PLYMOUTH manager Derek Adams was delighted with his Plymouth team’s discipline as they earned an FA Cup replay against Liverpool at Home Park.
The former Ross County manager succeeded in making life as difficult as possible for the Premier League outfit in their third round encounter at Anfield, earning a 0-0 draw.
The tactics were understandable for a side second in League Two coming to a club second in the Premier League who score for fun, and Plymouth now have a chance of causing an upset at Home Park.
Adams told BT Sport: “It would have been really naive as a manager, from my point of view, to tell my players to go and play against Liverpool. They have world-class players in their team.
“From my point of view, it was about allowing them to have the ball but we stopped them and it worked very well today.
“We stopped them, we negated the space and we allowed our players to get on the ball at times and we didn’t make many passes in the game – but the aim of the game was to be in the match.
“We knew what type of team they were going to play but it was about closing down the space, we were going to get opportunities, we had one or two in the game and we didn’t take them.
“But overall, we are delighted to take them back to Plymouth.”
Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp had no regrets about selecting a youthful side despite being held at home to a goalless draw by a Sky Bet League Two side.
The Liverpool manager named the club’s youngest-ever team for the home tie, even with the likes of Emre Can, Lucas Leiva and Alberto Moreno making the starting line-up. But despite dominating for the majority of the match, Liverpool struggled to force Plymouth goalkeeper Luke McCormick into a meaningful save.
The German brought on internationals Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino as his side looked to break the deadlock but it came to no avail as the club from the fourth tier became only the third team in a year to prevent Liverpool from scoring at Anfield.
“It’s not the result we wished obviously but it’s not frustrating because that’s football,” Klopp said after the match.
“We started well, we played football with direction and had movements but that’s not a fine-tuned side today so that means they lost their patience too early and tried to force it – this team could have played much better today. We go to Plymouth for the first time in my life, all good.
“The whole of Plymouth was in the 18-yard box! You need to stay calm, you need to stay patient in these situations – that is the biggest challenge in football against a deep defending side for all teams in world football.
“As a manager you make a decision, you can criticise or whatever makes more sense for you, but all good.”
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