Arne Slot admitted a rare regret over his starting lineup for Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Southampton, most notably his decision not to start Harvey Elliott.
Slot made three changes for the visit of Southampton but was forced to make three more at half-time as his side went in 1-0 down.
A sluggish first half at Anfield prompted the head coach – who watched from the stands due to suspension – to replace Kostas Tsimikas, Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai with Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister and Elliott.
Elliott may have been disappointed not to start given his match-winning heroics in midweek and, speaking after the game, Slot suggested in hindsight he felt he should have.
“It’s always a difficult decision not to start Harvey, not to start Wata, not to start all the other ones that I don’t play,” he told reporters.
“But if someone comes in for five minutes, touches his first ball and scores a goal, then to change your whole idea about all the lineups you made before, that would be a bit weird as well.
“So yeah, he had a good impact on the game [against PSG], today he had again a good impact on the game.
“That’s why he got 45 minutes today as well, because he did so well in Paris.
“There’s also a reason why I play so many times the other ones, and all the time they deserved that trust.
“But today, if I could do it one more time over, I would have started it differently than I started, but you don’t know this in advance.”
Elliott is still yet to start a game in the Premier League this season and has only done so four times in all competitions, with his tally of 552 minutes the fewest of any senior player bar Federico Chiesa (370).
That does a disservice to the 21-year-old’s quality, but Slot was full of praise for his attitude regardless, comparing him to Wataru Endo.
“What it is with him is also with other players, they are in competition with so many good players and that makes it sometimes difficult to make a lineup,” he explained.
“But it always helps to bring in performances like this – and also Wata, he came in 15 minutes before the end and again he showed how important he is for this team.
“[Harvey] trains really well. I said many times about Wata, I can say the same about Harvey, hardly any playing time but just keeps on going.
“And then when your moment comes, then you can show your quality.
“That’s the biggest compliment I can give him, but also the biggest compliment about what he brings to the team is that he just kept on going.
“I’ve experienced more than enough players who, if they are in the same situation as him or Wata, they start to do less and less, and when I played them you would probably not have asked me why I didn’t play them.
“This is the situation we want as a team and it makes it sometimes difficult for me, that’s true.”
Cody Gakpo fitness update
It is certainly true that Elliott’s opportunity was aided by the absence of Cody Gakpo, with Slot asked if his fellow Dutchman had been fit enough to make the squad.
“No, otherwise I would have taken him, because this was the most important game of the week, like I told you. The first of three finals,” he replied.
“So if he would have been able I would definitely have had him on the bench. But unfortunately, he wasn’t.
“But I do hope the two next finals we play a bit better than the first one.”
Liverpool 3-1 Southampton
