ReactionArne Slot press conference: Ekitike red card, Chiesa performance and Isak's first LFC goal
Read Arne Slot’s post-match press conference after Liverpool’s 2-1 Carabao Cup victory over Southampton at Anfield.
The Reds booked their place in round four by edging out the Championship club on Tuesday night, with Hugo Ekitike’s 85th-minute winner coming after goals in either half by Alexander Isak and Shea Charles.
Ekitike was sent off for a second yellow card having removed his shirt in the celebration that followed his decisive goal.
In addition to his update on the injury sustained by debutant Giovanni Leoni, see what Slot had to say about the evening, Ekitike, the performance of Federico Chiesa – who recorded two assists – and the first Liverpool goal for Isak below…
On how he felt about Ekitike’s second yellow card and sending-off…
No, I would prefer to start with something positive, which is not positive but the tribute we gave Matt Beard was, I think, of Liverpool standards. How the fans always do this is something that makes me proud to represent this club, how we always find a way to be so respectful for people that have done so much for our club.
Then we go immediately because of your question to the last minutes of the game, where Hugo got a second yellow card. What were your two words? That was ‘needless’, yes. And it was ‘stupid’. Yeah, it was. The first one was already needless and to a certain extent stupid, because you have to control your emotions. I know how hard it is if you play Premier League or every league in the world, if you are a No.9 then the defender can almost do everything he wants, and then when you shirt-pull a little bit or you push him a little bit then you get a free-kick against you. But it’s always the best to control your emotions, and if you cannot control your emotions do it in a way that doesn’t lead to a yellow card. I think I said when I got my red card against Everton [last season], that is always stupid because you can show your emotions but if it leads to a yellow or a red card then it’s stupid. And that’s what happened in the first yellow.
I told him as well and I said it to numerous media already, if you score in a Champions League final in the 87th minute after outplaying three players and hitting it in the top corner, I can maybe understand that you’re like, ‘This is all about me, what did I do?’ But I am old fashioned, I’m 47 and old maybe. I haven’t played at this level but I did score a few goals and if I would have scored a goal like this, I would have turned around and walked up to, in this situation, Federico Chiesa and said, ‘This goal is all about you, this is not about me.’ So, yeah, needless, not smart. You call it stupid. I call it stupid, by the way, as well.
On Chiesa’s overall display…
I think what you want to see. I can accept completely that a team that plays for the first time together, players that haven’t played for a long time, that they don’t play as a team perfectly. But what I always want to see is players that try and work hard. So I said at half-time, for me it is completely not a coincidence that Federico picked the ball and assisted on the first [goal] because he was the one, in my opinion, that was most involved in the game, tried the most, worked the hardest. And then it wasn’t a coincidence again that he was the man that made a deep run, great ball by Robbo [Andy Robertson], by the way – who also has won so much at this club and also understands how to play this game: not underestimate it, just always be ready to play. That’s also the way to get yourself either back in the team or get as much playing minutes as you want. That’s why I was happy with a few individual performances but far from happy with a few other individual performances.
On if he would elaborate on who he was unhappy with…
No. But I think these players who I mean, I think they know already.
On Isak getting his first goal for the Reds…
Yeah, it’s nice because it’s only six or seven days ago when he made his debut. I just asked, ‘Was it two weeks ago when we played Burnley?’ He said, ‘No, it was only one week ago.’ So, time goes so fast that sometimes you don’t understand how long it took. But we got him not in the best circumstances in terms of match fitness, so we have to build it up. The downside to that is that you cannot play a player 90 minutes and if you only play him 45 or 30 or again like today 45, it might then normally take a while before he scores his first goal because we can all understand if you play a player three times 90, it’s a bigger chance that he scores a goal than when you play him 45, 30, 45.
He’s the British record signing – and there’s hardly anyone talks about this so maybe it’s smart for me to talk about this! So there will be then pressure on if he takes a while to score a goal, because he’s the record British signing – no-one says this, so I repeat it! I think the best moment to start to see where he is and how much he can help us – you can already see that he can help us – but the best [will be] when he comes back hopefully from the Swedish national team, when he stayed fit, played there many minutes, plays for us in the upcoming weeks a few minutes. Then I think after that then his pre-season has ended and we can expect even more from him. But until now I’m very happy with what I’ve seen from him.