I would have loved to play on, says Liverpool head coach
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has dismissed Everton’s complaints over the three minutes of stoppage time added in their Merseyside derby last weekend.
The Premier League champions were leading 2-1 at the time and Everton were hoping to equalise. After the game Toffees boss David Moyes and winger Jack Grealish criticised referee Darren England, saying Everton were not compensated for time-wasting during the game.
Slot pushed back on the accusations of time-wasting and “trying to slow the game down”.
“A lot has been said about the added time against Everton but I would have loved to play on three or four seconds more because we were in a five-v-two situation at that moment,” Slot said.
“Now that tells you, I think, all about the mentality we have, always wanting to score a goal. The three minutes were completely correct, by the way, because there were only three moments where a substitution was made.
“There was no time-wasting because that’s not what we do – unfortunately I have to say sometimes – and there was no treatment of injuries, one goal scored.
“Then you come to three [minutes]. Where in many other games when we need a goal, there’s a lot, a lot, a lot of time-wasting going on, I can tell you.”
Liverpool looked in control after first-half goals from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike, but Idrissa Gueye’s strike just before the hour set up a tense finish. Everton pressed for an equaliser, but the champions managed to hold on to maintain their perfect start to the season.
Slot’s side now host Southampton in the third round of the EFL Cup and the Dutchman said he would make significant changes to his team in order to rest those players who have played a lot of minutes.
“The ones that played three times 90 [minutes] are Virgil [Van Dijk], Ibou [Ibrahima Konate], Mo [Salah], Ryan [Gravenberch] and Dom [Dominik Szoboszlai],” said Liverpool’s head coach.
“I can tell you now you won’t be seeing them on Tuesday. If that’s any help for Southampton, then they already know.”
