After Liverpool suffered their 10th Premier League defeat of the season, manager Arn Slott said “it’s not his job to come up with excuses”, but highlighted the team’s injury problems, the buildup of games and the players the club let go after Brighton’s 2-1 win.
Danny Welbeck’s double gave Brighton a deserved victory, with the Reds suffering yet another defeat to Slott’s side at the Amex Stadium, just days after their “best performance of the season” against Galatasaray in the Champions League.
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker, forward Mohamed Salah and club record-setting Alexander Isak were all absent, while top scorer Hugo Ekitike limped off in the eighth minute.
With this defeat, Liverpool missed the chance to move up to fourth place above Aston Villa, with the reigning champions losing 2-1 to bottom club Wolves and drawing 1-1 at home with relegation-threatened Tottenham last weekend, with a late goal leaving them with just one point from their remaining nine games.
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Watch for free: Highlights of the Premier League match between Brighton and Liverpool.
Slott said Brighton deserved the win, but admitted his team’s position was not good enough “no matter how many excuses we come up with”.
“What didn’t go well started with the preparation for this game. As has happened so many times this season, I thought we had a very good game and could carry that level to the first game or even better,” he said.
“Mo Salah was injured, Alisson was injured and then two minutes later Hugo Ekitike was injured as well. That’s what happened to us many times this season and now. And what has happened a lot this season is also that the opponents’ first chance was decided immediately.
“Brighton away, it’s going to be a difficult game for any team, especially when you’re missing some influential players,” Slott said.
“Of course, if you look at the league table now, this loss is very painful and it will be a big blow for us as well.
“But the main problem that we are in this position is because we had a deflected shot against Wolves at the last minute and we dropped a point, and a week ago (against Tottenham) – not a week ago, but we had to play on Sunday instead of Saturday, and unlike other Champions League teams we had to play on Wednesday and Saturday.
“That goal in the 90th minute last week is a bigger problem than losing away to Brighton.”
Danny Welbeck scores second goal of the game to restore Brighton’s lead against Liverpool
Slott said Ekitike “could play tomorrow if needed” but blamed the injury on Liverpool’s rapid recovery after the midweek game.
“When you play against a team that has only had 62 hours of rest, the first thing you have to do is to play an intense match, to have the first duel, to have a tough duel. By the way, there was nothing wrong with the duel, but unfortunately there was a collision, which led to Hugo’s sending off.”
“They were a better team than us and created more chances. Whatever I say about this, people will take this as an excuse and I never like to make excuses after a game.”
Hugo Ekitike injured at Amex is helped off the field
When Slott was asked if there was little sympathy after the club spent £450m in the summer, he pointed to the players the club had sold.
“No, I completely sympathize with all the people who are saying this, because no one is used to the fact that there are also clubs in England who sell players,” he said.
“Normally in England, when a club spends £450m, it’s just another addition to an already great team, but this club has a different model and no one looks at this and understands it. I can understand that too, because fans of other teams and some experts don’t want to say we sold for £300m.”
“Now, if this £150m player never plays, that’s already one thing. If Giovanni Leoni doesn’t play due to injury, that’s already secondary. So we’re already selling for less.
“Jeremy Frimpong has become increasingly available these days, and Giorgi Mamadashvili is also one of the players we signed for £450 million. He is the second goalkeeper.”
“If we won the league last season and spent £150m instead of £450m, it makes perfect sense for expectations to be high. And those expectations were high for the pundits, the media, myself and the fans. But at our club, we also look at the circumstances and the challenges we faced during this season.”
“Then maybe you can be a little more realistic about why this season ended, why it ended. But it’s still not enough. No matter how many excuses you come up with, it’s still not enough, the position.”
