Liverpool boss Arne Slot watched as careless errors put his Reds in a two-goal hole en route to a 3-2 loss to undermanned Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
MORE — Bournemouth v Liverpool recap, video highlights
The Reds manager was hoping to close within four points of third place but instead opened up their top-four spot.
Errors by Virgil van Dijk and Milos Kerkez helped Bournemouth to a 2-0 lead within 34 minutes of kickoff, but Van Dijk prodded home a corner kick before a Dominik Szoboszlai free kick put the sides level in the 80th minute.
But Andoni Iraola’s men had enough answers to get deep into stoppage time, where an Amine Adli winner gave Bournemouth all three points.
Virgil van Dijk reaction — On late goal, errors, Liverpool loss
Thoughts on the game? “Very disappointing. Last minute of the game, very tough to take. We worked very hard, second half especially, to get back in the game. At times we were open as well on the counter. To concede that late is very disappointing.”
What were you protesting with officials after the goal? “What I felt on that pitch was that I was clearly blocked but the refs and VAR don’t give it. It is what it is.”
Going behind 2-0 in a seven-minute span: “The first goal was a difficult ball to judge in the circumstances. The wind was very tricky. To concede that one is obviously is not an issue because I think we controlled the game before that but then with 10 men you can argue that maybe we need to kick the ball out but to concede two goals in a short period is not good. But the goal I scored before halftime was important. In the second half we tried hard to get back into the game with a great free kick but again, the long throw-in.”
Why didn’t you play the ball out after Gomez injury, leading to playing with 10 men when Bournemouth made it 2-0? “It’s a split-second. It’s easy to say you should’ve done this and that but we decided to keep the ball because we had the possession but eventually they had it and a good ball in behind and unfortunately we conceded.”
How do you feel now? “Losing never feels good especially as a Liverpool player. During the season we tried to find consistency. We had a fantastic performance midweek. We were trying to do that here too. Very demanding game. It’s a tough one but Wednesday will be another game but we go home now and focus on that.”
Is it hard to stay together after results like this? “I don’t think there’s any question about our togetherness but the consistency we’re looking for still needs to be found. There was a lot of praise for our performances and we know it works. Three days later you lose a game and the other side of the world comes out.”
Arne Slot reaction — What did Liverpool manager say after error-prone loss at Bournemouth?
Cruel game? “If you lose again in extra time after coming back from 2-nil down, then it can be a cruel game for us indeed. ... There were only 5-10 minutes in the first half where we did not have total control. For large parts of the first half and the second half.”
Unable to complete comeback: “It felt to me constantly that if we made it 2-1 we would be able to come back into the game. We were there, a lot of times in promising positions. Second half total dominance. It’s fair to say in the last 10 minutes, it was more open. I could see my players were tired in the end cause we only had two days between the games.”
Tired team: “The last 10 minutes was probably their best 10 minutes although we were on their side as well. It’s mostly the same players who have to play and it’s safe to say they were very tired. I saw Jeremie Frimpong almost falling over his own feet before I took him off. If you constantly play the same players, then sometimes a few of them can be tired at the end especially against a very intense Bournemouth team.”
Any news on Andy Robertson potentially leaving Liverpool? “No updates in terms of transfers. I never speak in public about transfers. There’s nothing to say on my side.”
