Erik ten Hag will lead a big club again and it will happen soon, Liverpool manager Arne Slott is sure. His compatriot was released by English football club Manchester United on Monday after a very difficult start to the season, leaving the "Red Devils" in 14th place in the ranking, BTA reported.
Slott, in contrast, is making a dream start to his career in England and Liverpool are second in the table, one point behind champions Manchester City.
"He is my countryman and that makes the news even harder for me. We know that in this profession it can happen to anyone. It's a shame because I know him and I know how hard he works. "Ten Haag achieved a lot at Ajax and won two trophies with this team, so I expect to see him in charge of a big club again in the near future," Slott said, as quoted by Sky Sports.
In their only game against each other in England, Slott beat Ten Hag 3-0 at Old Trafford.
Liverpool will be without winger Diogo Jota for at least another month or until the days after the end of the November international window, Slott announced.
Jota's absence is another blow to Slott's plans amid the team's tight calendar. The footballer has 4 goals in 10 games in all competitions so far and has not played since the game against Chelsea on 20th October. When asked if Diogo Jota would be available before the start of the international break, which starts on the 13th of next month, he replied curtly "No".
Slot also hinted that Federico Chiesa could face a long-term exit from football plans. The Italian, who was Liverpool's only serious summer signing, is still struggling to adapt since joining from Juventus. He has logged just three games and has not played in over a month, still searching for fitness.
"It's hard to say at the moment because he's been a bit up and down, so sometimes he trains with us, then he leaves the group and goes solo. Then he comes back and gets injured again. I don't want to set days or weeks as deadlines, because I think we have to make sure when he is in the best possible shape and not put pressure on him, explains Arne Slott.
Northern Ireland big star Conor Bradley could be on the field on Wednesday, but it is unclear whether he will start with limited scheduled time on the field or come on as a substitute. Bradley, also plagued by injury, resumed full training days ago. Certainly, however, the "red" from "Anfield" will be without goalkeeper Alison Becker – inner thigh strain and without Harvey Elliott with a leg injury. Both will return to the team after November 20th, as well as Jota.
The Brighton game comes at the height of a busy run of seven games in three weeks for Liverpool. And while Slott had the luxury of rotating players in last month's 5-1 League Cup win over West Ham United, the number of rotations has decreased since then.
"I don't think it's possible to do the same as against West Ham for one simple reason – "We have a lot of injuries and we don't have enough healthy players to replace everyone I want," Slott said. "If you look at our program and how many times we have less recovery days than the opposition, maybe the time will come to see some other players who rarely come in. But first I need to see how fit everyone is.
Brighton are in 6th place in the Premier League and before coming to the game with Liverpool they eliminated Wolverhampton 3-2 last month.