Arne Slot: No ‘bad intention' in Palace fan noise during Diogo Jota tribute

The 42

11 hours ago

LIVERPOOL HEAD COACH Arne Slot played down the interruption of the minute's silence in memory of Diogo Jota by Crystal Palace fans ahead of the Community Shield at Wembley.
Tributes were paid to former Reds forward Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash with his brother Andre Silva last month and were honoured with wreaths laid on the pitch and a period of silence before kick-off.
A minority of Eagles fans broke the silence, eliciting a strong response at the other end of the pitch, as well as from other Eagles supporters who tried to silence those not respecting the tribute.
'I don't think this was planned, or that this was the idea of the fan that made some noise. Maybe he wasn't aware of the fact that it was the minute of silence,' Slot said.
'He was just still happy and tried to cheer for his team. And I think then the fans of Palace were trying to calm that person or those persons down, so I don't think he had a bad intention, the guy or people that made noise.
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'They tried to calm him down, but that was a bit noisy as well. And then our fans reacted, 'Hey, what's happening here?'.
'So I don't think there's a bad intention to it, because the fans of Crystal Palace and everywhere around the world have paid huge respect to Diogo and Andre and this was, I think, unlucky or, I can't find the right words, but I don't think there was a bad intention in it.
'We will see Friday, when Bournemouth come to our stadium, how respectful that is going to happen.
'It's also five weeks ago, so that's why maybe this fan who was just so happy for them to be in the Community Shield that he forgot in a second.'
Liverpool fans earlier paid their respects with a rousing rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' as the wreaths were brought out, raising a white banner reading 'Diogo J' and featuring the forward's image and number 20.
The club's record goalscorer Ian Rush, Palace chairman Steve Parish and Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt laid the wreaths in the Liverpool end as fans from both sides showed their respect with a standing ovation as the siblings' images were displayed on the big screens inside the stadium.
Meanwhile, Slot accepts his team must tighten up defensively if they are to stand a chance of retaining their Premier League title.
Despite twice taking the lead in the Community Shield, sloppy defensive play through the middle allowed Crystal Palace to equalise both times and that led to penalties, which the Eagles won 3-2.
Questions have already been raised over whether Slot needs to bring in another centre-back – they have been linked with Palace's Marc Guehi, who is in the final year of his contract – as the sale of Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen has left him with just three in that position with Joe Gomez injured.
Liverpool have not kept a clean sheet in pre-season, conceding 10 times in five senior games – including four against AC Milan – and Slot knows it is an area that needs attention.
'It's a bit mixed feelings. If you look at our attacking play against a team who is so compact, it is maybe a bit better than last season,' Slot told TNT Sports.
'But on the other hand we conceded two goals, which we did against Bilbao and two more against Milan and that's something we need to do better.
'I think we are able to create more now but we are conceding more at the moment and if you want to compete to win the league, one of the things is not to concede chances, let alone goals.'