Liverpool manager Arne Slott says his team will miss Diogo Jota as both a player and a person, but will not use his death as an excuse for poor performance.
After Scotland’s World Cup qualifier win over Denmark in midweek, captain Andy Robertson said he was “heartbroken” before the match as he thought about his former teammate, who died in a car accident with his brother Andre Silva in July.
“My mate Diogo Jota was on my mind today,” said Liverpool left-back Robertson.
“We talked a lot about going to the World Cup because he missed the last game against Portugal and I missed the game against Scotland. He will be smiling over me today.”
“I watched the interview live and I know it’s an issue for us, but it’s completely normal,” Slott said Friday.
“Given the kind of person and player he was, I think it would be good for us to remember him as much as possible.
“But it’s impossible to measure how it affects the players and then how it affects our results.
“The last thing I want to do is use that as an excuse just because I don’t know. What I do know is that we miss that player. That’s 100 percent true, but we also miss that player.”
“But we can’t measure how it will affect our performance, let alone the results. It’s impossible to say.”
“I would never use that as an excuse because I don’t think that’s right.”
Liverpool manager Arne Slott talks to Diogo Jota
Asked if that should be taken into account when assessing Liverpool’s recent performances, which have lost seven of their last 10 games, Slott added: “We are always being judged, sometimes fair and sometimes unfair.”
“But at a time like this I also wonder how it feels for his wife and children. It’s much harder for them than it is for us, but it’s absolutely clear that we miss the player and the person.”
“We play Nottingham Forest (on Saturday) and last season we lost 1-0 to Forest and it took him just a minute (after coming on) to score the equalizer.
“He definitely played a role in that last season, although this time we weren’t able to come back as often as last season after losing 1-0 or losing by one goal.
“Again, his wife and children will miss him even more.”
Slott’s hopes of halting the slide on the pitch have not been helped by muscle injuries to playmaker Florian Wirtz and right-back Conor Bradley, the latter of whom is expected to be sidelined for three weeks, while goalkeeper Alisson Becker will return for Saturday’s game against Forest after missing eight games with a hamstring problem.
Liverpool’s other right-back, Jeremy Frimpong, is still two weeks away from fitness, posing a problem for Slott, who has used midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai for Liverpool multiple times this season.
However, the Hungarian captain is the best player in a more advanced role, so either Curtis Jones or Joe Gomez, who has only completed 90 minutes twice since Boxing Day, could feature.
