Arne Slot has defended Mohamed Salah after the forward was criticised for his role in Chelsea's winning goal
Marc Cucurella said Chelsea exploited space left by Mo Salah
Marc Cucurella said Chelsea exploited space left by Mo Salah
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Arne Slot leapt to the defence of Mohamed Salah after Chelsea's Marc Cucurella admitted the Blues targeted the Liverpool forward ahead of their winning goal earlier this month.
Left-back Cucurella moved forward into space down the Liverpool right and crossed for Willian Estevao to score a stoppage time winner at Stamford Bridge, with the west Londoners' wild scenes of celebration leading to manager Enzo Maresca being red carded.
Cucurella later admitted that Maresca had told his players the exploit the space left behind by Salah late in the match, hinting that the balance of the Egyptian playing with more attack minded midfielders such as Florian Wirtz and Dominik Szoboszlai meant that the Reds would leave gaps.
"We know that Salah is always ready for the counter-attack," Cucurella told Sky Sports after the match. "So we practiced that, and the manager said that the space might be there (on Liverpool's right side).
"We saw that it was the last minute but we kept attacking. I tried to give my last effort and Enzo (Fernandez) gave me the ball, and I crossed for Estevao."
Speaking ahead of his side's clash with Manchester United on Sunday, Slot defended Wirtz, Szoboszlai and particularly Salah, suggesting that the outcome would have been different if the Egyptian had taken the chances he created by pushing forward.
"I think they're (Wirtz and Szoboszlai) both attacking midfielders and both are expected to defend, like all our 11 players are expected to defend," said Slot.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has admitted that he is looking forward to Manchester United visiting Anfield
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot defended Mo Salah
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"In this particular case I heard the comments of Cucurella, and also saw how they scored the [goal to make it] 2-1, but I could have also showed you five or six moments where Mo could have made the difference for us.
"And if that would have happened then we would have had a conversation like last season, where he so many times made the difference for us.
"But if that doesn't happen then you get comments like this. It's always the balance between winger and full-backs.
"I want our full-backs to attack as well, so we have to find the right balance in that, but we are conceding too many crosses compared to last season, and this is something I'm aware of and we have to do better."
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