Log In

Arne Slot press conference: Why Liverpool's win over Wolves was so 'important'

Published 1 month ago7 minute read

The opener from Luis Diaz and a Mohamed Salah penalty in the first half was enough to see the Premier League leaders restore their seven-point advantage at the summit.

The Reds came through a tense finish to hold on to the win after Matheus Cunha halved the deficit for Wolves with his curling effort from distance midway through the second period.

Read on for a full transcript from Slot's post-match press conference…

Yeah, clearly it was relief at the end, especially after what happened on Wednesday. Those last eight minutes, and especially the last minute where we conceded a goal, you are so frustrated because you know that moment can also have [an] impact for the next game or for the next games that are coming up. And I think you saw today after us conceding the 2-1 that maybe for the first time this season we were a bit, 'Ooh...' after conceding in the last minute against Everton. I think that was in our heads a bit and that's also why we, as a team, were so furious on Wednesday.

I don't think the nerves were too much, I think it also had to do with how Wolves came out. On Wednesday, we showed immense mentality in the most difficult circumstances we faced this season and then going 2-1 up and then playing the last 15, 20 minutes the way we played with all the things that happened in those 15 to 20 minutes, and to come out with a draw, that was very, very, very hard to take.

And then today, 2-0 up, we had to deal with thinking we scored the 3-0 – completely the correct decision that he disallowed it for offside. Thinking we were going to score the 3-0 with a penalty [for] Mo, again, in my opinion, the correct decision for the VAR to turn that decision over. And then immediately receiving the 2-1, that is mentally not always easy – and that's why these wins are probably even more important than when we outplay Tottenham like we did here two weeks ago with 4-0.

It's difficult to win a game of football. People always feel like, 'You've got Mo Salah, what are you talking about? He will always score for you a goal.' No, no, no. It's so difficult to win a game of football every three days after everything you go through in a season, so that's why this win is an important one going into a very tough week, where we hope we can show the same mentality again [against] both teams but play a bit better on the ball.

Yes, I took him off because of that. Because I saw him getting his first yellow, that was for me a soft yellow. If he would have got the second one for a shoulder push, that would again be a soft yellow, so then he would have been sent off by two soft yellows. I think the referee felt the same – that's why he didn't. But I've watched football so many times in my life and I know that a player and a referee is then under pressure, so every next foul will lead again to maybe a referee that thinks, 'Maybe now I should give him [a yellow].' I think back on three days ago. But for Ibou, it's so difficult to play 45 minutes of football against such a strong Wolves team. So, I had to take him off because you can't play football knowing in your head you can't make a foul and playing against such good players Wolves have.

Cody didn't have a yellow card or whatever! He got a knock in the Everton game. A few of us got a knock but he got an injury from that.

Under debate. It's fast, Wednesday already, so let's wait and see. It wasn't a soft knock then!

I think all the boys showed great character, great mentality in the second half, but I think everybody has seen recently already – because he's played a few games recently and did really well – and I see in training sessions that he is back to being the same Jarell as in pre-season. I think he had a bit of a hard time after being taken off at Ipswich and then the first two or three games after that when he came in, he was also in a bit of a struggle. He is just showing now what he has shown in the last two or three months on the training pitch, but also when he comes in, that he's back to his old level.

Then you can see how important he is. Again, today you saw how vital players like Jarell – and Wata [Wataru Endo] also – are for this team. If you want to achieve something, of course you need the goals from Mo or from Lucho or from all the others, but you also need these players that if you depend on them that they bring up performances like this.

For a large part I enjoyed the game, but I didn't enjoy the last 20 to 25 minutes. I do enjoy that part of my job because it's the same for the players, of course we all like to bring the ball out from the back from great combinations, leading towards the most beautiful goals. But as players, sometimes you have to fight. Sometimes as a manager you have to be pragmatic as well and understand it is maybe not our game in terms of football, [so] then we as a coaching staff have to be ready to make decisions that help the team in those moments. That's what we tried to do, we bring a type of player like Wata in, bringing Dom Szoboszlai to the left wing to neutralise that threat there as well. So it's enjoyable this as well, but I prefer the one where I see my team play one triangle after another, leading to chance after chance.

When the boys came in, I felt like they were a bit down maybe, a bit like it wasn't our best performance. That probably tells you also how well we've played during the season – that we weren't even that happy with this win. I said to them, this win is maybe even a bigger accomplishment than outplaying Tottenham here [and winning] 4-0 because in a season where you want to achieve something – no matter what you want to achieve – you need to play good football, that's the basis of success, but if you don't have the mentality to win difficult games then you will never achieve something.

That's why I was so disappointed for the players and so frustrated when I was in the dressing room after the game when we played Everton. The boys did so well, fought so hard and deserved, in my opinion, to go away from there with 2-1, not in terms of football but in terms of mentality. But we didn't get that one and now we got it today.

I never judge a situation on 20 minutes. On Wednesday evening, I saw a team fighting until the last second – pressing, working, being so, so, so fit. I want to take into account these players are not tired, not at all. They are able to play every three days in the highest intensity, but you have to take the mental part of the game into the occasion as well. All the events that happened on Wednesday evening, it's not only working hard, what did it do to us mentally as well, these last eight minutes of injury time? I can even tell you what it did to me mentally, let alone what it did to these players that had to run so much.

Then if you come into this game and with the disallowed goal and the penalty [being overturned] – both correct decisions – and them scoring, again it asks a lot of your mentality if you are indeed maybe a bit more tired. But these players are able to be all on it again on Wednesday and Sunday as well.

You have to accept cookies in order to view this content on our site.

Watch on YouTube

This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.

Origin:
publisher logo
Liverpool FC
Loading...
Loading...

You may also like...