Arne Slot calls Bayer Leverkusen star ‘maybe the best defender in Germany’ after Liverpool’s Champions League win

Arne Slot singled retired Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Jonathan Tah for peculiar praise aft Liverpool’s 4-0 triumph successful the Champions League connected Tuesday night.

A second-half hat-trick from Luis Diaz, positive a extremity from Cody Gakpo, sealed Liverpool’s triumph astatine Anfield which has enactment them apical of the Champions League array with 4 wins from 4 matches truthful far.

The Colombia planetary played successful a cardinal relation successful Liverpool’s onslaught and Slot has revealed that the beingness of Tah astatine the bosom of Leverkusen’s defence shaped his thinking.

The 28-year-old, who played an integral relation successful Leverkusen’s occurrence nether Xabi Alonso past season, came adjacent to joining Bayern Munich successful the summertime transportation model and is acceptable to beryllium disposable arsenic a escaped cause astatine the extremity of the run erstwhile his declaration expires.

Asked for the reasons wherefore Diaz played done the mediate against Leverkusen, Slot said: ‘A fewer things… I lone person 4 attackers disposable astatine the infinitesimal with the injuries of Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa, and Darwin [Nunez] didn’t play that overmuch successful the opening and past helium started to play a spot more.

‘With this fixture list, it’s astir intolerable to play them all, particularly if you haven’t played that galore games before.

‘So, that successful operation with the information that I deliberation Tah, who is simply a existent bully defender and is 1 of the champion defenders successful Germany… possibly the champion defender successful Germany, possibly likes to play much against a people man, idiosyncratic who’s determination successful the middle.

‘We chose to play Lucho much from the near oregon the midfield and past possibly astonishment him afterwards with runs successful down – not lone him but successful general. If you look astatine the archetypal goal, that played retired – what a walk from Curtis Jones.’

Asked if Diaz could play much games done the middle, Slot said: ‘If we person our injuries similar we person astatine the infinitesimal past this could happen, yeah.

‘But that besides depends connected who is disposable and however the different squad lines up, what the enactment is. Last season, I deliberation if some of them played, Cody Gakpo and Lucho, past it was much Cody who played arsenic a 9 and Lucho arsenic an 11, and that’s besides a possibility.

‘But past we had maybe, again, this tallness from Cody against Tah alternatively of idiosyncratic who’s a spot much versatile and who drops into the midfield.

‘He’s [Diaz] played many, galore games but I conscionable said thing astir Darwin Nunez, successful the Premier League and the Champions League, you person to play truthful galore games astatine the highest level and it’s not ever imaginable for each subordinate to play each game, particularly successful definite positions.

‘So, if you are a centre-back, usually you tally not arsenic overmuch arsenic a left-winger oregon a full-back oregon a midfielder, and particularly our wingers. But due to the fact that you each look astatine the goals Lucho scored and the goals Cody scored, I besides look astatine the information however hard they way back, however overmuch they person to defend. I inquire a batch from them, truthful that’s wherefore sometimes we person to rotate them.

‘But Lucho, for me, is simply a starter. And I said this 3 days agone astir Cody arsenic good he’s, for me, a starter also.’

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