Tribal Football

Liverpool boss Slot eager to avoid derby red card talk; admits Cunha admiration ahead of Wolves clash

Paul Vegas
Liverpool boss Slot eager to avoid red card talk; admits Cunha admiration ahead of Wolves clash
Liverpool boss Slot eager to avoid red card talk; admits Cunha admiration ahead of Wolves clashAction Plus
Liverpool boss Arne Slot was eager to avoid going into detail this morning over his dismissal at Everton.

Slot will be suspended for Sunday's clash with Wolves after he was sent off at the end of Liverpool's 2-2 draw at Everton on Wednesday night. 

Advertisement
Advertisement

The draw has Liverpool seven points clear at the top of the table. They will welcome Wolves to Anfield on Sunday, with the Midlands club sitting in 17th place on the table.

Confusion remains over the reasons for Slot's dismissal at Everton after he confronted ref Michael Oliver at the final whistle. The Premier League withdrew an initial statement yesterday morning detailing the decision for Slot's red card. The statement included confirmation that Slot would miss the game against Wolves and also Wednesday's with Aston Villa.

The Dutchman said this morning: "There is an ongoing process and we have to respect that so I can't go into details.

"What happened was the extra time additional five times it ended up being eight, the emotions got the better of me. If I could do that differently, I am hoping to do it differently next time as well."

On the derby overall at Goodison Park, Slot reflected on the chaotic end, which saw an end-of-match brawl with Curtis Jones of Liverpool and Everton's Abdoulaye Doucoure both being sent off.

He continued: "It felt after the referee blew his whistle we lost two points, but over the full 90 minutes I didn't feel constantly we were the ones going to win, more that the draw was the fair result. But to be up after 97 minutes it felt like we lost two points.

"But I felt we won a lot as well. Togetherness of team and fans and how everyone was together. The team were mentally so so strong during a game - better than last year - in a game played in difficult circumstances for them, so to fight and be so strong that gives me a lot of confidence for next 14 games.

"Togetherness for 98 minutes shows me we are a very difficult team to beat."

He also said, "The players really stood up in a positive way. Mentally being so strong in those circumstances.

"If you don't play your best game and part of our gameplan was to prevent them putting balls into our box but that's hard when you concede 20 free-kicks.

"Apart from the first goal we conceded from a free-kick, I felt we defended that really well. Players showed they are more than just 11 quality players, they have great mentality in the most difficult of circumstances we have played in so far."

On being pegged back by James Tarkowski late on, Slot stated: "We would have loved to go nine points up, it would have been better than seven!

"We didn't play our best game in terms of ball possession but I have to give credit to David Moyes, done a tremendous job and made it really hard for us.

"We were mentally much stronger than last season, we went 1-0 down and were leading 2-1."

Along with Slot, Reds midfielder Jones was shown a red card at the end as the match descended into a brawl. It means Jones will be missing on Sunday, with his manager admitting mixed emotions over his behaviour.

Slot said, "Good thing is we play so many games. I was planning to start him v Plymouth but wasn't competely recovered. I liked him a lot (v Everton) it was best part of our game and only part of our game I felt a bit of comfort and that it feels like a bit of control.

"Before we made the subs the game could have gone either way.

"I like a lot that he (Curtis) stands up for the team but there are other ways for the team and the fans to do that. I will talk with him about that. The same for me, I should have acted differently after the game as well. But it's an emotional sport as well and sometimes individuals make the wrong decision and that's definitely what I did."

Switching to Wolves on Sunday, Slot admits his squad depth is now being tested after injuries suffered by Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton over the past week. The manager also revealed Cody Gakpo has collected a knock.

He said, "I've always said games in second half of season are more difficult than in the first.

"The new manager (Vitor Pereira) has come in and done a good job. It will be a challenge on Sunday but that's normal.

"You can't expect to go and have an easy win.

"Trent (Alexander-Arnold) we saw being able to play, it was the intention to play half an hour. He will be training with us again. Joe Gomez is out and Tyler Morton is out. Cody is a bit of a doubt as well, let's wait to see how he is today, I had to take him off because of an injury, he got a knock."

Liverpool host a Wolves team which have reached the fifth round of the FA Cup and also won the derby against Aston Villa over the past fortnight. Key to that form has been Wolves striker Matheus Cunha, who has 11 goals in 23 Premier League games this term.

Slot said, "He is a type of player I am referring to when I compare this league to the other one I worked at.

"Wolves are 17th and if you go to Holland there's no player in the 17th placed team who could play at Ajax, PSV or Feyenoord.

"But Cunha could play in a top five team in England. Shows why it's hard in this league.

"They had a very good performance against us earlier in the season."