Arne Slot has proven to be quite reserved on the touchline, but questionable decisions from referee John Brooks saw him explode with emotion on the touchline to earn himself a “deserved” caution.
Chelsea will be cursing the influence the referee had at Anfield, not because he leaned towards the home team but because he stirred the crowd with baffling decisions against them.
The reaction from Darwin Nunez and Slot when the former was punished for a strong, legal, challenge spoke volumes of Brooks’ performance, and he ought to be relieved Chelsea didn’t capitalise late on.
With an overturned penalty and a game that looked beyond the referee’s ability, Slot spoke on some decisive moments and acknowledged how the fans “really stood up” to the occasion.
“We were, in my opinion at least, but maybe I am a bit biased, a bit unlucky with some decisions being made,” Slot told Sky Sports after the 2-1 win.
“They’re just as biased as I am” ?
Liverpool boss Arne Slot says more decisions could have gone their way today against Chelsea ? pic.twitter.com/CvRDiLSHfb
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 20, 2024
“It’s not that important anymore because we won, but I think it could have been a crucial decision for VAR to overturn the referee’s decision on the pitch, which I couldn’t understand.
“I think if the referee looks at it for a minute, it already shows that VAR should not have interfered.
“And even, in my opinion, if you look at it on the screen, you still feel it’s a penalty. But that’s me. And then there was, of course, a decision for the red card [on Jota], which I saw yesterday [for Arsenal], was a red card in a similar situation.
“Big decisions, because penalties or red cards influence the game a lot. But it’s also nice that these moments are in the game because it also creates a lot of energy.
“The fans really stood up today as well. They helped us a lot, and that probably comes from these decisions as well because they’re just as biased as I am.
“So yeah, in the end, a good win against a very strong Chelsea.”
“He deserved to give me a yellow card”
As Slot noted, Anfield came to life thanks to the referee’s decisions and he admitted that he got swept up in the emotion after calling for a handball on Levi Colwill in the first half.
He was shown a yellow card and perhaps it was one of the few decisions that Slot felt was correct!
“The booking came from the fact that, I think there were three or four decisions that didn’t go in our favour,” he explained.
“So it was a handball, I don’t know if it was, but everybody was screaming for it, so I did as well.
“Then there was the red card situation, then there was the penalty situation just afterwards.
“So there were a few things going against us, and I think sometimes you cannot hold your emotions, and that’s what you saw with me as well.
“He deserved to give me a yellow card. He should have given me, which he did. I deserved it. I have to put it like this.”
Through laughter, he concluded: “This was just as clear as the penalty he should have given the second time.”
Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea
