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Arne Slot, the Liverpool manager, gave his first interview to the club’s website after the death of their star player and Portuguese international Diogo Jota ahead of their first pre-season friendly against Preston North End away from home on Sunday, July 13. The 46-year-old spoke about how his players need to be themselves apart from following their emotions while dealing with the sudden passing of their teammate Diogo Jota last week.
Notably, it was on July 3 when Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva died in a car crash in Zamora province in Spain, which shocked not just the football world, but also the sporting world to no end. The funeral of both the players took place in their hometown of Gondomar on July 5, where a large delegation of Liverpool FC, including Arne Slot, were in attendance, while the floral tributes continue to pour at Anfield for Diogo Jota.
If we want to laugh, we laugh; if we want to cry, we're going to cry: Arne Slot
On Friday, July 11, the wife of Diogo Jota, Rute Cardoso, along with the members of Liverpool squad also made their way to Anfield to pay their respects to him. While talking to Liverpool.TV in the build-up to their first pre-season friendly, Arne Slot said about Diogo Jota’s sudden passing, “If we want to laugh, we laugh; if we want to cry, we're going to cry. If they want to train they can train, if they don't want to train they can not train. But be yourself, don't think you have to be different than your emotions tell you.”
“We will always carry him with us in our hearts, in our thoughts, wherever we go,” Arne Slot also said about Diogo Jota, who’s number 20 shirt has been retired by Liverpool across all of their teams, including men’s, women’s, and academy teams. Moreover, a few tributes have been planned for Diogo Jota for Liverpool’s friendly at Preston North End, which will include both sets of players wearing black armbands apart from the pre-match rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.
During his illustrious career for Liverpool ,Diogo Jota played 182 matches for the club, scoring 65 goals, to end up winning the the FA Cup, the League Cup, and the Premier League title.
