Slot on nervous Liverpool's 2-1 Wolves win and player's mentality

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Slot on nervous Liverpool's 2-1 Wolves win and player's mentality  16/02/2025  Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, UK

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00:00Yeah, clearly, it was a relief in the end,

00:07especially after what happened Wednesday.

00:11And those last eight minutes, and especially the last minute where we conceded a goal,

00:19you are so frustrated because I knew, you know, that that is not only that moment,

00:27but that moment can also have an impact for the next game or for the games that are coming up.

00:33And I think you saw today, after us conceding the 2-1,

00:37that maybe for the first time this season we were a bit like,

00:40ooh, after conceding in the last minute against Atherton,

00:46I think that was in our heads a bit,

00:49and that's also why we as a team were so furious Wednesday.

00:57Jürgen, can you stop laughing? It's the wrong way to look at it.

01:02They're all in the stadium, can you explain the stadium for the Reds?

01:06Sorry?

01:08The nerves were too much?

01:10No, I don't think the nerves were too much, I think it also had to do with how Wolves came out.

01:16And Wednesday we showed immense mentality in the most difficult circumstances we faced this season.

01:26And then going 2-1 up and playing the last 15, 20 minutes the way we played,

01:31with all the things that happened in those 15 to 20 minutes,

01:34and then to come out with a draw that was very, very hard to take.

01:40And then today 2-0 up, we had to deal with thinking we scored the 3-0,

01:46a completely correct decision that he disallowed it for offside,

01:49thinking we were going to score the 3-0 with a penalty on Mo,

01:53again, in my opinion, a correct decision for the VAR to turn that decision over.

01:59And then immediately receiving the 2-1, that is mentally not always easy,

02:05and that's why these wins are probably even more important

02:09than when you outplay Tottenham like we did here two weeks ago with 4-0.

02:14It's so difficult to win a game of football, people always feel like,

02:19you've got Mo Salah, where are you talking about, he will always call for you a goal...

02:23No, no, no, it's so difficult to win a game of football every three days,

02:28after everything you go through in a season.

02:32So that's why this win is an important one going into a very tough week,

02:39where we hope we can show the same mentality again in both teams,

02:42but play a bit better on the ball, that's clear.

02:46Jürgen, did you think you could now take off at half-time

02:51because you were worried about him getting sent off,

02:54and is there any update on Jürgen?

02:57Yes, I took him off because of that.

03:01Because I saw him getting his first yellow, that was for me a soft yellow.

03:08If he would have gotten the second one for a shoulder push,

03:12that would again have been a soft yellow,

03:14so then he would have been sent off by two soft yellows.

03:17I think the referee felt the same, that's why he didn't,

03:19but I've watched football so many times in my life,

03:24and I know that a player and a referee are then under pressure,

03:28so every next foul will lead again to maybe a referee thinking,

03:34maybe I should give him, I think back on three days ago.

03:39But for Ibu it's so difficult to play 45 minutes of football against a strong Wolves team,

03:50so I had to take him off because you can't play football knowing in your head

03:55you can't make a foul against such good players as the Wolves have.

04:00And Cody didn't have a yellow card or whatever.

04:03Yeah, he got a knock in the Everton game, a few of us got a knock,

04:09but he got an injury from that.

04:12That wasn't a joke.

04:14LAUGHTER

04:16Will he be OK for Wednesday?

04:18Under debate. It's fast, Wednesday already, so let's wait and see.

04:25It wasn't a soft knock then.

04:29Beth?

04:31It's been a bit different this season,

04:33the Red Sox have been demanding to get up to the levels of last season,

04:37but what did you make of it in the second half?

04:39Obviously a massive commitment, what went on?

04:43Yeah, I think all the boys showed great character, great mentality in the second half,

04:48but I think everybody has seen recently already,

04:53because he's played a few games recently, that he did really well,

04:56and you can see in training sessions that he is back to being the same Gerald as he was in pre-season.

