Marco Silva gave his honest reaction to the press after our 2-1 defeat at Anfield.
“The tie is still tight, he admitted. “We’ve lost the first half, so we’re going to have to go for it in the second at Craven Cottage. We played two very different halves, but I have to say, it wasn’t one of our best performances to be honest.
“Even so, in the first half we had a plan which was clear, not to leave any spaces behind us. We knew that we could control Liverpool better in that way and in the first half we didn’t give much away to them. The second half was different and we struggled a little bit more and we should’ve managed things in a different way after they made it 1-1. I believe we still had some good counter-attacking moments.”
He continued: “We lost a challenge in the middle of the pitch and then they score a bit of a lucky goal, I have to say. That changed the game and the only thing I’m really disappointed with is the way we managed the 10 minutes after that situation. We lost composure and maturity and you cannot concede a fast attack like that in that moment.
“The last 10 minutes were tough for us and they created a few good chances to score the third. The reality is that Leno kept us in the game and we’ll have to go for it at home. We’re going to fight for it because we have a real ambition to play at Wembley.”
When asked about João Palhinha and Harrison Reed, Marco added: “They put in a big, big effort and Andreas did too. It was more difficult in the second half because it took a lot of energy from ourselves which is difficult.
“We’re a team that like to have the ball but that was more difficult tonight, and if you’re without it for long periods you use more energy off the ball.”
The boss finished off by saying: “We have something to play for clearly. We know what Liverpool are capable of with their quality, but the belief that we had before tonight’s game and the trust we had in ourselves to fight for it doesn’t change now the game is done.”
“We have a tough game coming up against Chelsea but after that we’ll have good time to prepare for the second leg.”
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