Diogo Jota:”I think we have better options than myself”
Diogo Jota says there are better teammates that can play on the wings than himself which suit Slot's Style
Diogo Jota got Arne Slot’s debut Premier League season up and running with the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town on Saturday.
The Blues, returning to the English topflight after 22 years gave a good account of themselves in the first half in front of a packed 30,240 crowd inside Portman Road. Kieran McKenna’s side showed courage from the start, on the front foot and caused Liverpool some problems early in the first half.
However, Liverpool returned in the second half with Ibrahima Konate coming on for Jarell Quansah in a tactical change which saw Trent Alexander-Arnold move into midfield. The Reds didn’t look back from there, with the vice-captain controlling the match in his inverted role with his ability to cut open Ipswich Town‘s defense.
Despite registering 18 shots with 8 of them on target, Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah made sure Arne Slot’s side came away with the 3 points on opening day. The Portugal forward is touted to play a key role in the former Feyenoord coach’s brand of football and system.
He spoke to LFCTVGO after the final whistle sharing his thoughts of the victory and what is to come from himself and his teammates in the Premier League this season.
“Positive performance, obviously, the first half was a bit more hard, they were really on it pressing almost men-v-men, and their fans were there so we thought it was going to be a difficult first half because they will give it their all. Long time since they had been in the prem and then in the second half they started giving us a little bit more space which was enough for us to start building and start creating those spaces in behind and we created immediately a lot of chances and we ended up scoring two so I think in the end it is a deserved 3 points”, he said.
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“It’s massive [the win] I think we are still adapting to the way he wants us to play and coming here to a newly promoted team is never easy, and we ended up with a clean sheet and 3 points so I think building on top of the win is a lot easier.”
Jota agreed to his new boss’s decision to play him through the middle but was quick to add that he was happy to play anywhere along the front line whenever the need arises. With Darwin Nunez as his main competitor for the role, Diogo is aware of what needs to be done to keep the starting shirt ahead of the Uruguayan.
He said, “The way we play [under Slot] is a little bit different from Klopp where I maybe was useful on out wide, I think here he wants them [our wingers] a lot more one-v-one, and I think we have better options than myself so if I stay in the middle and wait for those chances to come in and score them that is I think what I do the best so hopefully we can take that into the season.”
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