Plymouth's Muslic on shock FA Cup win over Liverpool

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Plymouth boss Miron Muslic on their shock 1-0 FA Cup fourth round win over Liverpool Home Park, Plymouth, UK

Transcript

00:00Tell me how you're feeling right now.

00:07Normally I'm very, very good in my words, I'm very eloquent, a little bit speechless

00:14to be fair, very emotional because I know that I realised the task today, I realised

00:21the opponent, I realised it's the FA Cup, it's the biggest cup in the world, it's the

00:27most famous cup in the world and we played Liverpool, so it was just omnipresent and

00:32very, very big in the city, in the club, in our locker room and we just wanted to represent

00:38Arga as best as possible, that was the game plan, to be structured, to be organised, to

00:43be brave, to fill it with intensity and then just to show ourselves, to use this huge stage,

00:50it's an opportunity for the players to shine and I think the lads did it outstanding.

00:57How does this rank in your career as a head coach in terms of a victory in a one-off game?

01:05This is the biggest moment so far in my coaching career, no doubt, no doubt, it's the FA Cup,

01:10it's Liverpool, no doubt and the biggest moment is yet to come, end of season when we are

01:16staying up, this is my goal, this is what I have on my mind, inside my soul, this is

01:23the big, big goal for Arga and then this will be the next biggest moment in my career.

01:28You talk about wanting to stay up and those things, how important is a victory like this

01:33against a side like Liverpool for the belief, for the hope, for all that with the team?

01:39Very important because we started this turnover actually in the half-time against Burnley

01:46after being 5-0 down and my message to the lads was it takes a lot of courage to go outside

01:52and to finish the game and if we can manage this we won't change the result but we will

01:58make a step forward and this step forward will help us for the next challenging days

02:02and weeks and we did this, we followed over just a couple of days later in Sunderland,

02:08a week later West Brom and now Liverpool so this gives us not only the belief but also

02:13confidence boost that if we can show this togetherness, if we can sacrifice on the pitch,

02:18the Green Army is there anyway, they are just waiting for us to start and they will

02:22support us until the end and we will need this togetherness on the pitch and off the

02:27pitch. It's a hell of a task in front of us, no doubt, but I think we are ready also to

02:33take this challenge.

02:34You talked about the game, what are your feelings on the game, on the performance itself? First

02:39half particularly there wasn't much happening, I mean it was a very close first half, there

02:44was a lot of chances there and then second half you got the penalty and from there on

02:48you are on the way home.

02:51I think that was also part of the plan to keep a very good defensive structure. We knew

02:54it's Liverpool and we will have a lot of moments when we have to defend, we will have a lot

02:58of moments when we have a block a little bit deeper and we have to enjoy defending and

03:04I think we just did it. I recall one shot outside of the box of Liverpool that was the

03:09most dangerous action so to keep them out, to keep them away from the goal, it's a huge,

03:15huge task and I think we just had a very strong defensive structure.

03:20Also later on in the game when Liverpool just pushed for the last 10-12 minutes with a lot

03:24of crosses, a lot of long balls, almost every clearance was for us, Katic, Maxime, a nice

03:30save also on Connor. So in the end to get out of this game you need also a little bit

03:34of luck. We had this luck in minute 99 but I think we deserved also to win this game.

03:41Ryan Hardy scores a penalty, you missed a penalty against Chelsea a couple of years

03:45ago in the same stage at the FA Cup. Talk to me about your feelings as Ryan went to

03:50step up and take that penalty and how is he in the changing room, how is it for him?

03:56For me that was clear that Hardy will take this one. I think he's a very experienced

04:01player and a long time already here so I don't recall his missed penalty against Chelsea

04:06but I will remember this one forever.

04:09Miriam, congratulations on the win. Can we start at the end with Connor Hazard and the

04:17two saves he made from Jota and Nunez, what did you think of those saves and what were

04:23your emotions as Liverpool pressed for that equaliser?

04:26Yeah, these are the big moments, they just fitted today to the FA Cup and they fitted

04:30to the opponent, to Liverpool. You need those kinds of moments because it's just simply

04:34impossible to protect and defend everything. I watched a couple of nights ago the game

04:40versus Tottenham and I saw the wave of Liverpool, unstoppable. It was a big task for us defensively

04:48and we did it well in a lot of situations but you will always have these one, two, three

04:53opportunities where they can create something because they have individual quality and you

04:59need big moments to defend like Maxime and Cuttage did with their clearances, Julio or

05:03Victor and in the end then Connor as the GK to save us from this possible extra time.

05:10Clearly that wasn't the strongest team that Liverpool could have put out and I think everyone

05:14understands why when you've got so many fixtures in a short space of time but when you saw

05:18their starting line-up, did that give you belief that you could go and get a result

05:22like this today?

05:23No, we had a belief also before because we wanted simply to enjoy this game and to maximise

05:28this game. I said it also to the lads, there's nothing we should be afraid of. It's everything

05:33to enjoy. We have nothing to lose but a lot to win and I think we played also like this.

05:38This is your first experience of an FA Cup tie. You've set the bar very high, haven't you,

05:43as a manager? Obviously you were at Brentford but you've just witnessed the magic of the FA

05:47Cup today, haven't you?

05:49I witnessed the magic and hopefully I will also have the time also to enjoy this. Normally

05:55we are coaches, I'm already on the next game, I'm already on Millwall, I'm already on the

05:59session tomorrow, the set-piece is on Tuesday and that's okay. I have to find a spot where

06:06I can just also enjoy this magical day.

06:11Everyone said before the game that the Millwall game is more important than the Liverpool

06:15game and it is in lots of ways, isn't it? Because your season gets dictated by where

06:20you finish in the league table. This is obviously a good thing though, isn't it?

06:24For everyone to go into the Millwall game on the back of this. Do you think it's all

06:29good or are there any drawbacks, negatives from having a fantastic result before a really

06:35important game on Wednesday night?

06:36It's nothing negative kicking out Liverpool of the FA Cup. A lot of emotions and this

06:43day belongs to them. They can enjoy this day. I think we added another part in the history

06:52of Argyle and nobody can take this away from us. We can enjoy this and we have to be ready

06:59from tomorrow on to go fully to prepare ourselves because Millwall is in the end bigger than

07:05Liverpool but let us enjoy it today and from tomorrow on we will focus on Millwall.

07:12You've been in Plymouth long enough now, you know what football means to the people in

07:17this city, what Argyle means to the people in this city. The place is going to be absolutely

07:21buzzing tonight. How much pride and satisfaction do you take that the city is having a real

07:27big party tonight?

07:28They should enjoy, they should celebrate, they should go out and give it all. They deserve

07:35it. It's a day for Argyle, it's a day for Plymouth, it's a day for the Green Army. I

07:40will go home, I'm going to re-watch the game, I'm going to eat some nachos and I'm going

07:45to drink a Fanta. It's very boring for me tonight but they should enjoy it.

07:50Congratulations.

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