Slot Talk: “Today We Did Not Play a Good Game”
Liverpool did not play well against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, Arne Slot’s Reds putting in a particularly unpleasant first half performance before improving just enough after the break to at least play their opponents level. Sometimes, though, it’s better to be lucky than good, and Sunday turned out to be such a day.
With the game scoreless late, Liverpool struck not once but twice in stoppage time—and when the first was ruled out, they simply went and got another as if it was no big deal. On balance it was still a concerning day for a side chasing Champions League qualification and needing to show signs of improvement, but at the same time, well, three points is three points.
“My emotions were of happiness and relief,” Slot said following the final whistle. “This is probably the first time I have to do a different post-match press conference than I expected, because today we did not play a good game. The performance, especially in the first half, was not as good as we’ve had so many times this season.
“We’ve been on the wrong side of the score after a good performance far too many times, but today I think we got more than we deserved. A draw would have been a fair result of this game, but then you think you’ve won it but VAR is there and it was disallowed. My emotions were thinking, okay, everything that could have gone against us this season happens.
“But maybe fortune has changed two or three minutes later when again we thought we scored the winner—and again VAR took a long time to check it—but this time the referee pointed for a kick-off which meant we had won the game. And even in the first half, we were really poor but we did not concede a lot and defended well.”
The win means Liverpool are level on points in fifth with Manchester United—though behind on points and with United still having to play Everton to close out the matchweek. The Reds now get another full week off to train and recover before taking on a West Ham side currently in the relegation places next Saturday as the season heads into its final stretch.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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