Arne Slot reveals emotional demand to Liverpool players after Diogo Jota tragedy

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has revealed he told his players to "be themselves" ahead of their first match since the death of team-mate Diogo Jota - but admitted "nothing seems important" after his tragic death aged 28.

Jota died in a car crash in Spain along with his brother Andre at the start of the month after a tyre blowout while their Lamborghini was overtaking a car, which burst into flames.

He left behind wife Rute Cardoso and three young children and his loss has led to shock and grief across the footballing world, with almost the entire Liverpool squad flying out to Portugal to attend his funeral in Gondomar.

Captain Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson held wreaths shaped like a Liverpool football shirt with the number 20 on it and now the players plan to make a further tribute to Jota at their first pre-season friendly against Preston on Sunday.

A minute's silence will be observed, while You'll Never Walk Alone will also be played and a wreath laid down, with Liverpool stars set to wear black armbands.

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As Liverpool look to start their new football season while still in mourning, Slot has urged his players to carry on as usual - because that's exactly what Jota would have done too.

"Nothing seems to be important if we think of what has happened," the Dutchman said. "But we are a football club and we need to train and we need to play again, if we want it or not. What I’ve said to the players, I can say it here as well. It’s very difficult to find the right words because we constantly debate what is appropriate.

"What is appropriate in our actions? What is appropriate [for] what we have to say? Can we train again? Can we laugh again? Can we be angry if there’s a wrong decision? And I’ve said to them, maybe the best thing for us to do is handle this situation like Jota was.

"And what I meant with that is that Jota was always himself, it didn’t matter if he was talking to me, to his teammates, to the staff, he was always himself. So let us try to be ourselves as well. So, 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."

Slot also urged the Reds to be like Jota by finding courage in "very difficult times" as he praised his ability to offer something special when Liverpool were chasing a game.

It comes after Liverpool decided to retire Jota's number 20 shirt in his memory and Slot said it was the least the club could do as they continue to come to terms with his death.

"We will always carry him with us in our hearts, in our thoughts, wherever we go," he said. "Maybe especially in difficult moments.

"But in any moment we are here, we will carry him with us in our thoughts and in our hearts. To retire his shirt is the one thing we could, should and have done."

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