Arne Slot was hard on himself and the team after a 4-0 loss to Manchester City, which eliminated Liverpool from the FA Cup. He told the media that the Reds did not play up to their standards; they lost the willingness to fight at points during the match, all while doing a few good things in the beginning.
Not Up To Standard
Arne Slot said what we are all thinking: today was not good enough for players, coaches, or fans.
"I don't think you have to ask me about the result, because that speaks for itself. That's an unbelievable disappointment. Losing is already a disappointment, losing with 4-0 and in the quarter-final of the FA Cup against a team which Liverpool played so many times great games against – or fights against – and then losing 4-0 is, of course, a big disappointment. The 20 minutes where we conceded four goals were not of our standards."
A Good Start But Poor Finish
If you just watched the first 30 minutes of the game, you would have thought Liverpool would be the 4-0 winners. Salah was chasing down balls over the top, and the Reds seemed to be picking out every right pass in the buildup. But they could not take advantage of the bright start.
“I liked a lot I saw today. We did a lot very well on and off the ball, generated some good chances. We kept them away from any danger,” Slot said. “Until that penalty moment, there was a lot to like. The 20 minutes after, for what you can expect of a Liverpool team were far from good enough defensively. There are many recurring themes. One is we miss our chances, one is in general we don't concede much, but the few chances we concede go in. That is maybe due to how much we put in. We have to improve the box defending, and that was also shown today."
Lost The Fight
Slot also admitted that Liverpool lost their willingness to fight at times during the match.
“I miss the fighting spirit definitely in the first 10 minutes after half-time and then afterward,” he said. “It was just a game where both teams accepted it was 4-0. But in that 10, 15 minutes of time, I missed fighting spirit, but just the willingness to win your duel, to be there first, to make it difficult for either a pass, a cross, or a finish. Yeah, that is something that we definitely have to do better on Wednesday.”
LFC Globe Verdict
As hard as I was on Slot after today’s loss, I will give him credit for not pointing out specific players who played poorly. We could all see which players they were, but instead, Slot simply said the team needed to do better. That does not change the fact that he should be sacked at season’s end, but it’s good to see that he does not throw certain players under the bus, at least publicly.
Share Your Thoughts?
What did you think of the presser? Do you agree that players lost their fight? Should Slot have called out poor performances? Let us know below.