ReactionPress conference: Every word from Arne Slot after Brentford 0-2 Liverpool
Darwin Nunez came off the bench in the second half and scored twice in stoppage time to secure three vital points for the Premier League leaders.
The striker turned home a Trent Alexander-Arnold cut-back in the 91st minute and then completed a dramatic afternoon with another finish 121 seconds later.
Read on for a full transcript from Slot's post-match press conference at Gtech Community Stadium...
On whether he had any doubts if Liverpool would score...
Yes, of course I had doubts about that because before we scored the two goals it felt as if I was looking at the same game again and again and again and in the same pattern. I said it already a few times in other interviews that against [Manchester] United everybody was focused on the [Harry] Maguire chance but [in] the seven minutes before we had three open chances. So many times in recent weeks – against Tottenham as well – we missed a lot of chances, against [Nottingham] Forest we missed a lot. So, it would have been a bit surprising if I felt, 'OK, after all these chances missed today, we will probably score in the last five minutes.' But the players proved me wrong again.
On Nunez's perseverance...
[A reporter] asked me similar things before the game about Darwin and I didn't agree then that he's not having a good season. I think he's having a good season, where he scores goals, he works very hard for the team, he assists. But he's in competition with a lot of good players, so that's why he's not every single game on the pitch. But I'm very happy with him – not only because he scored today two goals but that, of course, helps – but I'm very happy with the other performances he put in for us as well.
On Nunez's goals...
The first one was a long build-up, the second one was a counter-attack. He can, of course, score his goals against a low block because he's a striker and he's a threat in crosses as well. Immediately after he came on, he had quite a good chance when Robbo [Andy Robertson] crossed it in. But if it's about strikers or if it's about the team, if we would not have scored today in the last five minutes then the headlines would have been Liverpool drops points again and no-one would have told you [about] 37 shots on target. What a display. How many teams were able against Brentford to have 37 shots on target during a game? And now because of us scoring two, there is probably a bit of emphasis on that fact as well.
So, this is the industry we work in. As a manager, the team, the players, we all accept this and we all understand that there is a lot of focus on if it doesn't go well and not as much on the fact if you have a great performance. We are in an industry where it's about winning and losing – and not about if you play beautiful football. People only enjoy good football, beautiful football if you win. And otherwise, there's no focus at all on the performance.
On how it would have felt to drop points at Brentford...
Again, you are talking about the result. I focus on my own team, so let's not focus on the teams we faced. But if you look at the amount of chances created and I think you are all a bit aware of xG, do me a favour and look back at our United game and see what the xG of both teams was, and do this against Forest and do this today. Then you will probably see that nothing has changed with us between now and the first half of the season.
What you do see is that at this moment of time it's harder for us to convert our chances into goals – that's not only up to us, that's also because teams throw themselves in front of every ball every time we get a chance, so many of the other teams try to prevent us from scoring because all of them are in a low block. So, I have a different opinion than you about our current performances but we have the same opinion about our results.
On Liverpool's current run of form...
Because we are in an industry that's only talking about the results... as a manager I told the players during this week again I couldn't have asked for more in the Forest game – only one counter-attack conceded and so many chances created against a team that hardly ever concedes any chance at all in their games. Brentford has never faced this season, I am 99.9 per cent sure, 37 shots in a game, so what can I ask more of our players?
I saw today Brentford were more of a threat on the counter-attack than Forest were, let that be clear, but that has also to do with a lot of credit you have to give to Brentford because I saw their game on Tuesday where it was a completely equal game, both teams had numerous chances and they came back after 2-0 behind [against Manchester City]. We knew how hard it was to play here, we knew how hard it is to play at Forest and we knew how difficult it is to play against such a low block, as United played against us and later on against Arsenal. [The] second [half] of the season, [it] is always more difficult to win but I cannot ask for more from these players, they give everything they have.
On the foundation Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate provide at the back...
A lot, that's clear, because I think today also you saw more than in the Forest game… I think if I would have been the manager of Brentford I would have told you there were moments for us to win the game, because there were moments for them to win the game. Most of those moments were defended really well by Ibou and Virgil, they went in a one-v-one against them in a counter-attack, but we pushed them wide really well, which helped Alisson [Becker] to save those shots. I emphasised on that in the pre-match meeting, [Bryan] Mbeumo likes it on his left and scores a lot by going inside. Of course, one of the reasons we're so high in the league table is because we have two and four very good centre-backs.
On the impact of Harvey Elliott from the bench...
I was [delighted by his performance when he came on] and I'm happy we give you a chance to ask another question! All the other interviews, there was a lot of focus on Darwin because he scored two goals and every time I said, 'Yeah, but don't forget Harvey – he had a big impact on both goals as well.' It's so nice for me, for us as a team, that I have players that can impact the game on the bench as well. This happened at Forest with [Diogo] Jota and Kostas [Tsimikas] and today with Harvey and with Darwin.
If you only focus on results again, if you also focus on performance – which I do – I also liked Robbo and Curtis [Jones] when they came in and Federico [Chiesa] was only [on] for five minutes, so you can't say a lot about that. But it's nice to have so many opportunities on the bench, that's why they have to stay available, they have to stay fit, because one of the strengths of the team is not only four good centre-backs but definitely also players that can impact the game from the bench.