In the 16th round of the English Premier League, Liverpool's home match with Fulham resulted in a 2-2 draw. After the match, Liverpool manager Slaughter was at the press conference, facing the media questions.
Reporter question:
Will this campaign be a win or a loss?
Slaughter responded, "It's a stark contrast to the Girona game. I was happy with the result but unhappy with the performance, today I am extremely happy with the performance but unhappy with the result. It's not what you want to do when you're at home and still lose points against Fulham. Going behind twice is detrimental to all but one thing: the players and the fans were outstanding."
The reporter pursued the question:
Was Robertson injured when he was red carded?
The team showed fighting spirit today, as did Robertson," Slaughter explained. If kicked in the knee, the pain caused by the studs might last a few minutes. Keep running and the pain will subside. Considering there is only one defender left on the bench and it's not a left back, we hope he can hold on. I think he did quite well. When he started running and wasn't in full form, I noticed he just headed the ball back to Alisson. Soon after, he got a red card. I can't blame him, it was his fighting spirit that drove him to keep playing and take a hard hit on his knee. Unfortunately, that led to the red card he deserved."
Reporter question:
How did Hrafenbech do?
Slaughter commented, "As with all the live spectators, I was impressed with his performance. Ryan was outstanding again today. Without the ball, he spent most of his time sticking to the back of the defense, facing either a number 9 or a very fast winger. When he had the ball, he got into the midfield. An excellent performance, but to emphasize only him I feel is unfair to the players around him and around him. We can't ask for more than that. We controlled the game, had more possession and created more chances with 10 men. Unfortunately, they took a chance when we were playing with 10 men and that happens sometimes."
Reporter question:
Is it possible to make plans for a 10-person response?
Slaughter admits, "You can't, because you never know which player will be sent off or what line-up will be drawn up. It depends on the players available and the coping strategy. Being ahead or behind, the strategy will be different. We first check the tactical board and then decide whether to adopt it or not. After five minutes, we changed our strategy and the message was clearer at half-time. Unfortunately, when we had the momentum, the three, four or five minute delay after the goal due to someone from the other team going down was not conducive to keeping the momentum going. Every time someone is treated for an injury, the momentum is interrupted."
Reporter question:
Wakata and Nunez came on as substitutes to combine for the equalizer, any thoughts on that?
Slotter said, "First of all, we are happy to have players back because we had players injured before. The good thing is nobody talks about it because it means you achieved something. It really helps to have them on the pitch. The two Dutch journalists were not surprised by the substitutions. We wanted to play all the players who can score goals and they worked so hard without the ball. We had five or six mainly attacking players, but it was great to stop the opposition scoring with 10 men and create chances at the same time. Darwin and Wakita made an impact and Harvey returned, having been out for two months."
