Slot frustrated by Liverpool performance in shock Fulham loss

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Slot frustrated by Liverpool performance in shock Fulham loss  06/04/2025  Craven Cottage, London, Uk

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00:00Jürgen, the first half was so out of character to what your team has done this season,

00:21what have you put down the performance in that first half and generally today?

00:26I think especially the 15 minutes of the first half,

00:29I saw also parts before we conceded or before we conceded the second one,

00:35normal parts for us, so I saw some very good build-up situations,

00:40the way we positioned ourselves, so it wasn't 45 minutes of disaster,

00:47but the errors we made I think is something we're not used to,

00:51and that's something different than playing poorly, in my opinion.

00:56It must have disappointed you, those errors?

00:59Yes, of course, but not only me, the players themselves, the teammates, the fans,

01:03it disappoints us all, but one of the reasons why we are in the position we are in

01:06is we don't make a lot of mistakes, and if we do, players try to make up for them.

01:10Now, this is also what we tried to do with the second goal,

01:13but unfortunately instead of the ball being deflected going in behind, it went into goal.

01:19This can happen, especially if you play a good team like Fulham,

01:23if you make mistakes they have the quality to punish us.

01:29I think in the end we created so many chances in the second half that we could have made up for it,

01:35but we lacked time, especially in the end, because in the first 20 minutes of the second half

01:39it didn't feel to me as if we could score a goal, but in the last 20-25 minutes

01:44I think it was clear for everyone that we could score the third.

01:48That's why actual playing time wasn't the most in the last 25 minutes.

01:56Given the advantage Liverpool obviously had going into this game,

01:58do you think there was even a bit of complacency in the first half,

02:01or do you think it was just errors?

02:04No, I think it's the last thing. I think there's no reason for us to be complacent,

02:10because we are not leading, we are not number one at the moment,

02:15because we win every game, we are a Martian of three or four goals.

02:19I think everyone that has seen our games, it takes us so much effort, so much hard work,

02:25to win games of football, combined with quality of course.

02:30But, yeah, the team that won the league the last four seasons

02:33were already 3-0 up at half-time every single game they played,

02:36and that's not the way it is for us.

02:38So we are fully aware of the fact that we have to compete for seven more games.

02:45We saw it on Wednesday when we played Everton, it was a close call.

02:49Today was a close call, and many times we've been on the right side,

02:53today we were on the wrong side, mainly because of the errors we made.

02:57There was a couple of moments of uncertainty with Rosel van Dijk,

03:01it probably has been in the last couple of games.

03:02Does that come with the territory of being this late in the season,

03:05or is it something you could probably look in deeper and criticise?

03:11I mainly give credit to other players as well,

03:14so if you look at Beto, he's not the first defender who finds it difficult

03:21to play against Beto, because every time he's chasing for every ball,

03:25he pushes it just before you get the ball.

03:30The one that played there today, you have to give credit to him as well.

03:34I still see a lot of things that Virgil does really well,

03:38and if you play 50, 60 games a season,

03:41there will be also, even for him, one or two moments where he could have done better.

03:47But in general, if I look at Virgil's performance against Everton,

03:51except for this one time he missed the ball, he was outstanding.

03:56So, I don't worry about him.

04:00What was your message to the players afterwards,

04:02and would you agree that the league table still looks unbelievable for you?

04:08The message was mainly that I told them they should create character in the second half,

04:16but not for the first time this season.

04:19We had a difficult first half, it didn't happen a lot,

04:22but I can come up with Southampton at home, for example, where we played quite poorly.

04:26Normally we are able to make up for that, because of the mentality of the team,

04:30how fit they are, the steps we can bring.

04:34But today it wasn't enough, and now we have a whole week to prepare for West Ham,

04:38and everyone needs to be aware, and they are.

04:42Actually, I didn't even have to tell them,

04:44but the only way we can win a game of football is by hard work, 90 minutes, constant effort.

04:51Because I've said it, I think, a few times now,

04:53we are not the team that's leading at half-time with 3-0 or 4-0,

04:56with three, four, five acts of brilliance.

05:00It's hard work every time we want to win a game of football this season,

05:04except for two or three games.

05:08You only made the one change from the derby in midweek,

05:12considering how flat it was for Sessionale first half,

05:14did you regret not freshening it up to a greater extent?

05:17No. No, not because of that reason, because I think there were four days in between,

05:23and we've shown many times this season that that's not a problem at all for us.

05:27I don't think the errors we've made had anything to do with players being tired.

05:32And again, I know how it works, it's everywhere the same in football.

05:36If you concede three goals in the first half,

05:39everybody is like, wow, that was a disaster.

05:41Now, if you look back at it, knowing that you conceded three,

05:44you will probably see a few good moments as well,

05:47because there were also good moments from us in build-up,

05:51and I think that's why we were able to win the derby.

05:54There were also good moments from us in build-up,

05:57I think after half an hour I looked at it and it was one-all.

06:00I was like, OK, it's not our best game, but we have control over the game.

06:05But then all of a sudden I blinked my eyes and we were 3-1 down.

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