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Slot on Liverpool 3-2 defeat at rivals Manchester Utd

03/05/2026

Old trafford, Manchester, UK
Transcript
00:00Did you say at half-time after the first half?
00:04That it wasn't necessary to be 2-0 down, it wasn't necessary to lose this game today.
00:09Although United deserve to be 2-0 up, let that be completely clear.
00:18But we conceded two goals and they have a lot of strength, let that also be clear.
00:23But two of them were definitely the set-piece and the counter-attack,
00:28and we fell in that trap with both goals.
00:31So the first one, we conceded the set-piece.
00:33And the second one, we played through the middle where players are sharp in the duels
00:38and a great counter-attack led to the 2-0.
00:42I did saw us in the first half coming in the good positions,
00:47but that did not lead to anything.
00:49A few shots, but nothing serious.
00:52And I said if we can combine coming in these positions
00:55with a bit more intent in arriving in the box, that's why I changed
00:59and brought Cody in, or not brought him in, but put him in the number nine position.
01:04And then we were able to do more than only having ball position,
01:08and that's what happened in the second half.
01:11Also, of course, because we immediately found the goal because they misplaced the pass.
01:17Great finish by Dominic, but they misplaced the pass.
01:21And then you have your momentum on your side, and that's what we had in the second half, I think.
01:26James, please.
01:27Why do you think your team did start so bad?
01:29Was it a tactical problem or a mentality problem?
01:34You mean we conceded two goals?
01:36You just lost everything, didn't you, in the first 15-20 minutes?
01:39Yeah, we lost a lot, that is true.
01:40Yeah, and indeed also, you know when you come here that they want to start strong and aggressive,
01:49and we were aware of that, but as you said, I think we were…
01:54But when did we concede the first goal?
01:55Was it also six minutes?
01:57Six minutes.
01:58No, maybe that's the answer then.
02:00So, indeed, in these first six minutes I saw us not picking up the second balls,
02:06although we had a few moments where we pressed them high, but if you concede after six minutes in this
02:11stadium,
02:12then you always know you're going to face a struggle period afterwards.
02:15And I think after us conceding the goal, we controlled the ball, having the ball.
02:21We didn't control the ball, we controlled ball possession, controlled the game by ball possession.
02:27But yeah, then I think it was one of the first times after we lost the ball and they counter
02:32-attacked us to 2-0,
02:33and then of course everything you've done before deserves a lot of criticism.
02:43But I don't think there was that many differences between the first and the second half.
02:47The only difference there was that we were better able to control their counter-attacks
02:51and creating more from the ball possession we had.
02:56Do you think the second goal should have been ruled out United's second goal?
03:00Yeah, yeah.
03:03If it was a touch, which I think it is, because if you know a bit about a ball sport,
03:09you know that if a ball has a certain curve and the curve changes, there must have been a contact.
03:15But it's always light, yeah, then we should have a debate in football,
03:19is that done enough to disallow a goal?
03:21But I think the rule is if there was a touch, it should have been disallowed.
03:24But I don't think it's a surprise to anyone this season that if there is a VR intervention,
03:30or if there is something that you could look at, could be left, could be right,
03:33that that decision goes against us.
03:35That has been the whole season, every single time the same.
03:39So if I remember Paris Saint-Germain at home getting a penalty for a soft touch on McAllister.
03:45But of course the VR interferes and says, no, no, no, this is not a penalty,
03:48where one week later when I see Paris Saint-Germain playing against Bayern Munich,
03:52that that same soft touch, the penalty stays.
03:53I saw last week my goalkeeper on the floor with an injury and the referee doesn't stop the game.
03:59I see a player of United off the pitch today and the referee stops the game when we try to
04:04play on.
04:05That has been our whole season, but the second goal we did not concede because of that handball,
04:10we conceded it because we lost the ball in a stupid position and we lost a few big moments afterwards
04:14in duels.
04:15So we have to first look at ourselves, let that be completely clear and obvious,
04:20but that decisions have gone every single game against us, that's also completely clear and obvious
04:26because when we played United in the first game of the season,
04:29I had one of my players with five stitches on the floor and the referee didn't stop the game and
04:33we conceded.
04:34This is a complete pattern over the whole season,
04:37but there's also a pattern that we concede ridiculous goals when we are the better team,
04:41that one or two switching off and then we concede a goal.
04:44And that we have more influence on, so I should focus much more on that
04:48than on these referee decisions that go against us.
04:51But it's clear that the whole season is the same.
04:56You obviously were out without Salah and you were without Eketike and then Isak.
05:02What is the situation with our team? Is he going to be out for the rest of the season?
05:08No, he isn't. No, he isn't.
05:10No, we're expecting to be back very soon, but you saw the second half, so there's no excuse.
05:15I haven't spoken about missing players, I'm not talking about it now.
05:18If you can play a second half as we did, there's no necessity to have other players here.
05:22We were able with this team to have a chance of winning this game and we were quite close.
05:28But as always, one moment of switching off immediately leads to us conceding a goal.
05:34When there was a moment where it was, and I think the Liverpool journalists recognise this so many times this
05:40season,
05:41it was waiting for us to score one and then we conceded.
05:46because we switched off for one or two seconds in a crucial moment.
05:52Ali, last one.
05:53Ali, you're still maybe three points away from conferring the Champions League spot.
05:57Are you concerned that you haven't quite done it yet?
05:59Because there's a six-point gap between yourself and Paul, but you've still got to do it again?
06:03Yeah.
06:04I wouldn't say conceded is the right word, but I'm completely aware of the fact that we need three points.
06:09That's why I was so annoyed that we didn't pick them up today.
06:12Although we didn't deserve to get these points in the first half, let's be completely clear.
06:16But if you are 2-2, coming back after 2-0, then you should at least go away here with
06:22a result.
06:23Which we didn't do, and we knew before the game we had four chances to pick up three points
06:27to qualify for the Champions League, and now there are three chances left.
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