Former Premier League stalwart Robbie Earle has compared Arne Slot's ability to exert his "influence" on a game with that of Jurgen Klopp after he was impressed with the Liverpool head coach's decisions at half-time versus Ipswich Town.
The Reds sealed a solid 2-0 victory over the Tractor Boys on the opening day of the new campaign, with Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah on the scoresheet at Portman Road. However, the Merseysiders did not have things all their own way on their trip to Surrey after a mixed first period - with Slot choosing to intervene at the interval.
After a spell of pressure from the Premier League newcomers before the break, Liverpool's new boss decided to take off Jarrell Quansah during half-time. Bringing on Ibrahima Konate in his place, the move proved inspired as the visitors took control of the game before opening the scoring on the hour mark.
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Now, NBC Sports analyst Earle has pinpointed this change as a sign of Slot's bravery in terms of his tactical approach after he was rewarded for gambling on making a substitution. Speaking on 'The 2 Robbies Podcast' the ex-Wimbeldon ace said: "Liverpool had to go there and for 45 minutes, I have to say, Ipswich gave them a game.
"Then interestingly, at half-time Jarrell Quansah - who started the game - was taken off. Ibrahima Konate came on and I was wondering why that was? My sense that I heard was that Quansah wasn't winning the physical duels and it was allowing Ipswich into the game.
"So defensively, [Slot] made a change that changed the game in the attacking third," the former Premier League star continued. "I thought that was really interesting as we've always said about Jurgen Klopp that he can influence a game at half time. Maybe Arne Slot is one of those as well."
Robbie Mustoe agreed with his co-host, remarking: "Absolutely. We can credit that change with everything because the football was so much quicker and so much more incisive. Szobozlai got on the ball and made his passes," with Earle interjecting to chime in, saying: "The quality crept in."
They stepped up the pace and I got a similar sense. I think I read in a report that it was more to do with Liam Delap giving Quansah a little bit of trouble but that's pro-active, bold management. That's saying 'you know what, we're going to make a change at half-time' [...] I think they're going to have a really good season."
Speaking about the decision in question, Slot discussed his thought process following the game, saying: "The first thing I said was we don't have to speak about tactics if you lose so many duels, and that's what we did,"
"It's not that Jarell lost every duel, many of us lost too many duels, so we needed Konate to win these long balls in the air towards their No.9 (Delap), so that helped and gave us control. But they put so, so much energy into the first half, running, fighting, playing all over the pitch one v one, and I don't think they could keep up with that tempo in the second half."
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