Cody Gakpo of Liverpool during the Premier League game against Sunderland.
Cody Gakpo of Liverpool during the Premier League game against Sunderland.
Mohamed Salah replaced Cody Gakpo at half-time as Liverpool drew 1-1 with Sunderland in the Premier League, with Arne Slot explaining the decision to take the Dutch winger off after 45 minutes.
Having been dropped at the weekend when , Salah when he came off the bench, but quickly tailed off. The Reds required a to get back on level terms after a Chemsdine Talbi opener.
"In my opinion, Cody struggled to dominate the one-v-ones," Slot said in his post-match press conference at Anfield.
"If you want to have any chance against, like I said, they were pressing high but also in multiple situations they were in a low block, [so] the way to score is quite simple: you need a moment of magic from a player or you need a set-piece to score.
"I felt in the first half Cody struggled to find that moment because it was hard for him to dominate the one-v-one or get crosses in.
"In the first half, we played with off the right to be defensively strong enough not to concede enough as we did in the last few weeks.
"I changed it to Mo on the right side and then played with off the left. Like I said, we hardly conceded, but it was throughout the whole game difficult to create that moment of magic.
Mohamed Salah in action during the Premier League game between Liverpool and Sunderland. (Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
"From the set-pieces we had, we were once close — I think it was Macca () in the first half who hit the post from a set-piece but we had enough, especially in the end of the second half, but didn't score."
Gakpo wasn't the only individual to misfire in the Liverpool attack, with Alexander Isak struggling. Collectively, the Reds' forward line struggled to click, with Wirtz the only one to really impress.
"[Sunderland] didn't do anything that surprised me," Slot said. "Like I said, we know they can press really high and defend with 11 players around their box, that is what many teams do in the Premier League.
"That's the minimum you need to do — defend with 11 players — because this league has become so strong that it's very hard not to defend with 11 players.
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"I knew before the game, when you play Sunderland, from the 14 games they have played now they have only conceded four times more than one goal, and in these four games they've only conceded two.
"So, it's a hard team to score against, it's a hard team to create your chances against, because they either go really aggressive in a high press or they have 11 players — 10 outfield players and a goalkeeper — who defend their box with their lives.
"That's why it's so difficult to create. So, in that aspect, I was hoping for more — although I knew how difficult it is to create against them."
Liverpool.com says: Though Gakpo didn't do particularly well, he wasn't the only one. Introducing Salah was the right move to make, but it didn't really pay off and there remains a big question over what to do with him at the weekend when Liverpool travels to Leeds.