Slot pleased with result but not performance as Liverpool beat Barnsley

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Slot pleased with result but not performance as Liverpool beat Barnsley   12/01/2026  Anfield, Liverpool, UK

Transcript

00:00Arne, how do you support the performance side?

00:05A good win. That's not performance, but that's result.

00:10We wanted to go into the next round, that's what we did.

00:13Four beautiful goals, shot from outside the box.

00:18It's not always easy to unlock a low block for any team in the world,

00:22but definitely also not for us.

00:25So you have a few weapons to do so, set pieces, as we see so many times,

00:28especially in the Premier League.

00:30A shot from outside the box, a 1v1.

00:33We saw today a shot from outside the box and a 1v1 from Jeremy Frimpong.

00:38And in the end we saw, with the third one,

00:43some individual skills from Curtis, Hugo and Flo,

00:47which led to a good goal.

00:49So yeah, some good goals.

00:52Overall, did you feel it was a good job done,

00:55or did you expect a little bit more?

00:57No, I think it's every home game the same.

01:00So, yeah, you see a team in red that's constantly in ball position.

01:07Obviously, what happened with the Banzer goal as well,

01:13Dominic obviously says he apologises for his mistake as well,

01:17but you spoke to him as he said what was going through his mind at that point,

01:20what he was thinking and what he said to him.

01:23No.

01:24No, I fought a lot in that moment.

01:27I fought a lot towards half-time,

01:29but I chose to inform them in the best possible way

01:32for us to be more fluid, more tempo, more able to create chances,

01:37which didn't work out that well because, again,

01:40second half we created a few chances, but not a lot.

01:46I have my opinion about that, which I'm definitely going to share with him.

01:50And it's not the first time, and I'm talking generally,

01:53that we are 2-0 up, there's nothing, no problems in the game,

01:57and then we concede a sloppy or an easy goal.

02:00But this one stands definitely out, even for us,

02:03when it is about conceding an easy and sloppy goal.

02:07Is that something that's holding you back at times?

02:11Is it a lapse in concentration?

02:12No, it doesn't help to concede a goal if you're 2-0 up.

02:15I think normally when you're 2-0 up,

02:17the other team is close to maybe accepting their loss,

02:21especially if you can keep going and have the ball so much,

02:24then usually teams are 2-0 down, we hardly touch the ball,

02:27now we are probably not as aggressive in defending,

02:29and then you can score the third and the fourth.

02:31But if you then give away an easy goal,

02:33as we've done so many times this season,

02:35then it's a big difference in mindset for the other team

02:37with a 2-0 down and never have the ball,

02:39or they're 2-1 and never have the ball,

02:41because then they do feel in the first half

02:44when we never had the ball in one moment we could score a goal,

02:47so maybe we can do this again.

02:48So yeah, it's definitely not helpful for us.

02:51Even tonight we could see a lot of things being the same

02:57as we've seen so many times this season.

03:00They obviously felt they could have had a penalty,

03:02I just wonder what you felt about that appeal,

03:04and whether you had any concerns at that moment

03:06that the penalty could be given?

03:08No, there was no VAR, so when he gives it,

03:11even if he would have made a mistake,

03:13there was not a possibility to correct it.

03:16From what's been told to me, it wasn't a penalty

03:20and Dominic played the ball,

03:22but I have to see it back to give you my own opinion,

03:26this is the opinion of other people.

03:28I've seen Thursday evening things twice in Arsenal's box

03:35that were more a penalty than this one,

03:37when I just looked at it in the eye without seeing it on video,

03:40but I could even live with the fact that we didn't get one against Arsenal.

03:45Although this season we've conceded penalties,

03:48referees have given penalties against us,

03:50even after VAR interventions,

03:52in incidents that were less than the two incidents that happened at Arsenal.

03:57But I could live with the outcome at Arsenal,

03:59and I could live with the outcome today.

04:01I assume and think and expect it's cramp,

04:07so it tells Rio that I expect that the Premier League game

04:13is more intense than this one,

04:15that it's very nice for him to again make 70 minutes,

04:19but that it's still very hard work to be ready for 90 in the Premier League.

04:24But that's completely normal for a 17-year-old,

04:26let's make no mistake about that.

04:28It's already great for him and for Liverpool,

04:31and for where he is following us,

04:32that a 17-year-old makes so many minutes in a Liverpool shirt.

04:36So let's hope he can continue,

04:39and we can bring him further and further towards 90 minutes at Premier League.

04:44Bringing on Florian Wiertz and Hugo Ekotike,

04:49I guess you obviously felt it too when you needed it to have the end there,

04:55but also is it very important to have that strength and depth

04:58and have those players that you can get to see it through at the end?

