Slaughter: Sobo plays right back because Gomez has not fully recovered. The team s confidence is not a problem at the moment.

November 26th, in the fifth round of the UEFA Champions League early on Thursday morning, Liverpool will face PSV Eindhoven at home. At the press conference before this game, Red Army coach Slaughter talked about the team's preparations and also answered some questions that fans and the media were very concerned about.

About the decision to cancel the goal

I think the first goal we conceded against Nottingham Forest was a valid goal, and the goal we scored against Manchester City was also valid for me. I didn't see that Arsenal goal, but it would be a bit strange to say that Nottingham Forest's goal was invalidated.

Howard Webber said it was not unreasonable to take away our goal, so everyone has their own opinion. Maybe as the manager of Liverpool my opinion is a bit biased.

On the team losing confidence

So far it hasn't been a problem, just look at how we performed most of the game. The first half hour of last Saturday's game pretty much lived up to our expectations, except for the lack of goals. We don't always create as many chances against teams that defend low. However, the opponent scored on the first attack, and then we conceded another goal at the start of the second half.

I showed the players the number of times we entered the penalty area and the number of crosses we made. These data were six or seven times higher than Nottingham Forest, but their defense in the penalty area was obviously better than us. This is what everyone has been reminding us and what we ourselves are reflecting on. We have to improve our defensive capabilities. In terms of possession, we haven't changed much from last season, but we've conceded more goals.

About Joe Gomez

Joe Gomez is one of our five defenders and he had a shot in his knee last week, which is not normal if he doesn't feel anything. The reason why I let Szoboszlai play at right back is also related to the fact that Gomez has not fully recovered. He will be in the squad tomorrow but was not able to practice every day last week.

On the differences between this season and last season

We have conceded more goals this season than last season. At this time last season we conceded no goals from set pieces and now we have nine. For a club like ours, it's almost ridiculous.

This is simply ridiculous and unbelievable. I have stressed many times that no amount of excuses can excuse our performance. It was unexpected for the club, for me, for everyone. But maybe this is the best club to face difficulties, and the greater the challenge the club faces, the more united we will be.

Regarding the recent poor results

In order to stay calm, I don’t find it difficult. This is my personality. Most people would think of me as a calm person. However, this situation is indeed not pleasant, especially losing at a club like Liverpool.

Honestly, I didn't expect us to be in this situation. Judging from the tactical arrangement and the quality of the players, we should not be like this. You can say we've lost a few of our six or seven games in the Premier League, but I would say in the last four games we've only lost two and in the Champions League we've won three.

However, this is still below where Liverpool should be. I feel responsible and guilty for this. We are working hard to resolve this issue. Liverpool are not only used to success, but also experienced bad times, and we will work harder. As a head coach, I will lead by example and work harder.

We haven't found the right way to turn these deficits into wins. But how do you explain a situation when you're 1-0 up and end up losing the game? It shows how difficult it is for us to try to turn things around when we are behind and hopefully we can get ahead tomorrow night.

About PSV

The two teams have similar styles, but there are also differences. Under Peter Bosz, the team has not dared to press full court and attack from the back over the past two years. As a spectator, this matchup is exciting to watch. Although there are some differences, you can see many similarities from his time coaching Borussia Dortmund, Ajax and now PSV.

Our biggest responsibility is to win the game. Overall it's hard to draw conclusions because the teams we faced before played a completely different style than us. And PSV's playing style is similar to ours, which will be different from last Saturday's game.

On proving yourself to the fans again

Every day you have to prove yourself, especially working at a club of this level. You can't say because you won the league everything will be fine. At this level, the next game is always the most important, for me and the players. Working in this environment, you can never rest and have to keep going, especially when things don't go your way. I don’t know if I need to prove myself to the fans, but at least I need to prove it to myself.

On whether Liverpool have lost their fighting spirit

No. There were moments in the game where we lost too many one-on-ones. In the last game we had 75% possession, it's not that we weren't prepared or defended well enough during the 90 minutes. We only had to defend a few times and I've been in that situation before. If you're in defensive mode all the time, then when you attack, you won't be as focused going into defensive mode.

Maybe the answer is not to have the ball so much, like we won against Real Madrid. City didn't create many chances but when we had to defend we didn't have enough intensity.

About the team needing to win

Obviously we need a win, but in the Champions League we have won three out of four, which is normal for a club like this.

Eindhoven went through a difficult period at the end of last season, and maybe didn't start well at the beginning of this season, but the results have been good. In the past two or three months, it has become a winning machine and is more stable than at the beginning of the season.

About Kyle Katz

We have five linebackers available, and it's the only position with double insurance. Elsewhere, Joe Gomez could help us, but there are no other contenders at the moment.

On Szoboszlai playing right back again

Szoboszlai is one of my choices, but he is obviously good in other positions on the pitch as well. I expect against Nottingham Forest we will have a lot of possession, so he can start a lot of attacks down the right. We'll see how we use him tomorrow, but I'm definitely going to use him.

As for what I learned from failure

It's hard to say now. I've said it many times, some things can be done better, but some things don't help. There are many reasons why we lose. But for Liverpool, this is unacceptable. You don't want to see that happen, especially when you're working at Liverpool. It's time to start winning again, but to do that we have to do a lot.

The simple things we have to do better, and that's what we're not doing right now, are easy fixes. If this doesn't happen often, you'll be reminded of Cruyff's words: Simple things are often the hardest to do.