Arne Slot reveals reason for Liverpool defeat in Carabao Cup final
- Arne Slot reacts to Liverpool losing against Newcastle at Wembley
- Reds beaten in Carabao Cup final only days after Champions League exit
- Dutch coach claimed Magpies won the physical duels in aerial game
Liverpool manager Arne Slot blamed an inability to press Newcastle United because of their direct style for their narrow defeat in the Carabao Cup final.
The Reds were beaten at Wembley just days after exiting the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain. But while Slot claimed Liverpool and PSG were evenly matched over 180 minutes, prior to extra-time and penalties, in that last 16 tie, he couldn't say the same after facing Newcastle.
"Disappointing result, disappointing performance. Completely different than I felt after the Paris Saint-Germain game," the Liverpool boss reflected.
Slot admitted that Liverpool failed when it came to duels, additionally claiming that the way Newcastle played made it impossible to know if his team was still fatigued from facing PSG.
"This game had only to do with playing duels and there was no intensity in terms of running in this game at all, so you cannot even judge it if we were tired, physically, because we could not press them," the Dutchman explained.
"You can judge a team if they are tired if they press, but there was nothing to press because they played over our press. The game was slow, not intense, so it's difficult to judge for me if we were physically ready. I prefer to look at how the game went and this game went exactly the way [Newcastle] wanted it to be…a fight with a lot of duels and a lot of duels through the air.
"If we played a game of football through the air against them 10 times, they win it probably nine times because they are a stronger team through the air than us, which led to the first goal and the second goal. They are stronger in that part of football than us and that's why they beat us."
Slot denied the suggestion that Newcastle players were any "hungrier" to win than Liverpool, because ending the decades-long trophy drought was "for the fans".
He said: "Players have 15 years to play football and they want to win every single trophy they are competing for. That's also what we want.
"I don't think there was more hunger for them; the game went the way they wanted it to go and they are stronger in that part of football than us and that's why they beat us."
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