05:02Yeah, it's for every team very important to have strength and depth in your squad.

05:07We could see it when we played Arsenal when they made their five substitutions.

05:12Today I mixed the line-up a little bit,

05:17it wasn't as Plymouth last season,

05:19it wasn't as Crystal Palace this season for the League Cup.

05:24One, because we take this competition very seriously.

05:29Second of all, because I didn't also have the possibilities to do so,

05:33because I couldn't make 11 substitutions.

05:36I could, but then I had to look at the under-21s and the under-18s.

05:41But I think it showed tonight that we needed a lot of first-team players to win this game.

05:50So I think, not that it's a compliment to myself,

05:53but I think I made the right decision to play a lot of starters as well.

05:59But I also had no other opportunity,

06:01although I could have played four or five under-21 players,

06:05but I chose not to do so.

06:08Just a quick word on Barnsley.

06:10They came in from League One and made life tough for you.

06:13Were you impressed with their resilience for most of that game?

06:16Yeah, of course.

06:17I think they can be proud of themselves, how they did and how difficult they made it for us.

06:23A game plan that looks very similar to a lot of teams that are coming here.

06:29For probably, how many games did we play this season?

06:33Probably around 30.

06:35I think 28 of my pre-match meetings I could just throw in the bin.

06:40I think only once or twice the team did what they did the 20 weeks before.

06:47Arsenal was one of them.

06:49They just played against us what we're used to.

06:51But Barnsley always plays a 4-3-3 and today decided to go with five,

06:57which I can completely understand which I would have done when I was their manager as well.

07:01But another time, a meeting that you tried to show them what to expect,

07:11what they usually do.

07:12But yeah, they did something different and by doing that they made it really difficult for us.

07:17So compliments for their game plan and compliments for the desire they had

07:22and willingness they had to fight for results.

07:25And for a long time they were in the game because I think it was the 80th minute or something like that.

07:31Maybe later when we scored the 3-1, I think even later.

07:3584 I think, something like that.

07:37So yeah, that's a compliment to them.

07:40I think it's only the second time in the season that you've won a game by three or four goals.

07:45It probably could have been a little bit more comfortable had that error not happened.

07:49You've spoken about not just John but across the team,

07:53there's maybe been some errors this season.

07:55How do you go about trying to get that out of people's games?

07:59It must be quite frustrating for you when you're seeing that quite regularly.

08:04Yeah, but I can tell you that it's not the only frustration I have.

08:08But definitely we make it difficult for ourselves in moments like this.

08:16And not only for ourselves.

08:20I think again there were 60,000 fans tonight showing up supporting us.

08:27And I would have loved and the players would have loved to give them probably not a 2-1

08:33until the waiting until the 83rd minute before his 3-1.

08:36But yeah, it did happen and that is something I would love to see differently.

08:43Again, I think we tried.

08:45Not that it's a compliment for us, but we had the ball.

08:48What else can you do than having the ball?

08:51Creating chances.

08:53Yeah, last one.

08:54I was just checking for the first time since Conor Bradley.

08:58Is there a notice?

08:59How has he been with the end of the season?

09:01Is it still a massive goal for him after you?

09:04Is that going to have the season?

09:06Yeah, first of all, let's talk about him.

09:10Because Trent is leaving and Conor Bradley already replaced him last season

09:16a few times really well.

09:18And I think the year before our game also had a good spell.

09:22So I think he felt, and I felt the same, this is now going to be your time.

09:28And then he missed out on so many games because of injury already,

09:31because of mainly hamstring injuries.

09:33Coming back from that, being in a team, progressing, doing better and better,

09:38staying fit and then something like this happens.

09:42So in a season where he thought before it started, this has to be my season,

09:47and I thought the same.

09:49To maybe play six, seven or eight games is a big, big, big blow for him.

09:56And I also think about Northern Ireland where he's trying to reach the World Cup.

10:02So it's an enormous blow for him.

10:05But as a result of that, it's a big blow for us as well,

10:08because I hope that you don't think that I would like to play Dominic Stoppers-Lay

10:14as a right full-back.

10:15But Jeremy Frimpong has to play a lot of minutes, comes also back from an injury,

10:20has missed out three, four months of a lot of playing time.

10:25So I liked him again today, by the way.

10:28But yeah, I have to make sure that he's able to play again in the weekend

10:33and then we go to Marseille and then we go to Bournemouth.

10:37It's nine games in January with six defenders available.

10:45So I have to manage it in the right way and I have to give enormous compliments

10:50to the players that are fit, that we are 11 games unbeaten already.

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