Slot frustrated by Liverpool performance in shock Fulham loss
06/04/2025
Craven Cottage, London, Uk
06/04/2025
Craven Cottage, London, Uk
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Jürgen, the first half was so out of character to what your team has done this season,
00:21what have you put down the performance in that first half and generally today?
00:26I think especially the 15 minutes of the first half,
00:29I saw also parts before we conceded or before we conceded the second one,
00:35normal parts for us, so I saw some very good build-up situations,
00:40the way we positioned ourselves, so it wasn't 45 minutes of disaster,
00:47but the errors we made I think is something we're not used to,
00:51and that's something different than playing poorly, in my opinion.
00:56It must have disappointed you, those errors?
00:59Yes, of course, but not only me, the players themselves, the teammates, the fans,
01:03it disappoints us all, but one of the reasons why we are in the position we are in
01:06is we don't make a lot of mistakes, and if we do, players try to make up for them.
01:10Now, this is also what we tried to do with the second goal,
01:13but unfortunately instead of the ball being deflected going in behind, it went into goal.
01:19This can happen, especially if you play a good team like Fulham,
01:23if you make mistakes they have the quality to punish us.
01:29I think in the end we created so many chances in the second half that we could have made up for it,
01:35but we lacked time, especially in the end, because in the first 20 minutes of the second half
01:39it didn't feel to me as if we could score a goal, but in the last 20-25 minutes
01:44I think it was clear for everyone that we could score the third.
01:48That's why actual playing time wasn't the most in the last 25 minutes.
01:56Given the advantage Liverpool obviously had going into this game,
01:58do you think there was even a bit of complacency in the first half,
02:01or do you think it was just errors?
02:04No, I think it's the last thing. I think there's no reason for us to be complacent,
02:10because we are not leading, we are not number one at the moment,
02:15because we win every game, we are a Martian of three or four goals.
02:19I think everyone that has seen our games, it takes us so much effort, so much hard work,
02:25to win games of football, combined with quality of course.
02:30But, yeah, the team that won the league the last four seasons
02:33were already 3-0 up at half-time every single game they played,
02:36and that's not the way it is for us.
02:38So we are fully aware of the fact that we have to compete for seven more games.
02:45We saw it on Wednesday when we played Everton, it was a close call.
02:49Today was a close call, and many times we've been on the right side,
02:53today we were on the wrong side, mainly because of the errors we made.
02:57There was a couple of moments of uncertainty with Rosel van Dijk,
03:01it probably has been in the last couple of games.
03:02Does that come with the territory of being this late in the season,
03:05or is it something you could probably look in deeper and criticise?
03:11I mainly give credit to other players as well,
03:14so if you look at Beto, he's not the first defender who finds it difficult
03:21to play against Beto, because every time he's chasing for every ball,
03:25he pushes it just before you get the ball.
03:30The one that played there today, you have to give credit to him as well.
03:34I still see a lot of things that Virgil does really well,
03:38and if you play 50, 60 games a season,
03:41there will be also, even for him, one or two moments where he could have done better.
03:47But in general, if I look at Virgil's performance against Everton,
03:51except for this one time he missed the ball, he was outstanding.
03:56So, I don't worry about him.
04:00What was your message to the players afterwards,
04:02and would you agree that the league table still looks unbelievable for you?
04:08The message was mainly that I told them they should create character in the second half,
04:16but not for the first time this season.
04:19We had a difficult first half, it didn't happen a lot,
04:22but I can come up with Southampton at home, for example, where we played quite poorly.
04:26Normally we are able to make up for that, because of the mentality of the team,
04:30how fit they are, the steps we can bring.
04:34But today it wasn't enough, and now we have a whole week to prepare for West Ham,
04:38and everyone needs to be aware, and they are.
04:42Actually, I didn't even have to tell them,
04:44but the only way we can win a game of football is by hard work, 90 minutes, constant effort.
04:51Because I've said it, I think, a few times now,
04:53we are not the team that's leading at half-time with 3-0 or 4-0,
04:56with three, four, five acts of brilliance.
05:00It's hard work every time we want to win a game of football this season,
05:04except for two or three games.
05:08You only made the one change from the derby in midweek,
05:12considering how flat it was for Sessionale first half,
05:14did you regret not freshening it up to a greater extent?
05:17No. No, not because of that reason, because I think there were four days in between,
05:23and we've shown many times this season that that's not a problem at all for us.
05:27I don't think the errors we've made had anything to do with players being tired.
05:32And again, I know how it works, it's everywhere the same in football.
05:36If you concede three goals in the first half,
05:39everybody is like, wow, that was a disaster.
05:41Now, if you look back at it, knowing that you conceded three,
05:44you will probably see a few good moments as well,
05:47because there were also good moments from us in build-up,
05:51and I think that's why we were able to win the derby.
05:54There were also good moments from us in build-up,
05:57I think after half an hour I looked at it and it was one-all.
06:00I was like, OK, it's not our best game, but we have control over the game.
06:05But then all of a sudden I blinked my eyes and we were 3-1 down.