Arne Slot has insisted that nothing good ever comes from losing a football game after some fans claimed Liverpool’s FA Cup exit could be a blessing in disguise.
The Premier League leaders were shocked on Sunday when Championship strugglers Plymouth pulled off the upset of the fourth round with a 1-0 victory in Devon. And the narrative in some corners of the Liverpool fanbase was that this could benefit them.
But ahead of a trip to Everton, Slot disagreed with this and said: ‘There was a wise man that once said to me that nothing good will ever come from losing a football game. I definitely agree. Now with us losing there is one moment where we have a “normal week” (no midweek fixtures).
‘But that is definitely not what we wanted when we went to Plymouth. It was difficult because the plan was to play with Joe (Gomez, who went off injured) for 60 minutes or longer, to start Curtis (Jones) but he said he was not well enough to play.
‘Then all of a sudden we lost two important players. Darwin (Nunez) became a dad in Spain. Still this team should have been good enough to win this game, and PSV as well, but it told us these players need these games to get the best out of them.
‘But (the defeat) should have an impact because if you are working at a club like this you should compete for every trophy, we’ve said this from the start, and so to go out at the second occasion, to lose against Plymouth is not acceptable.
Arne Slot has insisted that ‘nothing good every comes from losing a football match’ after Liverpool’s defeat by Plymouth
Slot oversaw his side go down 1-0 to bottom of the Championship side Plymouth in the FA Cup
He branded the result ‘unacceptable’ and ‘far from what Liverpool’s standards are as well’
‘Us as a team, and I think our fans are disappointed by that result. Now we have to show a different side of ourselves tomorrow because it wasn’t only the result but the performance was far from what Liverpool’s standards are as well.’
Slot will belatedly take charge of his first ever Merseyside Derby on Wednesday after the original fixture was postponed due to Storm Darragh in December.
After David Moyes won three of five games since taking over from Sean Dyche, Slot is expecting a tough test and added: ‘It is an extra reason why the atmosphere will probably be even better than all the occasions before.
‘I haven’t been to one but people tell me, at Goodison Park as at Anfield, it is always a fantastic atmosphere. It is probably going to be a fantastic atmosphere and that is never easy to play against because every single time they cross the halfway line or get a corner the fans will cheer for that and then you have to be mentally really strong as an away team to resist all that.
‘You still have to be focused on what you have to do: defending the corner, defending the set-piece and when you have the ball be as calm as you can in this fantastic atmosphere – it is not the first time for these players playing in an atmosphere like this.
‘I hope they can focus on what they have to do but it is not only tactical, you also have to stand up those emotions because I noticed also in the Plymouth game the intensity of the tackles, how aggressive they were was a quality of their players but it was also definitely because of the emotions in the stadium so we have to be up for that.
‘I have seen the (derby) of last season, for example, and we were quite ready because after 10 minutes the referee blew his whistle 11 times and 10 times it was in favour of Everton. The Liverpool players were ready to compete but every time they touched them it was a free-kick.
‘So I assume our players are ready for another battle tomorrow for the simple reason they have been ready the whole season and many players are experienced in this tie.’
