Arne Slot admitted his Liverpool team was well below its best during the first half of Saturday’s Premier League comeback victory over Southampton at Anfield.
Slot made three changes to the team that lined up against Paris Saint-Germain three days earlier, with Kostas Tsimikas, Curtis Jones, and Darwin Nunez coming into the side for Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister and Diogo Jota.
While Tsimikas and Jones shouldered no individual blame for a meek first-half display by the team, Slot felt the need to take both of them off, as well as Dominik Szoboszlai, as he made a triple substitution at halftime.
The drastic move worked as Liverpool moved in front within 10 minutes of the restart, with Nunez equalizing before also winning a penalty, which Mohamed Salah dispatched. The Reds were awarded a second penalty in the closing stages, which Salah once more dispatched to make sure of the points.
Slot, who watched the game from the stands as he served a touchline ban, told Sky Sports after the game that he was not impressed with what he had seen from his players in the first half.
“We had to be patient for a goal,” Slot said. “It was a very poor performance first half. We were not in the game at all. It didn’t come as a surprise to me that we conceded. We found a way to win the game in the second half.
“In the end, I had to make some hard decisions at halftime to create some anger. The three that came in did really well, but I could see from the other eight they were different.
“I am fully aware you cannot play high intensity for 38 games. Sometimes you have to find another way to win. Hopefully the first half was a warning sign. The good thing is we probably didn’t run that much [before facing Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday].”
