A question from Michael Owen irked Virgil van Dijk earlier this week and Arne Slot has rightly sided with the Liverpool captain.
After the Reds’ 1-0 win at home to Everton on Wednesday, Owen claimed that only winning the Premier League title this season would leave a “bitter taste” for the Reds.
Van Dijk was quick to fire back at the former Liverpool striker, saying “we have to change that narrative,” claiming it will be “very, very special” if the title is won.
Now, Slot has given his thoughts, proving to be equally bemused by Owen’s remarks.
“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?” Slot said.
“Michael (Owen) played 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. If you do it 10 times in a row then I could understand that people say, ‘Oh but you only win the Premier League‘.
“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. I follow the Dutch media a bit more than the media here and… no, let’s leave it!”
Premier League is “better than it ever was”
Slot went on to discuss the current strength of the league this season, amid bitter claims from rival supporters that a ‘weak’ division has helped Liverpool win the title.
“I think the league is better than it ever was, the strength overall is getting better,” he added.
“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.”
Slot is spot on in both his assessment of Owen’s comments and the strength of the league, during a period in which Liverpool’s likely title win is being treated strangely.
Granted, this may not be the all-conquering Reds team that reached 97 and 99 points in 2018/19 and 2019/20 respectively under Jurgen Klopp, but they are still a force.
Liverpool have lost just once in the league all season, which given the improvement of teams such as Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, is an outstanding effort.
Ultimately, the title matters most to Reds supporters, so any notion that it won’t be enough is nonsensical.
