Liverpool boss Arne Slot says his staff solely have themselves in charge for the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth regardless of citing the wind, fixture congestion and accidents after the sport.
Amine Adli bundled house a last-gasp winner with just about the final kick to finish Liverpool’s 13-game unbeaten run with a seventh defeat of the Premier League marketing campaign.
Liverpool stay fourth after the defeat – 14 factors adrift of leaders Arsenal – and will slip out of the Champions League locations when Manchester United and Chelsea play on Sunday.
The loss arrived three days after the Reds beat Marseille 3-0 away from house within the Champions League and regardless of Slot saying “the only ones to blame are ourselves” throughout his post-match press convention, the Reds boss was fast to criticise the quick turnaround between fixtures, resulting in his gamers “running out of energy” on Saturday.
“Maybe that sums up our season. Every time something else, it’s every time something special, how we concede but we concede. The only ones to blame are ourselves,” he mentioned.
Slot added: “I believe it’s protected to say they might’ve scored the 3-2 a little bit bit earlier. Just a few gamers of ours ran out of vitality, and I can not criticise them for that.
“Two days in the past, we needed to play an away sport in Europe. We’re the one staff that performed Champions League that has two days in between.
“After an away game, another away game against one of the most intense teams.”
Why Slot and Van Dijk blamed wind for loss
Apart from fixtures piling up on his injury-laden squad, Slot additionally referenced the wind within the aftermath of the defeat, together with captain Virgil van Dijk.
Van Dijk had a day to overlook after failing to clear the ball for Bournemouth’s first purpose from Evanilson, enjoying Alejandro Jimenez onside for the second after which tripping over team-mate Curtis Jones amongst the chaos for Adli’s late winner.
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Amine Adil snatched probably the most dramatic win for Bournemouth over Liverpool.
Talking to Sky Sports activities, Van Dijk mentioned: “The first goal I think it was a difficult ball to judge in the circumstances. The wind was tricky.
“I take full accountability though it was a tough ball to guage.”
On the late winner, Van Dijk added: “What I felt on that pitch was that I used to be clearly blocked. The referee and the VAR do not give it.
“We will have to accept it. I can stand here and say it should not be given but it was. It is what it is.”
Slot was additionally requested about Van Dijk’s error for the opener, the place he defended his participant and agreed that the wind performed a task.
He mentioned: “It is not completely fair to Virgil to blame him for the first goal. You can see throughout the game how much impact the wind had.
“He wasn’t the one one who struggled with the wind.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk complains afrer Bournemouth’s late winner
Outnumbered or outclassed?
The mountain created for Liverpool to climb after the primary purpose stretched additional than simply the scoreline.
Whereas attempting to forestall the opener, Joe Gomez picked up an harm, which Slot has since confirmed as a knock from “bone-to-bone contact” with Alisson Becker.
With Gomez injured, Liverpool had been compelled to play with 10 males for 9 minutes and selected to not kick the ball out to make a substitution, resulting in Bournemouth scoring their second.
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Jamie Redknapp criticised the time Liverpool took to switch Joe Gomez as Bournemouth doubled their lead whereas the defender was injured, labelling it as ‘amateurish’
“The second goal was when we were down to 10. After the first goal, Joe Gomez had to go off. He wanted to try, he thought he could, but then he couldn’t,” mentioned Slot.
“I tried to scream towards them to put the ball out but we were quite comfortable. When we lost it, it was the opposite. But even if you are down 10, the way we conceded that goal was not specifically because we were down to 10.
“It’s only a winger that’s stunning our fullback in a scenario we might have executed higher.”
One other sport, one other harm for Liverpool
Gomez will now be a part of a rising checklist of gamers sidelined for Slot, with Conor Bradley, Federico Chiesa, Alexander Isak, Ibrahima Konate, Giovanni Leoni and Stefan Bajcetic all lacking the fixture.
Slot’s preliminary feedback recommend he didn’t need to make excuses however the Liverpool boss then defined that harm issues plaguing his squad clarify why they have not been in a position to replicate the successes throughout all competitions like final season.
Slot continued: “I have to credit my players. You go 2-0 down but we showed the mentality and the fitness to come back against one of the fittest teams in the league – and they only have to play once a week.
“That’s not an excuse; a membership like Liverpool is used to enjoying 3 times per week. However we primarily do that with the identical gamers.
“Last season, we did not have three long-term injuries. As you can see by the line-up, I decided to not play Hugo [Ekitike]. That is not because I don’t like him,” Slot mentioned.
“That is because I have one No 9 available for the upcoming weeks and months. With so many matches to play, you have to manage his minutes.”
So, they solely have themselves in charge – plus the wind, fixture congestion and accidents.
