand people saying: ‘It’s not a good season for City.’ But if, at this club, you can compete for it and let alone win it, then it is a strange question to ask in my opinion. If Virgil has this opinion as well then I agree with him.”
He added: “I think the league is better than it ever was, the strength overall is getting better. I think even Pep (Guardiola) said there will not be a team again as long as he lives that gets more than 100 points and wins the league four times in a row.
“So many more teams have so many more good players. All clubs, even some who are fighting against relegation, have some players who can play for City, for Arsenal, for us, for Chelsea and these types of teams.
“The reason why teams you might expect to have more points don’t have them is because the league has become stronger. That is probably why it is such a compliment for us that we do have those points at the moment.”
Liverpool are cruising to the Premier League title having picked up 73 points from 30 matches. They will look to add three more points to their tally when they travel to west London to take on Fulham on Sunday afternoon.
