After the 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, under-fire Liverpool FC head coach Arne Slot was asked about Liverpool’s chances to progress to the semi-finals:
“Probably I have to refer to last season, what gives me the best feeling and I have to refer to the history of this club, how much impact Anfield can make for a performance.”
“We were outplayed here last season, which led to a 1-0 win from us which was unbelievable. Paris Saint-Germain was by far the better team today, could have scored more than
two goals.”
“But the good thing was that the players of Liverpool showed fighting spirit, kept going.”
“Almost every time they had a shot, we had a lot of players behind the ball or protecting our box, which was necessary because if you don’t run back, these players, like the ones from City, are able to hurt you a lot.”
“Last season at Anfield we played a completely different game and after 10 minutes could have been 2-0 up.”
“But we need to have a better performance and we definitely need our fans to help us to create an atmosphere where we can rise to a better level than we did so today.”
“We were in survival mode for large parts of the game – maybe also in the period of the season we are in.”
“We are in survival mode, to find ways where we can try to make sure that their qualities are not seen that much.”
“But that’s really, really hard against this team because last year over here we were in survival mode as well.”
“But, as I said, Paris Saint-Germain was the better team, but we didn’t give up and that is why we still have a chance now because they kept us alive by not scoring a few open chances.”
I can’t really see how Anfield is going to be a factor when the atmosphere has been dreadful but survial mode is right. The team has been flailing in the wind like a tube man at a car dealership all season, and choosing to deploy a back five in this fixture is probably as close as you’re going to get to an admission from Slot that he’s out of ideas. It’s time.
