Liverpool boss Arne Slot annoyed by 'smart' Leeds United play and refereeing at Anfield
The Liverpool boss saw his side fail to score against Leeds United on New Year's Day.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot was frustrated with Leeds United players 'being smart' in winning fouls during their 0-0 Anfield draw.
The Whites frustrated their hosts with a solid defensive performance, restricting Liverpool to very few chances and staying compact against the ball to protect Lucas Perri's goal. Slot credited the way Leeds defended their penalty area and felt his side tried but failed to find the necessary moment of magic to unlock the visiting defence.
"A goal [was missing]," he said. "That's the most simple answer. To score a goal against a team defending so well in and around their box. There are a few ways to unlock it. For some teams in this league or other teams one is a set-piece. We were close, with Virgil.
“Another way is something we saw against Wolves when [Jeremie] Frimpong had his moment of magic. He had a few of those today as well. If you look at the bigger picture, the one v ones. I said to them at half-time we can bring more bodies into the box. A lot of possession, we have the most this year in the league but it means not a lot if you cannot create enough chances.
“To create against a low block you need individual special moments to create an overload. Another way of course is a counter or winning it high up the pitch but I think in the second half their keeper kicked almost every ball long. It's not so easy to find players free close enough to the goal. We saw a team that tried, kept trying but it was hard to find the opening."
Liverpool boss bemoans referee after Leeds United draw
Slot was visibly annoyed with referee Chris Kavanagh throughout the fixture, complaining about time wasting, free-kicks awarded to the visitors and a first half incident that saw Jaka Bijol wrestling with Hugo Ekitike in the penalty area. Slot felt his striker staying on his feet ruled out the chance of being awarded a spot-kick.
"No, because he stayed on his feet," said the Reds boss. "If he fell down it would probably be a penalty but I understand why he didn't. So many times this season we haven't got a penalty for staying on our feet. We've conceded a few with hardly any contact, soft penalties. With fouls on us, referees have said play on so maybe players are doing everything to stay on their feet. It's hard for VAR to intervene if you stay on your feet."
He felt that Leeds players went to ground under little contact to break up the play in the second half, with the referee failing to spot it.
"I saw in the second half players being what I call being smart," he said. "Maybe it's smart to constantly fall and you're hoping referees are recognising these situations. It's frustrating for me to see. We had five or six free-kicks [conceded] in their 18-yard box. Even if we have four stitches against Man Utd with a head injury, referee says play on. Today we had a player hit to his body and he quickly blew his whistle. That's not the reason we didn't win. It's the reason why I'm sometimes frustrated."
The Dutchman says his Liverpool players will continue to stay on their feet, though he admits there will be examples others can point to when that is not the case.
"We keep doing the same things," he said. "I don't believe over a season you get what you deserve, but in two or three, four seasons then I believe things will be good for you a few times. We are who we are. There will be probably one or two moments you can find when we went to the floor when there wasn't a foul - I remember Kerkez at Burnley went down without a foul. But I see it happening so, so, so many times in football now."