On the game and the result…
Frustrating, of course, because conceding a goal is always frustrating but especially if there’s no time left to come back into the game. I think it’s safe to say they could have scored the 3-2 also a little bit earlier and what I mean with that is I think after we scored the 2-2, we were still trying but I think it’s safe to say a few players of ours ran out of energy. I cannot even criticise them for that because two days ago we had to play an away game in Europe. We are the only team that played [in the] Champions League that has two days between in this time.
After an away game [then] another away game against one of the most intense teams in the league. I mainly, as you see, play the same players because of the players we have available. So then, what should not have happened is that you have to win it in the end because that’s then more difficult. That’s what you saw in the last 10 minutes. I think for the rest of the game it was completely different, I think there we dominated the game.
On two goals conceded in seven minutes…
I don’t think it is completely fair to Virgil to blame him for the first goal because you could see throughout the game how much impact the wind had on certain balls. In the end of the game, Virgil hit a long ball towards Mo [Salah] and I was expecting it to go to the goalkeeper, but all of a sudden it fell to Mo. So he wasn’t the only one who once in a while struggled with the wind.
It’s not the first time this season where it has only been seven minutes where I wouldn’t even say we were struggling, but the other team was part of the game as well. In those seven minutes we conceded two. Of course, the second one was when we were down to 10 because after the first goal Joe Gomez had to go off with an injury. He wanted to try, thought he could but then he couldn’t. Maybe that sums up our season. It’s every time something else, it’s every time something special how we concede. But we concede and the only ones to blame are ourselves.
On Liverpool’s energy levels…
If Bournemouth had to run more than that’s because we had 67 per cent ball possession or something like that. Credit to them, it’s definitely one of their strengths. I think they are top in almost every statistic when it comes to running. That’s why I have to credit my players; if you go 2-0 down the way we did, again we showed mentality and fitness to come back into the game against one of the fittest teams in the league – and they only have to play once a week and, of course, that helps. That is not an excuse because a club like Liverpool is used to playing three times a week but we mainly do this with the same players and maybe last season that was a bit different. Last season we did not have three long-term injuries as we have now.
As you could see in our line-up, I decided not to play Hugo [Ekitike]. That was not because I didn’t like him or he wasn’t good against Marseille, it was simply because I only have one No.9 available for the upcoming weeks and months. He was out two weeks ago and with so many games to play, you have to manage his minutes. I think for Jeremie Frimpong, it’s safe to say the same. In the first half he was getting things and after half-time I think I could see the energy running out of him a little bit as well. So the end result is you then play two players not in their favourite position with Wata [Endo] and Dom, by the way they did well, but it is the reality of this moment.
