Arne Slot isn’t usually the most demonstrative of coaches on the touchline, but it’s become clear during his first season at Liverpool just how high his standards are.
Jarell Quansah discovered that to his cost when being substituted at half-time in the Dutchman’s first Premier League game in charge against Ipswich six months ago, and the 46-year-old wasn’t afraid to call out Darwin Nunez for a perceived lack of work rate after the Uruguayan’s miss against Aston Villa last week.
During the tail end of the 2-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday – in which it was widely acknowledged that the Reds looked every bit like champions in the making – Jurgen Klopp’s successor once again laid down the law when he was unhappy with what he witnessed from his team.
Slot berates Trent for jogging back in 89th minute
In an article for the Daily Mail on Monday, Lewis Steele analysed how Liverpool have become ‘Physicality Monsters’ under Slot, who let one player know in no uncertain terms that only the highest of standards will be accepted on his watch.
The piece made reference to one moment in the 89th minute at the Etihad when Trent Alexander-Arnold ‘got a rollocking’ from his boss for jogging rather than sprinting back into position when Man City were on the attack. Two minutes later, he was substituted.
It was also mentioned that the LFC head coach ‘adores’ the off-the-ball endeavour of Mo Salah, an ‘often unheralded trait’ in the Egyptian.
Slot demands maximum effort from his Liverpool players
While no finger of blame could be pointed at any of Liverpool’s starters if they felt fatigued by the 89th minute, considering how much effort they put into yesterday’s performance, Slot’s admonishing of Trent for not tracking back quickly enough speaks volumes about the elite mindset that he demands from his players.
The right-back had his hands full dealing with the mazy dribbling of Jeremy Doku, although the Man City winger did precious little with the ball in the final third – certainly not enough to vindicate his bitter post-match claim that the Reds weren’t ‘much better than’ Pep Guardiola’s side on Sunday.
If one player summed up the sheer volume of work that LFC put into this victory, it’s Dominik Szoboszlai. As mentioned by Steele in the Daily Mail, the Hungarian midfielder ran 11.5 kilometres during the match and was so exhausted at full-time that he slumped to the ground and couldn’t hear the away fans’ chants of “we’re gonna win the league”.
The 24-year-old epitomised exactly what Slot demands of everyone in his Liverpool team, as Trent discovered towards the end of the match when he was deemed to be not doing enough to track back.
We’re not going to put the boot into the England international over his performance at the Etihad, with his sublime pass instigating the move which led to the second goal, but he was left in no doubt as to the minimum level of effort that his boss wants from him and all of his teammates!
