Liverpool’s Arne Slot calls shock FA Cup exit ‘unacceptable’

Liverpool’s manager Arne Slot has called the shock FA Cup exit as unacceptable. The Reds were stunned 0-1 by Plymouth Argyle in the fourth round of the tournament at the Home Park on Sunday. 

After a goalless first half, Ryan Hardie scored from a spot kick to score the only goal of the night. Slot had decided to rest several key players for the clash but it proved costly in the end.

Slot urged his players to “show a different side” in the upcoming clash against Everton on Wednesday.

“To lose against Plymouth is unacceptable,” Slot said in a news conference on Tuesday. “We are disappointed with that result. Now we have to show a different side of us tomorrow. It was not only the result, but the performance was far below Liverpool standards as well.”

Slot said there is no positive to take out after losing against Plymouth Argyle.

“A wise man once said to me nothing good comes from losing a football game and I completely agree,” Slot said. “We would definitely prefer to have played more games. Now after losing this game, there is one moment where we have a normal week but that is not what we wanted when we went to Plymouth.

The Reds also lost the services of defender Joe Gomez due to injury early on in the clash whereas Curtis Jones was not fit on the match day.

“It was difficult because the plan was to play with Joe [Gomez] for 60 minutes, the plan was to start Curtis [Jones] but he didn’t feel well enough to play so then all of a sudden, we missed two important players. Darwin became a dad one or two days before the game, that happened in Spain, so he came in one or two days earlier.

“There were some circumstances that weren’t perfect. The idea was to play with a stronger team than we did but still this team should have been able to win that game. The fact we didn’t win and that we didn’t win against PSV [Eindhoven] as well tells us that these players need these games to get the best out of them. It’s so difficult to get the best out of them if you don’t play games. It makes it disappointing we don’t have these extra games for them.”

Liverpool would play five games in the next 15 games in the Premier League and Slot said they can not afford to take their foot off the pedal as other teams are capable of catching them in the table.

Asked whether this upcoming stretch will define his team’s season, Slot said: “No, because this, playing five games in 15 days, is what we’ve done for seven months now. Every phase of the season is crucial if you play in the Premier League.

“This is the hardest league to win because there are so many teams that can win this league and there are so many teams that are able to win 10 or 15 games in a row. You cannot slow down, you cannot have a few games where you are not on top of your game because all of a sudden other teams catch you up.

“That’s why it’s such an exciting league. The upcoming five are important but then after that the next nine are important. But the first 23 have been just as important.”