Andoni Iraola's press conference after Liverpool's defeat by Arsenal
Read a summary of Andoni Iraola's press conference after Liverpool's 1-0 loss to Arsenal in the Premier League.
The Reds were beaten at Anfield on Sunday by Kai Havertz's goal in the 16th minute.
See what head coach Iraola had to say to reporters in his post-match briefing below.
On the game...
Overall, I think we have to blame especially the start of the game and until we conceded the goal. I think the start hasn't been at the level of the game. But from that 1-0, I think it's [after] 15 or 16 minutes, I've loved the reaction of the team. Even in the first half, I think we reacted really well and put Arsenal under big pressure.
I think we've done enough to score but obviously we haven't. But we had the crossbar [hit by Florian Wirtz], we had the header of [Alexis] Mac Allister that, for me, is a very clear chance. I think we had a clear penalty also for us and I think we've had a lot of situations inside the box – not even around the box, inside the box – that definitely we haven't finished properly.
On Liverpool's appeals for a penalty in the first half...
I think there are two situations and they are a little bit related. I think the [Alexander] Isak one is a clear penalty. He is going to head the ball in front of the goal and they grab him where everyone sees the shirt. You don't need a lot just to avoid Alex because the ball just goes in front of him and I don't see the reason why [it is not given]. Probably because he doesn't dive or he doesn't go to the floor – it shouldn't be a reason not to concede a penalty.
And then after, the [Cody] Gakpo one, I think it's sustained holding but I understand the argument and I think they are right that they say the ball was too long and Cody wouldn't have arrived to the ball. But then you're basically accepting that the first one is a pen, no? So, you cannot use the argument in both ways differently. So, I think it's a pen, the Alex one is.
On whether 'fine margins' have been a factor in the two defeats suffered this season...
Definitely it is very important because we had the same feeling against [Manchester] City a little bit [with] the first yellow of Ryan [Gravenberch]. Small things in these kind of games that are so, so close and every detail matters. They haven't gone for us this season but we will see. The season is long and probably the next day it goes for us.
On taking positives from the performance overall...
I can say what I think about the situations but we cannot waste too much time about the refereeing decisions. We have to say what it is, I think it is a pen, but we have to control the things we need to improve to be on the right side of these close games. I think we've done today more than enough to score. Probably what we need to correct is the beginning of the game until we conceded. It's true we conceded when we mess up a goal-kick, but the feeling I had before was that their goal was closer than ours and from that moment I think the game has changed to our favour. It is true that probably they didn't need to take risks and they go deeper, but I honestly felt our goal was coming because I think we've created enough pressure.
On Liverpool's performance in the second half...
I think from when we conceded the goal until half-time, we had very good moments, a very good 30 minutes. It looked quite close, a goal. We've put them under pressure, we've put them inside the box, we've put them there, but we haven't had the clarity to finish the situations better. I decided to finish with Rio [Ngumoha], with Victor [Munoz], even putting Dom [Szoboszlai], to see if we could maybe score from one shot outside the box, score in different ways. We had a lot of set-pieces and we were not able to score from there and they were very good defensively in the second half.
