Plymouth Argyle beat Liverpool 1-0 at Home Park on Sunday afternoon to knock them out of the FA Cup and progress to the fifth round, in what Pilgrims manager Miron Muslic claims is his greatest career achievement.
Replacing Wayne Rooney, who departed Argyle bottom of the Championship and seemingly without a hope of survival – the Pilgrims had just 18 points from 23 games in the second tier having conceded a wretched 51 goals – Muslic faced a tough task to galvanise his squad.
Muslic’s arrival has had a greater impact many would have believed possible, placing the emphasis more so on the fact that Rooney, despite being one of the best Premier League players ever, was completely out of his depth. Muslic’s rousing speech upon meeting the squad was widely shared on social media, but a 5–0 defeat at home to Burnley a few days later highlighted the impossible task he had on his hands. Fast forward 18 days, and Muslic fever has well and truly gripped the Plymouth Argyle fans.
Plymouth Argyle win ‘greatest moment’ of Miron Muslic’s career
Despite sitting bottom of the Championship and five points from safety, Plymouth Argyle delivered a committed and energetic performance to beat Premier League leaders Liverpool, whose youngsters failed to make the grade yet again for Arne Slot after Champions League defeat last midweek to PSV. Euros winner Federico Chiesa did little to help, while Diogo Jota, Harvey Elliott and Luis Diaz seemed somewhat daunted by the task to help their fledgling team-mates.
In fact, it was Elliott’s rash decision to run out, hands spread high in the air to concede a penalty, which Ryan Hardie duly dispatched in the 53rd minute. From there on Muslic’s personality permeated to every single member of his squad – commitment, resoluteness and a bravery to fight for every last blade of grass.
Muslic recognises the enormity of the achievement, too, though highlights there’s more to come. It’s a matter of when, not if, for the 42-year-old.
“This is the biggest moment so far in my coaching career, no doubt about it,” Muslic said after the game. “It’s the FA Cup, it’s Liverpool. The biggest moment is yet to come, at the end of the season when we stay up. This is what I feel in my mind and in my soul.
“We started this turnaround at half-time against Burnley when we were 5-0 down and my message to the lads was that it takes a lot of courage to go out and finish the game. If we can shown this togetherness, the Green Army is there. They are just waiting for us to start, it’s a hell of a task in front of us, no doubt, but we are so ready to take on the challenge.”
With that win, Plymouth Argyle have now beaten two Premier League sides in the FA Cup this term – in the Championship they have just five wins all season. Brentford were first felled at the Gtech Community Stadium, but it’s Argyle’s home atmosphere which has proved the overwhelmingly decisive factor in recent years.
Muslic will hope that form, that feeling around the club can continue for the remaining months of the season. Championship survival is certainly possible if it does.
In FourFourTwo’s view, Muslic has transformed the team immeasurably – they have so much confidence now under the Austrian-Bosnian manager that anything seems possible. Whoever comes next in the FA Cup will not prove too big a task, while the Championship is where the pressure really lies. Millwall on Wednesday is actually the week’s most important game for the club – beating Liverpool is just a nice added bonus.
