Arne Slot still gets emotional thinking about Diogo Jota and his family(Image: Getty Images)
An emotional Arne Slot hailed the conduct of Liverpool fans following the death of Diogo Jota. The Reds and the wider football world were plunged into mourning last summer when Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, died in a car crash in Spain.
After the devastating news was confirmed, moving tributes were soon left around Anfield as supporters came to terms with the loss of the immensely popular forward. Eight months on from his passing, tributes to Jota continue, both visual and in song.
There were especially poignant scenes when Liverpool hosted Jota’s previous club, Wolves, in December, when members of his family were in attendance. The sides meet again at Molineux on Tuesday night.
For Slot, who faced the task of preparing a grieving squad for a new season, the reactions of both fans and players will stay with him forever. Speaking earlier this season, he told Ally McCoist on TNT Sports: “The way the fans conducted themselves after that tragedy, how many flowers there were, all the memorials, I can almost get emotional thinking about it.
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“It’s unbelievable what our fans have done and our players as well, the way they have conducted themselves in and around the funeral. And then we have to train again.”
Slot said Jota’s widow and children were never far from his thoughts, adding: “There are moments where I feel, ‘What must his wife and his children feel now?’
“It sounds so hard but our life continues. People expect from me that I prepare them forever and that sometimes feels a bit difficult, knowing how hard it is for the family and for the parents in the phase they are still going through and will go through for the rest of their lives.”
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Slot also had praise for Fenway Sports Group, who agreed to pay the final two years of Jota’s contract to his family. He said: “Owners are mainly criticised, like managers, but the way they’ve handled this situation by paying his wife and his children all the money from the contract is. Maybe people think it’s normal, but it is not in football.”
The Reds travel to Molinuex twice in 72 hours in a quirk of the fixture list, with the league match followed by the FA Cup fifth round encounter on Friday night.
While still bottom and heading for relegation, Rob Edwards’ side should give Liverpool a stern test, having recently drawn with Arsenal and beaten Aston Villa.
