Slot reacts to Liverpool victory and Nunez game changing substitution

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Liverpool boss Arne Slot reacts to Liverpool victory and Nunez game changing substitution  18/01/225  GTech Stadium, London, UK

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00:00Jürgen, did you have any doubt on that, that the goal was coming?

00:09If the goal was coming, if I had any doubt?

00:11Yes, of course I had doubts about that,

00:14because before we scored the two goals,

00:18it felt as if I was looking at the same game again and again and again,

00:22and the same pattern arised.

00:25I said it already a few times in other interviews,

00:29everybody was focused on the Maguire chance,

00:31but the seven minutes before we had three open chances.

00:34So many times in the recent weeks against Tottenham as well,

00:37we missed a lot of chances.

00:39Against Forest we missed a lot, so it would have been a bit surprising if I felt,

00:44OK, after all these chances missed today,

00:47we will probably score in the last five minutes.

00:49But the boys, the players, proved me wrong, again.

00:53Obviously Darwin hasn't had one of his best seasons,

00:56what stands out for you about him with his perseverance

01:00and that kind of ability to keep going?

01:03I think one of you, not you, but you was not there,

01:07asked me similar things before the game about Darwin,

01:10and I didn't agree then that he's not having a good season.

01:14I think he's having a good season, he scores goals,

01:18he works very hard for the team, he assists,

01:21but he's in competition with a lot of good players.

01:24So that's why he's not every single game on the pitch.

01:27But I'm very happy with him, not only because he scored two goals today,

01:31that of course helps,

01:33but I'm very happy with the other performances he put in for us as well.

01:40I take your point about Darwin,

01:42but I think the headline this morning was nine goals in 11 months,

01:46so obviously for strikers it is important to score.

01:49And you said in your previous press conference about teams in low blocks,

01:53it's very difficult for him, it doesn't suit him.

01:56Those were two poachers' goals today.

01:59Poachers' goals?

02:01In the penalty box.

02:03Yeah, but the first one was a long build-up,

02:07the second one was a counter-attack.

02:10He can of course score his goals against a low block,

02:14because he's a striker and he's a threat in crosses as well.

02:18Immediately after he came on he had quite a good chance

02:21when Robbo crossed it in.

02:23But if it's about strikers or if it's about the team,

02:26if we would not have scored today in the last five minutes,

02:29then the headlines would have been,

02:31Liverpool drops points again,

02:34and no-one would have told you 37 shots on target.

02:38What a display.

02:40How many teams were able, against Brentford,

02:42to have 37 shots on target during a game?

02:45Now, because of us scoring two,

02:47probably there's a bit of emphasis on that fact as well.

02:50So this is the industry we work in,

02:53as a manager, the team, the players, we all accept this,

02:56and we all understand this, that there's a lot of focus on

02:59if it doesn't go well,

03:02and not as much on the fact if you have a great performance.

03:07We are an industry where it's about winning and losing,

03:10and not about if you play beautiful football, yes or no.

03:14People only enjoy good football, beautiful football, if you win.

03:18And otherwise there's no focus at all on the performance.

03:22Arno, you say it would have been another headline about dropping points,

03:26but against United, because they played so well,

03:29you thought, OK, we'll take a point there.

03:31Then you go behind against Forest, you think, OK, we'll take a point there.

03:34But today would have felt much worse than that, would it not?

03:39Again, you are talking about the results,

03:43because I focus on my own team,

03:46so let's not focus on the teams we've faced.

03:49But if you look at the amount of chances created,

03:53and I think you are all a bit aware of the XG,

03:57is that something familiar for you now?

04:00Do me a favour and look back at our United game

04:03and see what the XG of both teams were,

04:05and do this against Forest and do this today,

04:08then you will probably see that there's nothing changed with us

04:13between now and the start of the season or the first half of the season.

04:17What you do see is that it's at this moment of time

04:21a bit harder for us to convert our chances into goals.

04:25That's not only up to us,

04:27that's also because teams throw themselves in front of every ball.

