Arne Slot reveals Liverpool injury issue as ‘insecure’ star ‘didn’t feel good’ vs Plymouth
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has commented on Joe Gomez’s injury issue after he was forced off against Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon.
Liverpool‘s hopes of winning a quadruple ended on Sunday as they were dumped out of the FA Cup in the fourth round at Championship strugglers Plymouth.
Slot fielded a weakened team as Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Andy Robertson were among the clubs left out of Liverpool’s squad as they were rested before their vital Premier League match against arch-rivals Everton on Wednesday night.
This decision backfired as Liverpool were punished for being far from their best against Championship opposition. Plymouth striker Ryan Hardie broke the deadlock with a penalty shortly after the interval and Slot’s side were unable to equalise before the final whistle.
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Liverpool were dealt an early blow in this match as Gomez was forced off after picking up an injury.
The versatile defender has struggled with injuries in recent years and this issue could leave Liverpool short of options at the back in the coming weeks.
Speaking post-match, Slot claimed Gomez had not suffered a “tear”, but he “didn’t feel good”.
“I am not too sure. I am not too sure if it was the same leg, but I haven’t had time to ask him,” Slot told reporters.
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“It was clear, I think we all know which moment he felt a bit insecure about [it] because he didn’t sprint back fully.
“Then he said, ‘I am not 100 per cent sure and I am afraid if I make one extra sprint things will go wrong.’
“It’s not torn I assume, but it didn’t feel good for him. That was a bit of a blow because Curtis Jones was on the bench, but he came to me this morning and said, ‘I don’t think I am fully recovered yet’ as well after the training session of yesterday.
“That all of a sudden led to the fact we were with a few more youngsters on the pitch than was the idea before the game, but still there was enough quality on the pitch to get a better result than this.”
Slot has also caused a stir by likening Plymouth Argyle to Manchester United.
He added: “I think we’ve seen during this season, we’ve seen a few times already, that it’s a game plan, a playing style, which is difficult for our starters, but also for the ones that played today. So, constantly long balls, second balls, long balls, second balls. It’s difficult for every team.
“We had it with [Manchester] United at home for example as well. They had a similar playing style going to a very low block [then] kick every ball long, and then we played with our starters.
“I think today also showed why we played with the ones we played with today because these players need game rhythm as well. For them to be ready in the upcoming months, they need game time, and you saw today that some of these players really need games like this to be ready for the last three months of the season.”
