Liverpool reach Carabao Cup final: Arne Slot says 'only special if you win'
2025-02-07
Category: sports

Liverpool manager Arne Slot was delighted to book his first place in an English final - but warned "it's only special if you can win things".The Reds demolished Tottenham 4-0 in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg to turn around a 1-0 first-leg deficit.Liverpool, who won the cup last season under Jurgen Klopp, will face Newcastle in the Wembley final on Sunday, 16 March.This is 46-year-old Dutchman Slot's first season in English football, having moved from Feyenoord in the summer, and the first time he will have been to Wembley.Citing the 1992 European Cup final, where Barcelona beat Sampdoria 1-0 at Wembley, he told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We all know as Dutch people how important Wembley was for Ronald Koeman and Barcelona and Johan Cruyff."It is special to go there as I know how iconic that stadium is."But he added: "It's only special if you can win things. We know how difficult that's going to be as Newcastle are an impressive team."Slot won the Dutch Cup with Feyenoord last season, beating NEC 1-0 in the final."It's always nice to play a final," he said."We come in every day, we try to improve the team. The players try so hard to improve themselves, but in the end it's about reaching finals and winning things."And he added that it was probably his best night as Liverpool manager so far - in an impressive campaign to date in which he has won 29 of his 37 games in charge and only lost three."I think we had some big nights here already but to reach a final should also be special, and that is what it is," he said."So in that perspective it has been the most special evening."
EFL Cup often predates Premier League glory
With a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League and into the last 16 of the Champions League, Slot will be hoping success in the EFL Cup is just the start for his side this season.He will be following several other managers in trying to use the competition as a springboard for further glory.Of the 11 bosses to have won the Premier League title, four lifted the League Cup, as the competition was formerly known, before doing so - Alex Ferguson, Manuel Pellegrini, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.For Mourinho and Guardiola in particular, it was not only their first trophy in the country but the beginning of a memorable period at the top of the English game.On their 2005 League Cup win, Mourinho's Chelsea captain John Terry said: "It set us on our way. It gave us a taste of what we wanted - more."A lot of people write this competition off but for me it is huge and we look back on that 2004-05 season... it had a huge impact on our confidence and momentum."In Mourinho's own words: "If there is any secret, it's to take it seriously."Just a few months after winning the League Cup for the first time, Mourinho - like Pellegrini and Guardiola at Manchester City - went on to win the league.
'Could be a really, really special season'
Liverpool are favourites to win the Premier League, the Champions League and the EFL Cup - and not far off to win the FA Cup.The Reds' season has been remarkable, given a dip was thought to be inevitable when the legendary Klopp left.The only time Klopp won multiple major trophies in a season was in 2021-22, when they won the FA Cup and EFL Cup."This could be a really, really special season for Liverpool," said ex-Reds defender Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports."They've been in this situation at this stage of the season, with four trophies still available, I think twice in the past three or four years under Jurgen Klopp and they came away with two Carabao Cups and one FA Cup. They didn't get the big ones."The most important thing is to win the big trophies, the Premier League and Champions League."Former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp added: "They're in a fantastic position, everything is looking so good for them. "Can they capitalise on it and do something unprecedented by winning four trophies? I think you're never going to get a better chance."Liverpool right now are arguably the best team in the world. It's almost beyond his wildest dreams. "When he came here, following someone like Jurgen Klopp, he would've just been hoping it goes well. For him to do what he's done is absolutely phenomenal. He's been magnificent."