Liverpool boss Arne Slot has admitted he regrets his behaviour that saw him sent off after the final whistle of Wednesday’s Merseyside derby, saying he would “do it differently” next time.
“What happened was the extra time additional five times it ended up being eight, the emotions got the better of me,” Slot told a news conference on Friday.
“If I could do that differently, I am hoping to do it differently next time as well.”
It is the first time that Slot has spoken about the incident. He was not able to give a postmatch news conference on Wednesday due to Premier League rules surrounding coaches’ suspensions.
“Many things in extra time left me quite emotional,” Slot added. “There was a VAR incident for two minutes where I thought maybe it could be a foul and then it could be offside. Many things happened, but like I said it wouldn’t be smart to go into every incident.”
When asked about Curtis Jones‘ actions — the midfielder pushed Abdoulaye Doucouré after seeing him interacting with visiting Liverpool fans — Slot said he admired his spirit but would talk to him on better ways to approach the situation.
“I like a lot that he stands up for the team but there are other ways for the team and the fans to do that. I will talk with him about that,” Slot said.
“The same for me, I should have acted diffierently after the game as well. But it’s an emotional sport as well and sometimes individuals make the wrong decision and that’s definitely what I did.”
Doucouré and Jones were also shown red cards by referee Michael Oliver, as was Liverpool assistant coach Sipke Hulshoff.
Both Liverpool and Everton condemned the racist abuse received by Doucouré following the game, describing it as “reprehensible” and that it would “not be tolerated.”
