Wolves boss disagrees with Arne Slot and makes honest Liverpool ‘afraid’ and ‘respect’ claim
Wolves boss disagrees with Arne Slot and makes honest Liverpool ‘afraid’ and ‘respect’ claim
Wolves boss disagrees with Arne Slot and makes honest Liverpool ‘afraid’ and ‘respect’ claim
Ibrahima Konate was substituted at half-time in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Wolves in the Premier League.
Wolves boss Vitor Pereira is adamant Ibrahima Konate should have been sent-off in Liverpool’s victory.
The Reds earned a 2-1 triumph to restore a seven-point lead at the summit of the Premier League table. It appeared it would be a routine win for Arne Slot’s side, who went ahead through Luis Diaz before Mo Salah doubled the advantage from the penalty spot in the 37th minute at Anfield.
Wolves boss disagrees with Arne Slot and makes honest Liverpool ‘afraid’ and ‘respect’ claim
However, Wolves felt Konate should have received a yellow card before half-time. His first cautionarrived in the 31st minute when tugging back Matheus Cunha before the Liverpool defender again fouled the visiting forward just before the break. Referee Simon Hooper awarded a free-kick but did not reach into his pocket for another card.
Coaches disagree
Reds head coach Arne Slot felt Konate was walking a disciplinary tightrope and substituted the France international at the interval, with Jarell Quansah coming on in the second period. An honest Pereira said on the incident: “Yes of course. Second yellow card, red card, less one player, maybe it would be a different game. But I’m not a referee. I’m not there to decide. But in the end, I’m very happy and proud of my players in the second half.”
Although Slot knew Konate was close to being given his marching orders, he felt both yellow cards would have been ‘soft’. The Liverpool head coach said: “Yes, I took him off because of that. Because I saw him getting his first yellow, that was for me a soft yellow. If he would have got the second one for a shoulder push, that would again be a soft yellow, so then he would have been sent off by two soft yellows.
“I think the referee felt the same – that’s why he didn’t. But I’ve watched football so many times in my life and I know that a player and a referee is then under pressure, so every next foul will lead again to maybe a referee that thinks, ‘Maybe now I should give him [a yellow].’ I think back on three days ago. But for Ibou, it’s so difficult to play 45 minutes of football against such a strong Wolves team. So, I had to take him off because you can’t play football knowing in your head you can’t make a foul and playing against such good players Wolves have.”
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‘Too much respect’
Wolves, who are two points above the relegation zone, were much improved in the second half. They reduced the arrears through Cunha’s fine strike and put Liverpool under plenty of pressure in search of an equaliser – but the Reds stayed firm.
Wolves boss believes Wolves were ‘afraid’ in the opening 45 minutes and showed Liverpool ‘too much respect’. He added: “This is football, but I believe that when we play good football, with identity, with our tools, with our qualities, we deserve to get something from football. I want to win games with merit. I want to win games because we deserve to win. The second half was fantastic, in my opinion, it was the team that I want to build.
“The first half was a team afraid, with too much respect, in my opinion, and this is not our game. We cannot come to Anfield just to be part of the party. I will think about the next game, and in the next game I will push my team to play as I saw my team playing in the second half.”
