Liverpool manager Arne Slot is rueing a calamitous first-half that slowed his side’s Premier League title stroll on Sunday at Craven Cottage.
The Reds failed to take advantage of Arsenal’s Saturday draw, instead giving up ground in the Premier League title race following a 3-2 loss to hosts Fulham.
MORE – Fulham 3-2 Liverpool highlights, recap
Liverpool scored early on an Alexis Mac Allister rocket goal but, frankly, fell apart in allowing three goals in 15 first-half minutes.
Luis Diaz pulled one back for the Reds off the bench, assisted by fellow sub Conor Bradley who was a surprise omission as Curtis Jones was deployed at right back to start the game.
Ironically, Jones might’ve been the best of Liverpool’s surprisingly bad back four in the first half. Reds goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher did not help things, either, as the Reds dug a hole they could not escape on Sunday.
Arne Slot reaction — What did Liverpool manager say after loss at Fulham?
On the first-half lapses: “That was a difficult spell of 14 minutes. Apart from quality and finishing, it was mostly to do with our errors.
“In general we are not making many of these errors — let alone three in one game. Our second half performance was so much better but it is hard to win a game at this level if you concede three in the first half.”
On not finding an equalizer: “Unfortunately we lacked time in the end to score a third. People want to make stories which is their job. Many teams find it difficult to play Fulham. The second half performance was outstanding. We had chances but in the end we lacked time.”
Not a matter of complacency: “There’s no reason for us to be complacent, we are not No 1 at the moment because we win every match by three or four goals. It takes us so much hard work to win the games, and everyone can see that.
“We are fully aware of the fact we have to compete for seven more games. We showed on Wednesday. That was a close call and today was, too. We were on the right side of that then, and the wrong side today.”
On Virgil van Dijk’s recent struggles: “I mainly give credit to other players as well. Van Dijk is not the first player to find it difficult to defend against Beto. And the one that played here today, you have to give credit to him also. I still see a lot of things that Virgil does really well, but if you play 50-60 games a season, there will be moments, even for him, where you could have done better.”
