Slot on Liverpool's shock FA Cup defeat to Plymouth

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Liverpool boss Arne Slot on Liverpool's shock FA Cup fourth round defeat to Championship strugglers Plymouth Home Park, Plymouth, UK

Transcript

00:00What are your thoughts on the game and the result?

00:12The result is obvious, that's a big disappointment and the way we played wasn't a lot to be happy about as well.

00:23The only thing I was happy about is that the boys kept on fighting for 100 minutes

00:28and probably the best part of our game were the last 10 minutes.

00:31So that tells you that they kept on fighting, but credits to them.

00:36Good game plan, worked incredibly hard and got a penalty that was deserved

00:46because it was a penalty, a clear penalty, a correct decision.

00:49But that had a lot of impact on the game of course because both teams hardly had any chance

00:55and all of a sudden you get a penalty kick, again, which was a correct decision.

00:59And then they were 1-0 up and they kept on fighting until the end.

01:04The goalkeeper made one or two good saves in the end, but we hardly created anything at all.

01:11I appreciate you've got lots of games and fixtures at the moment,

01:14but any regrets about the team, the line-up and the players that you filled in today?

01:19No, because you never know what would have happened if we had played with our starters over here

01:24and I think during this season we've seen a few times already that it's a game plan,

01:29a playing style which is difficult for our starters, but also for the ones that have played today.

01:35So constantly long balls, second balls, long balls, second balls is difficult for every team.

01:42We had this with United at home for example as well.

01:45They had a similar playing style, going to a very low block, kick every ball long.

01:49And then we played with our starters.

01:51So I think today also showed why we play with the ones that we've played today,

01:55because these players need game rhythm as well.

01:58And for them to be ready in the upcoming months, they need the game time.

02:04And you saw today that some of these players really need games like this

02:10to be ready for the last three months of the season.

02:13For the pressure you had at the end, you must have felt as if you'd get a breakthrough.

02:19Yeah, there were one or two big chances,

02:22but I think if a team is working so hard and throws themselves for every ball,

02:28they are in a certain kind of momentum.

02:30And then maybe you deserve to be a bit lucky as well in the end.

02:34And then the goalkeeper made one or two great saves.

02:37But this is what you see a lot.

02:39If they would have played 10-15 per cent less or worked 10-15 per cent less,

02:43we probably would have scored it.

02:45You see many times that if a team brings such a performance in...

02:49You saw it yesterday with City that they missed a big chance in the end,

02:56the other team.

02:58So sometimes you deserve a bit of luck if you work as hard as Plymouth did today.

03:04Can I just ask about Joe Gomez?

03:07Is it the same injury that brought him up against West Ham a few weeks back?

03:12I'm not too sure.

03:14I'm not too sure if it was the same leg, but I haven't had time to ask him.

03:18But it was clear that we all know which moment he felt a bit insecure about

03:24because he didn't sprint back fully.

03:27And then he said,

03:29I'm not 100 per cent sure, I'm afraid if I make one extra sprint

03:33that things will go wrong.

03:35So I don't know exactly where he is.

03:37He didn't...

03:39How do you say this?

03:41He's not...

03:43He's not torn, I assume.

03:45But it didn't feel good for him.

03:48And that was a bit of a blow because Curtis Jones was on the bench,

03:53but he came to me this morning and said,

03:56I don't think I'm fully recovered yet as well,

03:59after the training session yesterday.

04:01And that all of a sudden led to the fact that we were with a few more youngsters

04:05on the pitch than was the idea before the game.

04:09But still, there was enough quality on the pitch to get a better result than this.

04:15The players that you left back at home, what were their schedules?

04:21They trained yesterday and they will train tomorrow again.

04:25Do you think that will do them well?

04:30Yeah, most of the things we do, we do for a reason.

04:34We just don't do all of a sudden something.

04:37I said before that we have to play many games,

04:40now the Aston Villa game comes during the week again as well,

04:43so the last few weeks we've played every single week two times,

04:47the upcoming weeks we have to play every single time two games.

04:53And therefore it's not only for them good to once in a while

04:58have a week where they only play one game,

05:00but also for the ones that were here today.

05:02They need the intensity of the game because you can't keep on training with them,

05:06but once in a while they need a game as well,

05:08and they had that against PSV, unfortunately we lost that one,

05:11and they had that today, and unfortunately we lost this one again as well.

05:17Isaac Mbaye, he came on and you took him off,

05:20you had a word with him, what did you say to him afterwards?

05:25I think it's a fantastic moment for every player to make their debut,

05:28for him as well, but I felt I had to take him off for two reasons.

05:31He was already on a yellow, and it was a game with a lot of duels,

05:35with a lot of intensity, and that's their playing style,

05:38and they bring a lot of long balls in,

05:40so if you're one time wrong it's a yellow again,

05:43and it was a game that was hard enough with 11, let alone with 10.

05:47And I felt we needed to make an offensive substitution,

05:50and the other three were Durrell, Wata and Kostas,

05:55and it didn't seem smart to me to take one of these three off.

05:59So, yeah, that decision, and I thought I had to tell him,

06:02because making your debut and then being taken off after an hour

06:08or something like that is very disappointing for him, of course.

06:22Have a good trip back.

06:24Take care.

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