Liverpool endured a frustrating night as their sub-standard performance was rightfully punished in a 1-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle in the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup, with Harvey Elliott acknowledging the team fell short of expectations.
The Reds’ fate was sealed at Home Park as Ryan Hardie’s second-half penalty, awarded after Harvey Elliott was penalized for handball in the box, proved decisive in Sunday’s FA Cup tie.
A much-changed Liverpool side, with only Caoimhin Kelleher retaining his place from Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final win, applied late pressure but couldn’t find an equaliser.
Elliott spoke to Liverpoolfc.com post-match, reflecting on the Reds’ disappointing defeat.
On the game and result.. Elliott said “Disappointing. It wasn’t our best game at all, we all knew that on the pitch. But I think one thing about the team today, we fought to the end, we kept trying, we kept pushing. But sometimes this is what happens in football – today we weren’t good enough. I’d say it was harsh to lose the way we did but games like this, where we don’t play as well as we should do, can go either way and today it didn’t go our way”.
“But it’s a learning curve again, there were a few learning curves from today – youngsters making their debuts and the younger lads playing, so it’s always nice to see that. But we just have to rest up and go again on Wednesday now.”
Elliott explained the penalty award, saying, “I mean, the arguments could go on forever, to be honest. I was so close to him and I said to the referee, ‘Do you expect me to jump with my arms by my side? That’s just not a natural way of jumping.’ I was trying my hardest to block the ball and my arm was up there but it was about a metre away from the player shooting”.
“But it’s football, it’s a kick in the teeth really. It’s not nice to lose this way and it’s not nice for it to be on you, as I gave away the penalty. So, unfortunately it’s just one of those things. I need to keep my head up and keep pushing on.”
Elliott reflected on the team’s inability to finish, saying, “Yeah, in these games – and any game really, especially when you’re a goal down away from home – you tend to rush things a little bit. Things come in a rush and I think we just lacked that composure at the end. But at the same time their ’keeper made some unbelievable saves, one from [Diogo] Jota in particular, and credit where credit is due”.
“They were great today and made it really, really hard for us and we couldn’t cope with that. But as I said, it’s a learning curve. It’s a different game for us because we’re not used to playing these kind of games and there are things we can learn and for myself and the younger lads, we can keep taking it in our career.”
Elliott shared the message in the dressing room ahead of Wednesday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, saying, “I feel like at this moment in time we just have to recover. Especially the next few days are going to be about recovery and then we can start focusing on Everton. We always know what it’s going to be like at Goodison Park, it’s the last Merseyside derby there, it’s going to be really tough, there’s no doubt about that”.
“But there’s nothing that we haven’t experienced before. It always is hostile and there’s always certain situations in the game that we may find hard but it’s just about how we get over it as a team, as a club, and make sure we fight for it and hopefully we can get the win.” He continued.
