Arne Slot has explained the triple half-time substitution he “had to” make that helped Liverpool come from behind, to beat Southampton 3-1 in the Premier League.
Liverpool may have had 75 percent possession in the first half, but they looked lethargic when the ball turned over.
From up on high, Slot could tell something needed to change, with his team trailing to Will Smallbone’s goal in injury time of the first half.
“I didn’t give them compliments at half-time, I can tell you,” Slot began when asked about his triple substitution.
“Maybe it was because I was sitting up there (in the stands) instead of being at the line, because I know from experience that when you watch a game over there you feel like, ‘Oh, maybe I can even play in this game’.
“If you’re then at the line, it’s always more tempo, but I don’t think I was wrong this time if I said at half-time that energy levels were far, far, far too low.
“And that is what I had to change and that is why we made three substitutions just to, apart from bringing in quality, just to create something, because nine out of 10 times when you take three out, the other eight are like, ‘Ooh, something else should happen’.
“And that’s the only thing I could come up with at half-time to create something different for the second half.”
Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott all came on at the break.
The three players to come off were Kostas Tsimikas, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones. The latter two also played against PSG on Wednesday.
Though Tsimikas didn’t feature in the Champions League first leg, he was also brought off because Slot knew Robertson “always creates something with his energy, with his mentality, not only in the team but also with the fans.”
The Greek left-back was also on a yellow card. Nunez, too, had received a first-half booking, but he remained on the pitch.
After scoring the equaliser and winning the penalty for Mo Salah‘s first goal, the Uruguayan was replaced by Diogo Jota.
Slot commented: “In the end I took him (Nunez) off because he was on yellow, but I always hate the idea [when] we need to score goals to take someone off that can score a goal.
“That’s why it wasn’t in my mind to take him off because I was already planning on after these three, if we don’t score a goal then Jota needs to come in then we have to go even more offensive.
“With Cody (Gakpo) being out, it isn’t like we have that many attacking options, so that’s why I took a certain risk of keeping him – a No. 9 that is on yellow is different than Kostas.”
The head coach then noted that Mac Allister also made a difference in the second half.
“There is a reason why Macca is a World Cup winner, because he always shows up when you need him in terms of mentality and that’s also definitely what he brought in the second half,” Slot added.
Though the boss did admit he would have started a different side with hindsight, it was pleasing to see him able to clearly affect the match despite not being on the touchline.
Slot and assistant Sipke Hulshoff will be back in the dugout for the second leg against PSG on Tuesday.
Liverpool 3-1 Southampton
