Arne Slot has finally revealed why Michael Oliver showed him a red card following the 2-2 draw against Everton in the Merseyside derby.
Slot, 46, lost his cool after the 2-2 draw against Everton at Goodison Park on Wednesday evening and was sent off – alongside his assistant Sipke Hulshoff – by referee Oliver.
Liverpool fell behind 11 minutes in after Beto, 27, latched onto Jarrad Branthwaite’s clever free-kick before finishing past Alisson.
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Just five minutes later, Alexis Mac Allister headed home the away side’s equaliser. Mohamed Salah scored to put the Reds 2-1 up on 73 minutes, but the points were shared after James Tarkowski smashed home a stunning volley on 98 minutes.
Chaos ensued as Curtis Jones and Abdoulaye Doucoure became embroiled in a tussle after the Everton man appeared to taunt the away fans, to the dismay of Jones, 24.
Soon after, Slot approached Oliver and the rest of the officials and was swiftly shown a red card after a heated exchange.
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The Liverpool boss did not attend the post-match press conference on Wednesday but did address the media at around 9 am on Friday morning.
One of the first questions was about the incident which led to his dismissal.
“There is an ongoing process, and we have to respect that, so I can't go into details,” said Slot.
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“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."
He then explained how there is an ongoing process which he doesn't want to disturb.
“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," he added. "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 strong - better than last year - in a game played in difficult circumstances for them, to stay so strong together and fight so hard, to be mentally so strong, that gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming 14 games.
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"The togetherness they showed for 98 minutes shows me we are a very difficult team to beat.”
Slot also discussed the incident which led to Jones being sent off, with the England international now banned for one match.
"Many things in extra time happened which led to me being quite emotional," Slot admitted. "There was a VAR incident for two minutes... where I thought it maybe a foul and then it could be offside. Many things happened... it wouldn't be smart to go into every incident.
"I like a lot that he (Curtis) stands up for the team but I think there are also 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, out of emotion, make the wrong decision and that's definitely what I did."
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Liverpool will take on Wolves in the Premier League at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
Topics: Liverpool, Everton, Premier League, Jurgen Klopp, Michael Oliver
Luke Alfred Davies