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