Liverpool boss Arne Slot says Plymouth Argyle deployed tactic similar to Man Utd after FA Cup shock
Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship side Plymouth Argyle on Sunday afternoon
Liverpool manager Arne Slot did not regret rotating his team after the Reds were dumped out of the FA Cup by Plymouth Argyle on Sunday afternoon. The Reds travelled to Home Park looking to make it to the fifth round but lost 1-0 after Ryan Hardie’s penalty after 53 minutes was enough to send the hosts through.
The Reds had 75 per cent possession and more shots on target but could not make it count as Plymouth held on for a famous win in Devon. There was no Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister or Dominik Szoboszlai in the matchday squad as Slot opted to rest a number of key players with Liverpool to play three Premier League games in eight days.
Slot’s side make the short trip to Goodison Park on Wednesday night to face Everton before hosting Wolves at Anfield on Sunday. They then play Aston Villa on Wednesday, February 19. That game has been moved forward due to Liverpool’s participation in the Carabao Cup final. They then face Manchester City and Newcastle United before the month is out - totalling five games in two weeks.
Slot compares Plymouth tactics to Manchester United
Asked if he had any regrets about Liverpool’s team selection, Slot said: “No, because you never know what will happen if we would have played with our starters over here. I think we've seen during this season, we've seen a few times already, that it's a game plan, a playing style, which is difficult for our starters, but also for the ones that played today. So, constantly long balls, second balls, long balls, second balls.
“It's difficult for every team. We had it with [Manchester] United at home for example as well. They had a similar playing style going to a very low block [then] kick every ball long, and then we played with our starters. I think today also showed why we played with the ones we played with today because these players need game rhythm as well. For them to be ready in the upcoming months, they need game time, and you saw today that some of these players really need games like this to be ready for the last three months of the season.”
Slot expands on selection decision
Liverpool’s senior players who missed out against Plymouth trained on Saturday and are back training on Monday. Explaining further thinking behind his team selection against Plymouth, Slot said: “They trained yesterday and they will train tomorrow again. Most of the things we do, we do for a reason - we just don't do it all of a sudden, something. I said before that we have to play many games now. The Aston Villa game comes during the week again as well. The last few weeks we have played every single week two times. The upcoming weeks we have to play every single time two games.
“Therefore it's not only for them good to once in a while have a week where they only play one game, but also for the ones that were here today, they need the intensity of the game because you can keep on training with them but once in a while they need a game as well. They had that as well against PSV, unfortunately we lost that one, and they had that today and unfortunately we lost this one again as well.”