Every remark regarding the Carabao Cup final defeat: Arne Slot press conference

Press conference with Arne Slot: The complete account of the Carabao Cup final loss Arne Slot acknowledged that Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley was a fitting outcome, as a consequence of their underwhelming performance.

On Sunday afternoon, the Magpies emerged victorious in the capital, thereby preventing the Reds from successfully defending the trophy. On the cusp of halftime, Dan Burn scored with a header, and shortly thereafter, Alexander Isak scored. Four minutes into stoppage time, substitute Federico Chiesa scored to provide Slot’s team with a brief glimmer of optimism; however, it was ultimately insufficient. Please find the complete transcript of Slot’s post-match press conference below.

Regarding his emotional state… Disappointing performance, disappointing outcome. Therefore, my emotions were entirely distinct from those that I experienced subsequent to the Paris Saint-Germain match. I believe that we are experiencing our first instance of consecutive losses. Nevertheless, this is likely a consequence of progressing to the latter phases of a tournament.

In a final, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle are two exceptional teams, each with its own unique style. However, we were already aware of the difficulty of winning against them from the encounter at St. James’ Park, which is why they are extremely challenging to face. Although it was a challenging week, it was also a week in which we increased our lead in the Premier League from 10 to 12 points, so it was not entirely negative.

However, the latter two were unquestionably not in accordance with our expectations. Please refer to our match report for further details. Regarding Liverpool’s physical or mental exhaustion on the day of the match against Paris Saint-Germain, or a combination of both, following the game on Tuesday… Judging is consistently challenging from a mental standpoint. Were we physically or mentally fatigued on Tuesday? False.

However, this game was not about running; it was solely about performing duels, and there was no intensity associated with running in this game. Therefore, it is impossible to determine whether we were physically fatigued or not, as we were unable to press them. If a team is fatigued and exerts itself, it is possible to evaluate them.

However, there was no need to press the button, as they had already played over our press. They consistently brought the ball into our final line when they received a goal-kick or a free-kick, which they had a significant number of in the first half. This resulted in numerous set-pieces. Therefore, it is challenging for me to determine whether we were physically prepared, as the game was sluggish and lacking in intensity.

Mentally, that is consistently a challenging task. If you examine the outcome and the performance, you may conclude that it may have affected us; however, I prefer to analyse the game’s course.

And the game unfolded exactly as they had intended: a battle filled with numerous aerial duels. And if we engage in a ten-game aerial football match against them, they will likely win nine of the ten games due to their superior aerial capabilities.

This is the reason for the first and second goals, as the second goal was also a header that they secured at the second post, which was scored by Isak and resulted in a 2-0 victory. Regarding Burn’s initial goal, Alexis MacAllister was responsible for marking him from a corner. Once more, Newcastle deserves recognition. However, I am capable of providing an explanation. We utilise zonal play, which means that we have five players zoned in close proximity to our goal.

Consequently, if the ball is dropped in that area, one of the five more powerful players will be the first to attack it. Macca is one of three athletes who man-mark. Typically, a participant such as Dan Burn or another individual will rush to the zone because… I believe that he is an exception to this rule, as I have never witnessed a player from that distance strike a ball with such force into the far corner.

That is a component of logic; they must either travel a considerable distance from our zone, which will never result in a goal 99 percent of the time, or they must enter our zone, which will then be an equal battle, if you prefer. I believe that he is one of the few players who is capable of scoring a goal with his head from that distance, so I give him credit for that.