LIVERPOOL, England : Frustration was written all over Liverpool boss Arne Slot’s face when miscommunication allowed lowly Southampton to score first in the Reds’ 3-1 victory on Saturday, and Mohamed Salah said the manager gave the team an earful about it at halftime.
Salah scored twice from the penalty spot and Darwin Nunez also struck in the victory, but all three Liverpool goals came after the break.
Will Smallbone had stunned the Anfield faithful with a goal from bottom club Southampton in first-half injury time, capitalising on miscommunication by goalkeeper Alisson and centre-back Virgil van Dijk, and the television camera caught Slot, who was serving the second of a two-game suspension for a recent red card at Everton, in the stands holding his head in both hands.
Slot’s pep talk in the break seemed to do the trick.
“It was a bit of frustration, his head was going for us,” Salah told Premier League Productions about Slot’s halftime speech. “It is something you need sometimes.
“We were sloppy and slow in the first half. I don’t think we played good today. If you want to win the Champions League or Premier League you have to win these games like that.”
Liverpool, who have just one Premier League loss in this remarkable season, extended their lead atop the table provisionally to 16 points ahead of second-placed Arsenal, who have two games in hand.
“It’s a sign of a good team, that you can win in different ways,” Slot, who made three halftime substitutions, told the BBC.
“I had to change because of work rate. I don’t think that happened a lot this season. So it was a poor performance first half. Not only in the way we played but definitely also in the energy we brought.”
The victory was sandwiched between two round-of-16 Champions League matches. They defeated Paris St Germain 1-0 away on Wednesday, and will host the French champions in the second leg at Anfield on Tuesday.
“The only good thing is for the first 45 minutes (against Southampton on Saturday) I don’t think they ran at all,” the Dutchman said. “I exaggerate a bit but they saved their energy.
“For me that is not a good thing because I believe that it is better to go all-in and to create habits what I always talk about. But I also know that these players are capable of doing much, much, much better when it comes to performance and definitely when it comes to work rate. That is also what I expect this week.”
While Liverpool continue their march toward the league title, Slot refuses to see it that way.
“It’s a long way,” he said. “If I’m correct Arsenal play three games before we play the next one. Now it’s 16 but it can be seven when we face Everton in a few weeks.”
With Liverpool’s month busy with Champions League, FA Cup action, the League Cup final, plus the international break, they do not play another league game until April 2 when they host Everton.
