Slot on Liverpool comeback win against Southampton

NicheSportMedia

Slot on Liverpool comeback win against Southampton  08/03/2025  Anfield, Liverpool, UK

Transcript

00:00What was your message to the players at half-time?

00:10Were you angry or were you up for that first half?

00:15I didn't give them compliments at half-time, I can tell you.

00:21Phew, maybe it was because I was sitting up there instead of being at the line,

00:27because I know from experience, not that I've been suspended before,

00:30but, yeah, in England I was,

00:33that when you watch a game over there you always feel like,

00:36oh, maybe I can even play in this game.

00:38But if you're at the line it's always more tempo.

00:41But I don't think I was wrong this time if I said at half-time

00:45that energy levels were far, far, far too low.

00:49And that is what had to change, and that's why we made three substitutions,

00:55just to, apart from bringing in quality, also create something.

00:59Because nine out of ten times when you take three out,

01:01the other eight are like, ooh, something else should happen.

01:06And that's the only thing I could come up with at half-time,

01:08to create something different for the second half.

01:14Did you have any consideration to Darvill for the time he was on the other half?

01:23In the end I took him off because he was on yellow,

01:27but I always hate the idea that we need to score goals

01:29to take someone off that can score a goal.

01:32So that's why it wasn't in my mind to take him off,

01:36because I was already planning on, after these three,

01:39if we don't score a goal then Jot needs to come in

01:41and we have to go even more offensive.

01:46So with Kody being out it isn't like we have that many attacking options left,

01:51so that's why I took a certain risk of keeping him on yellow,

01:56and number nine is on yellow, it's a difference than Kosta.

01:59So I took Kosta out for that reason, because he was on yellow.

02:04And second of all, of course, I also knew that Robbo always creates something

02:09with his energy, with his mentality, not only in the team but also with the fans.

02:16And, yeah, there's a reason why Maka is a World Cup winner,

02:19because he always shows up when you need him, in terms of mentality,

02:22and that's also definitely what he brought in the second half.

02:36Yeah, but that's also the life of a number nine,

02:39you go from missing a chance to scoring an important goal

02:41to then all of a sudden missing a chance again.

02:43But I think today, especially in the second half,

02:48you also saw the work rate he can bring to the team.

02:54But the main thing that happened was in the second half,

02:56that we started to play at a different tempo,

02:58not only without the ball but also with the ball.

03:01So I think the first goal, if you look at Lucio, how he takes that one-v-one on,

03:05I don't think I can select a clip where that happened in the first half, not a lot.

03:10And in the second goal, Ryan Graven pushed up all the way at the 18-yard line

03:17to win that ball, which led to the foul on Darwin,

03:20where in the first half, every ball that fell out,

03:22they could just pick up the ball and start to play.

03:26No, the energy in the stadium for the players and by the fans

03:31was completely different in the second half than in the first half.

03:36Hi, I'm from Hungary, one question about Dominic.

03:43Dominic, they play a lot of games now, what is the physical condition of Sobrestein?

03:55You didn't select the right game, because every time I'm sitting here

04:00and I'm talking about Dominic, I'm talking about,

04:02he's a machine, he just can't keep on going, running, running, running.

04:06But it was maybe the first time this season that I saw different energy from him,

04:11which is maybe normal, maybe I made a mistake by playing him,

04:15because he gives so much every single game.

04:18Now, the good thing is he only played 45,

04:23so he's more rested for the upcoming week now than he is when I would have played him for 90.

04:28And the good thing for me is I have more than only one good midfielder in terms of Dominic,

04:34we have quite a few, and Harvey came in really strong and helped the team again,

04:38after him helping the team against Paris Saint-Germain also.

04:43Any concerns looking ahead to Tuesday and next week about the energy levels?

04:52No, because I know these players can come up with completely different energy levels

04:56than they came up with today in the first half.

04:59I think it was maybe the first time this season that I saw this tempo,

05:03maybe it had to do with me sitting high up,

05:05or did you agree with me that the first half was...?

05:08OK, then I saw it correctly. It had nothing to do with me sitting over there.

05:14So, if these people know anything about football, do they?

05:18Yes.

05:22What was the question? Oh, yeah, can they go?

05:24Yeah, I think Paris Saint-Germain showed us the right example,

05:28they played Lille in incredible intensity, 4-0 up at half-time,

05:33and then they played against us, and that intensity I haven't seen before

05:39in a game we played this season.

05:41So, when I look at the game against Paris Saint-Germain we have to go one step up

05:48in terms of intensity, if I compare it with the game today,

05:50we need to go three, four, five, six, seven steps up in terms of intensity

05:54if we want to have any chance of reaching the next round.

05:59Last few, we go one, two, three at the back.

06:01Was it a difficult decision not to start Harvey after his heroics?

06:06It's always a difficult decision not to start Harvey, not to start Wata,

06:11not to start all the other ones that I don't play.

06:15But if someone comes in five minutes, he touches his first ball, scores a goal,

06:19and then changes your whole idea about all the line-ups you made before,

06:23that would be a bit...out of line?

06:26Yeah, you say it differently, and Dutch we say it differently,

06:28but that would be a bit weird as well.

06:31So, yeah, he had a good impact on the game today,

06:33yet again a good impact on the game, that's why he got 45 minutes today as well,

06:38because he did so well in Paris.

06:43But there's also a reason why I played so many times the other ones,

06:46and all the time they deserved that trust.

06:49But today, if I could do it one more time over,

06:52I would have started differently than I started today.

06:54But, yeah, you don't know this in advance.

06:58Can you see Harvey Elliott doing enough to get into starting XI?

07:02His confidence today seemed off the charts, probably after Wednesday.

07:06Can you see him doing enough to get in there?

07:09Would there be enough time for him?

07:12Yeah, there's enough time.

07:13We play nine more games in the Premier League,

07:15and hopefully a few more in the Champions League as well,

07:18with one in the League Cup.

07:19So what it is with him, it is also with other players.

07:22They are in competition with so many good players,

07:25and that makes it sometimes difficult to make a line-up,

07:28but it always helps to bring in performances like this for him.

07:33But also Wata, he came in 15 minutes before the end,

07:35and again he showed how important he is for this team, and the others as well.

07:40So he trains really well, he does this,

07:45I've said it many times about Wata, I can say the same about Harvey,

07:48hardly any playing time, he just keeps on going.

07:50And then when your moment comes, then you can show your quality,

07:54and that's the biggest compliment I can give him,

07:57but also what he brings to the team, that he just kept on going.

08:01Because I've experienced more than enough players

08:04that if they are in the same situation like him or Wata,

08:07they start to do less and less, and when you then play him,

08:10you will probably not ask me why you don't play him.

08:13And this is the situation we want as a team,

08:17and it makes it sometimes difficult for me, that's true.

08:19Last one.

08:20Just to get a talk, have you been on the bench today?

08:24No, otherwise I would have taken him,

08:26because this was the most important game of the week, like I told you,

08:30and the first of three finals.

08:32So if he would have been able, I would definitely have had him on the bench.

08:35But unfortunately he wasn't.

08:37But I do hope the two next finals we play a bit better than the first one.

Category

Transcript

Recommended