Arne Slot admitted he taught his Liverpool players a lesson at half-time in their first Premier League game against the Reds as his decision to remove Jarell Quansah was justified.
Liverpool toiled for long periods in the opening forty-five minutes against newly promoted Ipswich at Portman Road, with the Reds failing to register a shot on target in the first half of the game.
Slot felt the key to that sadness was his inability to win one-on-one battles with his opponents, who inspired as they raced wildly on the field in the 22-year-old club’s elite championship.
One of the key elements of the Ipswich game was the war between striker Liam Delap and Liverpool centre-back Quansah, with Slot opting to replace the young defender at half-time when he replaced the more physical Ibrahima Konate.
The arrival of the French helped the Reds take advantage of the physical war and, in the end, two goals in five minutes of the second half from Diogo Jota and Mo Salah secured the 2-0 victory.
When asked if he enjoyed his first experience of TNT Sports Premier League football, Slot replied: “That’s what part you’re asking me about!
“The first half maybe went as I expected, because everyone was very sensible of us and very aggressive. We didn’t find the rhythm and we didn’t locate the balls at the back. But the moment is a pleasure to watch. “
Asked what he said to his team at half-time, Slot added: “The first thing I said was that we don’t want to communicate about tactics if you lose so many games, and that’s what we did.
“It’s not like Jarell lost every single match, a lot of us lost too many games, so we needed Konate to win those long balls in the air to his No. 9 (Delap), so that helped us and gave us control. .
“But they put so much power in the first half, running, fighting, going all over the court one-on-one, and I don’t think they can maintain that speed in the second half. “
After answering “yes” to the question of whether Quansah’s substitution was tactical, he added: “If a team is betting all over the pitch one-on-one, don’t play the short ball consistently.
“I didn’t see them fight in the first half, we lost almost all the long balls. In the second half they were ready, then the fuel opened and maybe we will see that we can play a little intelligent football. “
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