In the opening round of the new Premier League season, Liverpool drew 2-2 with Newcastle United away. After the match, Liverpool manager Arne Slot attended a press conference to answer media questions.

Hello Andoni. You must be pleased with how the players kept fighting until the end, and scoring in the 99th minute must have taken a lot of character, no?

Yes, I think because it was a goal in the closing moments, it feels even better. Before the match, we probably wouldn't have been satisfied with this result, but indeed, I think this was a reward for us because we never gave up. I think we put a lot of pressure on Newcastle United, and although we had to wait until the end, I think we did enough to score that goal. And I feel that if we had scored earlier, the match might have gone completely in our favor, yes.

Do you think your performance today was good enough to have secured a win? How do you evaluate the team's performance today?

I think it's difficult to say, because they tell me that statistically we were superior, created more chances and played better, and so on, but indeed, they could also say: "Okay, we were leading at that point, so we didn't need to keep attacking," no? They simply maintained their advantage.

I really liked many aspects of the team's pressing. I think in the first half, we didn't finish well. We got a lot of the ball at the edge of the box and inside the box, but we didn't finish our attacks. We didn't shoot, we didn't... The fact is, because we didn't finish that attack, they punished us on their first counter-attack, and that was a golden opportunity.

I think in the second half we were more decisive. I felt that Gakpo not only scored a goal, but we also applied more pressure, created more chances, more set pieces, more crosses, and more threats in the box, no? I think this... this was a reward, and although one point isn't much, at least we deserved it.

Andoni, hello. Regarding the penalty, given the pressure on Dominik (Szoboszlai), how well did he execute it? Also, Isak is Newcastle United's penalty taker and has scored many penalties. Was it decided beforehand that Dominik would take it, or was it decided based on the situation on the pitch?

I think we don't just have Dominik and Alexander; I believe we have even more very good penalty specialists. Alex was also on the pitch at that time, he's also a very good penalty taker, and Cody (Gakpo)... we have many. Yes, but I think Dominik showed his class. It was almost an unsavable penalty, no? I'm certainly happy because we finally got a point back.

I also think that before the penalty given to Victor (Muñoz), there was a clearer penalty... a foul on Victor. But I think the referee had already blown the whistle before that, so they couldn't give it to us. But I think that one was even clearer than the second one.

I'm also pleased for Victor, because he causes problems for the opposition. I think players who can come off the bench and change the game will be very important for us.

Andoni, can you tell us your thoughts on Newcastle United's two goals? They're very similar, both went in quickly... but different in terms of the transition... This was an issue last season, what will you do to solve this problem?

Yes, that's not surprising. When you face Newcastle United, they're probably one of the fastest attacking lines in the league. I think, as you said, we conceded these two goals for different reasons, although both came from defensive transitions.

For the first goal conceded, I think we should have finished that attack. I think we created a golden opportunity—it was 4 versus 3, we were at the edge of the box, it was a clear shooting chance. But we decided not to shoot, we didn't handle it well, and then you have to praise Elanga for winning the race.

For the second goal conceded, I think we had a numerical advantage and should have defended better. It wasn't like the first goal where they caught us off guard. With the first goal, you can still argue, but with the second, we had enough numbers, but we didn't defend well. We should have won the first ball, and perhaps even committed a tactical foul, to be more aggressive on the ball carrier, because we had a full numerical advantage in defense.

You clearly don't want to concede goals from defensive transitions, and we've prepared for defensive transitions all week, but that's football, and there's a reason Newcastle United is so good at that. It's unfortunate for us, because I think we generally controlled the game quite well and didn't give the opposition too many chances. When you play Newcastle United here, you'll always squander some chances, but when there's open space on the pitch, they really perform very, very well. You have to give them credit too, yes.

How do you evaluate Alex (Isak's) performance? In many ways...

I think he was mentally ready for it—I mean the atmosphere. I don't think it was a big surprise for him. I feel he tried everything, gave us good positioning when we had the ball. He maybe had a couple of finishing chances in the box, but perhaps not the clear-cut ones he or we would have wanted. But I appreciate that he kept pushing and fighting throughout the match, and I think for Alex's first game, it was a good start.

Following up on the midfield topic, because this was indeed an issue last season, and Bournemouth, which you managed back then, also exploited this weakness.

Yes, yes, I remember.

How will you solve this problem? Is it a personnel issue, or a matter of daily training and coaching? How do you plan to address this challenge?

I think it's not a personnel issue, because I understand you're basically asking me about Gravenberch, as a defensive midfielder, being at the edge of the box... But if he shoots from there and scores, we'd probably say: "Wow, Gravenberch handled that beautifully." So I don't want to disregard the attacking quality of his style of play, but as a team, we have to adapt to this situation and be aware that this can happen.

I think for the second goal conceded, we had a numerical advantage in defense, but we didn't choose to commit a tactical foul, didn't win the first ball, and maybe didn't close down the ball carrier, and that was indeed an excellent finish. This situation doesn't happen just because one player is playing in that position; it's something we need to improve together across all our players.

Diterjemahkan oleh AI.

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