Arne Slot reflects on his Liverpool team selection for the ultimately comfortable 3-1 win over Southampton and why he made three changes at half-time
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18:46, 08 Mar 2025
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MARCH 08: Liverpool manager Arne Slot reacts during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Southampton FC at Anfield on March 08, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot, sitting in the stands because of his touchline ban, reacts during the win over Southampton
(Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images))
Arne Slot has admitted he thinks he made a mistake starting Dominik Szoboszlai against Southampton. Liverpool came from behind to beat the Saints 3-1 thanks to second-half goals from Darwin Nunez and a brace of penalties from Mohamed Salah.
However, the turnaround came after a poor first-half display which prompted Slot to make a hat-trick of substitutions at half-time. Harvey Elliott, Alexis Mac Allister and Andy Robertson were all brought on for Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimikas.
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The Liverpool head coach revealed after the match that he was not impressed with his team’s energy levels in the opening period, and made a number of substitutes because that was the only way he could think to turn the game.
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And he conceded he perhaps made a mistake by starting Szoboszlai, as he confirmed he would have chosen a different starting XI in hindsight.
“Today, if I could do it one more time over, I would have started it differently than I started today,” Slot said. ”But you don't know this in advance.
“Every time I am sitting here and talking about Dominik, I’m talking about he is a machine. He can keep on going, running and running and running.
“It was maybe the first time this season I saw a different energy from him. Which is maybe normal. Maybe I made a mistake by playing him because he gives so much every single game.
“The good news is he only played 45 and is more rested for the upcoming week now than he is if I played him for 90. And the good thing for me is I have more than only one good midfielder in terms of Dominik.
“We have quite a few and Harvey came in really strong and helped the team again after him helping the team against Paris Saint-Germain also.”
He continued: “I didn’t give them compliments at half-time, I can tell you. Maybe it was because I was sitting up there instead of being at the line.
“When you watch a game from there you always feel that, ah, maybe even I can play in this game. But when you are on the line, there is always more tempo.
“I don’t think I was wrong if I said at half-time that the energy levels were far, far, far too low. That is what had to change and that is why we made three substitutions.
“Apart from bringing in quality, also to create something. Because nine out of 10 times, when you take three out, the other eight are like, woah, something else should happen.
“That was the only thing I could come up with at half-time to create something different for the second half.”