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Liverpool boss Arne Slot has admitted he regrets his behaviour that saw him sent off after the final whistle of Wednesday’s Merseyside derby, saying he would “do it differently” next time.
Slot was dismissed by referee Michael Oliver at Goodison Park during a chaotic scene that saw four red cards handed out following a physical altercation between Curtis Jones’, Abdoulaye Doucouré and both sets of players.
The game had ended in a dramatic 2-2 draw thanks to Everton defender James Tarkowski’s 98th-minute equaliser.
The Dutch coach must now wait to hear if he will be charged by the Football Association, who must communicate any proposed sanction to Liverpool no later than Monday.
“What happened was the extra time additional five times it ended up being eight, the emotions got the better of me,” Slot told a news conference on Friday.
“If I could do that differently, I am hoping to do it differently next time as well.”
It is the first time that Slot has spoken about the incident. He was not able to give a postmatch news conference on Wednesday due to Premier League rules surrounding coaches’ suspensions.
“Many things in extra time left me quite emotional,” Slot added. “There was a VAR incident for two minutes where I thought maybe it could be a foul and then it could be offside. Many things happened, but like I said it wouldn’t be smart to go into every incident.”
When asked about Jones’ actions — the midfielder pushed Doucouré after seeing him interacting with visiting Liverpool fans — Slot said he admired his spirit but would talk to him on better ways to approach the situation.
“I like a lot that he stands up for the team but there are other ways for the team and the fans to do that. I will talk with him about that,” Slot said.
“The same for me, I should have acted differently after the game as well. But it’s an emotional sport as well and sometimes individuals make the wrong decision and that’s definitely what I did.”
Doucouré and Jones were also shown red cards by referee Michael Oliver, as was Liverpool assistant coach Sipke Hulshoff.
Both Liverpool and Everton condemned the racist abuse received by Doucouré following the game, describing it as “reprehensible” and that it would “not be tolerated.”
Liverpool fell behind early on at Goodison Park through Beto’s cool finish before Alexis Mac Allister restored parity with a smart header in the first half. Mohamed Salah looked to have done enough to give Slot’s side the victory with his 73rd-minute strike before Tarkowski’s half-volley ensured the spoils were shared in the final local derby at Everton’s famous stadium.
“It felt immediately after the referee blew his whistle that we lost two points,” Slot said.
“During the whole 98 minutes I didn’t feel constantly like we were the ones going to win the game. It felt like an equal game and that a draw would have been a fair result but with us leading after 97 minutes, we were quite close to winning so it felt as if we dropped two points.
“But think we won a lot on Wednesday as well. What I mean by that is when I look at the togetherness of the team, together with the fans, how much they fought together to get the result over the line. We’ve been praised so many times this season about how well these players can play but they showed a different side of themselves on Wednesday.
“In my opinion, they were also so much better than the year before [when Liverpool lost 2-0 at Goodison Park]. They were mentally so, so strong during a game that was played in the most difficult circumstances for them. To stay strong together, fight so hard to be so mentally strong, that gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming 14 games.
“I already knew how well they can play but the togetherness shows me that we are a very difficult team to beat.”
Liverpool are now seven points clear at the top of the Premier League table and host Wolves in the top flight at Anfield on Sunday.
“We would have loved to go nine points up, it would have been better than seven,” Slot said.
“We take a lot of positives from the game as well. Not football-wise because we didn’t play our best game in terms of ball possession but I have to give credit to David Moyes, since he’s come in he’s done a tremendous job and made it really hard for us.
“We were mentally much stronger than last season, we went 1-0 down and were leading until the 97th minute.”