05:02I think he had a bit of a hard time after being taken off at Ipswich,

05:05and then the first two or three games after that when he came in,

05:09he was also in a bit of a struggle.

05:12But he's just showing now what he's shown in the last two or three months on the training pitch,

05:17but also when he comes in that he's back to his old level,

05:20and then you can see how important he is.

05:24Today you saw how vital players like Gerrard and Vata are for this team,

05:30because if you want to achieve something, of course you need the goals from Mo,

05:35or from Lucio, or from all the others,

05:37but you also need these players that if you depend on them,

05:41they bring up performances like this.

05:4513 games to go, how are you dealing with the pressure, the expectancy?

05:51Did you enjoy a game like that?

05:54For a large part I enjoyed the game, but I didn't enjoy the last 20, 25 minutes.

06:00But I do enjoy that part of my job, because it's the same for the players.

06:05Of course we all like to bring the ball out from the back,

06:07from great combinations leading towards the most beautiful goals,

06:10but as players sometimes you have to fight, as a manager you sometimes have to be pragmatic as well

06:16and understand, OK, this is probably not our game in terms of football,

06:19then we as a coaching staff have to be ready to make decisions that help the team in those moments.

06:25That's what we try to do, we're bringing a type of player like Vata in,

06:29bringing Dom Szaboszlai to the left wing to neutralise that threat there as well.

06:36So it's enjoyable this as well, but I prefer the one where I see my team

06:43playing one triangle after another, leading to chance after chance.

06:47You could have another 13 finishes, would that be all right?

06:52I think in the season, I don't know if I said it here,

06:55but when the boys came in I felt they were a bit down, maybe,

06:59a bit like, hmm, it wasn't our best performance.

07:01That probably tells you also how well we've played during the season,

07:05that we weren't even that happy with this win.

07:07And I said to them, listen, this win is maybe even a bigger accomplishment

07:12than outplaying Tottenham here with 4-0,

07:16because in a season where you want to achieve something,

07:18no matter what you want to achieve,

07:20but if you want to achieve something in the season,

07:22you need to play good football, that's the basis of success.

07:25But if you don't have the mentality to win difficult games,

07:29then you will never achieve something.

07:30That's why I was so disappointed for the players and so frustrated

07:34when I was in the dressing room after the game when we played Everton.

07:39The boys did so well, fought so hard and deserved, in my opinion,

07:43to go away there with 2-1, not in terms of football,

07:45but in terms of mentality.

07:47But we didn't get that one, and now we got it today.

07:51Real last one.

07:52Jürgen, after Wednesday's game,

07:54there was a little bit of mental fatigue, especially in the second half.

07:57How do you ensure that in the last few months

08:00that the teams don't get fatigued when you have to play seven games

08:04without having to get to the stadium?

08:07I think the question is how I deal with if they get fatigued?

08:11Yeah, I mean, you know it's evening time,

08:13you look a little bit like you did in that second half,

08:15obviously mentally, after Wednesday's match.

08:18Yeah, but I never judge a situation on 20 minutes.

08:24On Wednesday evening I saw a team fighting until the last second,

08:28pressing, working, being so, so, so fit.

08:32I want to take into account these players are not tired, not at all.

08:36They were able to play every three days in the highest intensity.

08:39But you have to take the mental part of the game into the occasion as well.

08:42All the offence that happened Wednesday evening,

08:44it's not only working hard,

08:46what did it do to us mentally as well these last eight minutes of injury time?

08:51I can't even tell you what it did to me mentally,

08:54let alone what it did for these players that had to run so much.

08:57So then if you come into this game and again things go against you,

09:01not again things go against you,

09:03but with the disallowed goal and the penalty, both correct decisions,

09:07and then scoring, again it asks a lot from your mentality.

09:11If you are indeed maybe a bit more tired.

09:15But these players are able to be Wednesday all on it again,

09:19and Sunday as well.

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