Ex-Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez explains how new Reds boss Arne Slot will learn about the character of his side, for the times they need it most.
When Arne Slot says people should judge his Liverpool side in a few weeks' time rather than now, it makes total sense to me.
I am talking about character, and the ability to deal with adversity and come through it, that gives you the belief you can do it again. But by the time we got to Istanbul, I'd had lots more time with the players - I knew a lot more about all of them, and they also knew more about me. Together we knew how we could react, and how we could change things if they were going badly.
Just because they have not been behind for very long in any of their games, does not mean they have not reacted and changed things during them, either. Against Chelsea they were dropping off a little bit more, but they can still press high. Similarly, they can play penetrating passes forward, or they can use the wide areas and attack with the wingers overlapping.
The good thing about Liverpool is that the fans are with you in these situations, so they really help the team. We were not completely together as a team at that stage but everyone, individually, knew they were at Liverpool to do well. All the players wanted to impress, the ones already at the club and the ones I had brought in.
As a manager, you have to be a leader by example. Like my players, I am competitive and I want to win. I had come from Valencia, where we had just won the double of La Liga and the Uefa Cup, so I was used to winning, and reacting, against Real Madrid and Barcelona. One of the things we did in Valencia was to rotate players, and I did it with Liverpool too. You have to rotate, when you play two important games every week, or if some of your players have travelled a lot during the international break.
That was something the fans were also learning when we played Fulham - I had left Alonso on the bench which was unpopular, I think - but I was saying that it does not matter if we are missing Gerrard or Alonso, because someone else can come in and do the job.
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