ReactionArne Slot press conference: Liverpool 2-2 Fulham
Arne Slot was proud of the character his Liverpool side displayed in the 2-2 draw with Fulham at Anfield on Saturday.
Diogo Jota marked his return from injury with the 86th-minute goal that earned the 10-man Reds a point.
The Premier League leaders fell behind to Andreas Pereira's early opener and then had Andy Robertson sent off six minutes later.
Cody Gakpo equalised just after the break, before strikes from Rodrigo Muniz and Jota ensured the spoils from a topsy-turvy encounter were shared.
Read a summary from Slot's post-match press conference…
On whether he views it as a point gained or two dropped...
I think it is exactly the opposite from the Girona game, where I was pleased with the result but not with the performance. I was only pleased with the result. Now I am very, very, very happy about the performance [today]. I couldn't have asked for more, but of course not with the result because if you drop points in a home game with Fulham that is definitely not what you expect or what you want. Being two times a goal down, so many things go against you except for one thing and that is our players and our fans, who were outstanding today.
On whether Robertson was carrying a knock when he made the foul that led to his red card...
I think what the team showed today, the character they showed, that's also what Robbo showed. Sometimes if you get a kick like this, two studs on a knee, that can hurt for a few minutes. Then, if you just keep on running, it gets better and better and that's what we were hoping for. Not least because I only had one defender on the bench, who was not a left full-back as well. So, we were hoping he was managing to come through it and I think he did quite well, but the moment I noticed he wasn't completely himself was the one time they put the ball in behind and he started running. He was just able to head it back to Ali [Alisson Becker], but I thought, 'OK, let's see how this continues' and I think it was quite quickly afterwards where he conceded the red card. Nothing to blame on him, [it was] character that he wanted to continue because he got quite a hard knock on his knee with two studs. Unfortunately it led to a red card that was a deserved red card.
On the performance of Ryan Gravenberch...
Impressed, like everyone who was in the stadium or saw the game. Ryan did outstanding again today. Without the ball, he was mostly in our last line, had to play sometimes against a nine, against wingers who are really fast. And with the ball, he came into the midfield. An outstanding performance from him. But if we only highlight him, I don't think I give enough credit to all the other ones that played next to him and around him. I couldn't have asked for more. Dominated the game, more ball possession with 10 men, more chances created – everything what you want. Unfortunately for us, maybe the only chance they got with [us having] 10 men led to a goal – that sometimes happens as well.
On whether you can plan for playing with 10 men...
No, because you never know which player is going to go out and which team you've lined up. It always depends on the players you have available, how you are going to react to that. Are you one goal down, are you one goal up? So, that makes a difference. If you are one goal up, you might consider to defend with a lot of players, so then I might have considered to bring immediately a defender in. But if you are one goal down, you see differently. So first you take a look at the tactic board and you think, 'This might be a good option.' That's what we did for five minutes. But then looking at it, it looked better on a tactic board than on the pitch with Cody being a left-back!
So, we changed that after five minutes and our message cut across I think even better at half-time, where you can tell them even more clearer what we expect from them. And then it helps if you immediately score the 1-1. What doesn't help – we had great momentum – [was] that the game was again delayed for three, four or five minutes immediately after we scored the goal because they were on the ground and that happened a bit too much for us to keep the momentum going. Everybody is saying, 'Yeah, you've played quite a lot of time.' That's true, but the momentum is then like this if every time there's a treatment for an injury.
On substitutes Jota and Darwin Nunez combining for the equaliser...
First of all, we are delighted to have some players back because we've had our injuries. The good thing is that nobody spoke about it because that means you get results. But to have them available at this moment of time was really helpful. There are two Dutch journalists over here, so they were not surprised by the substitutions I made and maybe you as well weren't. We just thought [to] bring all the players in that can score a goal. And then to see them working so hard without the ball... so we had five or six players who were mainly offensive players but with 10 to keep the other team away from goal and still create chances was great to see. And, indeed, Darwin and Jota had an impact but Harvey [Elliott] had an impact as well, being out for two months now – it's good to have him back also.
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