04:30Every time we get a chance, so many of the other teams

04:33try to prevent us from scoring,

04:35because all of them are in a low block.

04:39So I have a different opinion than you about our current performances,

04:43but we have the same opinion about our results.

04:46What I meant was, it would have been a third in a row

04:50against a team who aren't traditionally one of the strongest teams in the Premier League.

04:55No, it would have been a very difficult way to play,

04:58but sorry, continue your question.

05:00A third one in a row, six points dropped out of nine,

05:03it would have felt like a real momentum loss.

05:05Yeah, because we are an industry that is only talking about results,

05:09but I think me as a manager would have felt that we crumbled,

05:14because I heard that word just a second ago,

05:16so now I'm trying to use it without exactly knowing what it means.

05:19But I think it means that we go down a bit.

05:24As a manager, I've told the players during this week again,

05:27I couldn't have asked for more in a Foros game.

05:29Only one counter-attack conceded

05:31and so many chances created against a team

05:33that hardly ever concedes any chance at all in their game.

05:37Brentford have never faced this season,

05:40I'm 99.9 per cent sure of that, 37 shots in a game.

05:44So what can I ask more of our players?

05:47I saw today that Brentford were more of a threat in the counter-attack than Foros were,

05:52let that be clear.

05:54But that has also to do with a lot of credits you have to give to Brentford,

05:58because I saw their game on Tuesday,

06:00where it was a completely equal game, both teams had numerous chances,

06:05and they came back after 2-0 behind.

06:08So we knew how hard it was to play,

06:10we knew how hard it was to play at Forest,

06:12and we knew how difficult it is to play against such a low block

06:15as United played against us and later on against Arsenal.

06:19So, yeah, second half of the season is always more difficult to win,

06:23but I cannot ask more from these players.

06:25They give everything they have.

06:30Can you talk a little bit about how much assurance you get from Van Dijk

06:34and Canalta at the back, that solid foundation?

06:38Yeah, a lot, that's clear.

06:41Because I think today also you saw, more than in the Foros game,

06:45that I think if I would have been the manager of Brentford,

06:48I would probably tell you there were moments for us to win the game,

06:51because there were moments for them to win the game.

06:54And most of those moments were defended really well by Ibu and by Virgil,

06:59so they went in a 1-v-1 against them in a counter-attack,

07:03but we pushed them wide really well,

07:05which helped, of course, Ellison to save those shots.

07:08But, yeah, these players,

07:11because I emphasised on that in the pre-match meeting,

07:15and Bueno likes to go to his left,

07:18and they scored a lot by going inside.

07:21So, of course, one of the reasons why we're so high in the league table

07:26is because we have two and four very good centre-backs.

07:33Last one?

07:35Oh, there's one...

07:37Oh, you don't want to give them the chance?

07:39Last one, yeah.

07:41I just asked about Harvey Ellis, he hasn't had a lot of football,

07:44you said last week you had to speak to him,

07:46but involved in both goals today,

07:48it clearly made a big impact.

07:50Yeah, I was, and I'm happy that we gave you the chance to ask an extra question,

07:55because in all the other interviews there was a lot of focus on Darwin,

07:59because he scored two goals,

08:01and every time I said,

08:03yeah, but don't forget Harvey, he had a big impact on both goals as well.

08:06So, it's so nice for me, for us as a team,

08:09that I have players that can impact the game on the bench as well,

08:13so this happened in Forrest with Jota and Costas,

08:16and today with Harvey and with Darwin.

08:18If you only focus on results, again,

08:21if you also focus on performance, what I do,

08:24I also liked Drabo and Curtis when they came in,

08:27and Federico was only for five minutes, so you can't say a lot about that.

08:30But it's nice to have so many opportunities on the bench as well,

08:34that's why they have to stay available, they have to stay fit,

08:37because one of the strengths of a team is not only four good centre-backs,

08:42but definitely also players that can impact the game from the bench.

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