Gary Lineker: Arne Slot clearly ‘very unhappy’ after what he said on MOTD
Arne Slot had all the reasons to be frustrated despite Liverpool beating Southampton 3-1 at Anfield on Saturday.
Liverpool landed themselves in trouble after producing a lacklustre performance in the first 45 minutes of their Premier League clash with Southampton on 8 March, allowing Will Smallbone to give the visitors the lead just before half-time.
The display was so bad that Slot was forced to make three substitutions at the start of the second period in a move that dividends as the Reds went on to score three goals past Aaron Ramsdale through Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah.
In a way, the first-half performance was reminiscent of the one against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on Wednesday (5 March) when the Merseyside-based club had to be kept in the game by Alisson before Harvey Elliott nicked the winner.
Slot admits frustration to Gary Lineker on BBC Match of the Day
Slot was honest in his post-match interview with Gary Lineker as he admitted that he was not pleased with the work rate of his players in the first half against Southampton.
The Dutchman suggested that the Liverpool stars were complacent and described his team’s performance in the first 45 minutes as “poor”.
“That’s also a sign of a good team that you can win in different ways, but in Paris, I had to change maybe because of tactics, now I had to change because of the work rate”, Slot said on BBC Match of the Day (8 March).
“I don’t think that has 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.”
| Possession | Total shots | Shots on target | Goals | Big chances | Big chances missed | Accurate passes | |
| 1st | 75% | 12 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 302 (90%) |
| 2nd | 68% | 16 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 291 (91%) |
The former Feyenoord boss went on to claim that his players did not run “at all” before the changes were made at half-time.
“The only thing good thing about today is for the first 45 minutes I don’t think they ran at all”, he added.
“I exaggerated a bit, but they saved their energy. For me, that’s not a good thing because I believe that it is better to just go all in and create habits.”
Back in the studio with Micah Richards and Joe Hart, Lineker noted that Slot was evidently a “very unhappy” manager.
“Another win for Liverpool but you could tell from that interview that Arne Slot was clearly very unhappy with his team’s first-half performance”, Lineker said.
Liverpool set for big week
Slot will be hopeful that his players do not allow complacency to creep in as it did against Southampton between now and the end of the season, especially with a big week coming up.
Liverpool will be looking to defend their one-goal lead when PSG visit Anfield in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie on Tuesday, 11 March.
That will be followed by a big night at Wembley when they lock horns with Newcastle for the EFL Cup.
Slot is just days away from possibly clinching his first trophy as the Liverpool manager.