Arne Slot unleashed a tirade during Liverpool‘s intense encounter with Arsenal, accusing their title rivals of deliberately stalling the game.
The Dutch boss earned himself a booking when he said he was mistakenly thought to be cursing at the officials, while he was actually venting about the Gunners’ antics to his defender Ibrahima Konate. Following criticisms from Manchester City players for deploying similar tactics in their 2-2 draw at the Etihad earlier in the season, Arsenal’s approach has come under fire again.
Slot, who has now been booked twice this term, expressed his frustration when talking to media after his side earned a point with an impressive second half comeback after an underwhelming first half. He said: “Last time I said that I completely deserved the yellow card but this time I don’t think I did.
“I said after there were so many times that they were on the floor, which can happen so many times in football. I don’t blame them for that but it always happened after they had ball possession. That took the energy out of the game in my opinion.”
Clarifying the misunderstanding, Slot stated: “So I said to Ibou ‘this is a f***ing joke’ and the fourth official thought i said to him ‘you are a f***ing joke; but that’s definitely not what I said. But I got a yellow for that and now I’m on two and I have to be careful now.”
(Image: 2024 Marc Atkins)
Although cautious about claiming a spot in the title race, Slot commended his squad’s performance. He said: “The only thing I look at is can you get a result in a difficult away game as this one? The way we did it pleased me a lot and to see we can compete with such a strong Arsenal team, in their stadium.”
Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arteta, dealing with a squad hit by injuries and William Saliba’s suspension, ended the match with further concerns as Gabriel was substituted due to a knee injury. Yet, Arteta expressed dissatisfaction with his team’s performance for relinquishing their lead twice, reports the Mirror.
However, he chose not to remark on referee Anthony Taylor’s decisions, which included disallowing Kai Havertz’s late goal due to a foul in the build-up and dismissing penalty claims in the first half. Arteta said: “I prefer not to comment.
“I’m very disappointed that we haven’t won the game today. I think we were better.”