Jarell Quansah response to brutal Arne Slot hook speaks volumes about his attitude

Jarrell Quansah's tricky start to the 2023/24 season with Liverpool appears to be behind him, after putting in a man-of-the-match performance for England's Under-21s on international duty.

Quansah was selected in the youth England setup for the latest round of international fixtures, with Ben Futcher's team in Euro Under-21 qualification action against Northern Ireland. It proved to be a frustrating night for the Young Lions, drawing 0-0 away from home, despite dominating the ball.

While the result was far from ideal for Futcher's side, one man who did impress with Liverpool star, Quansah, who played all 90 minutes alongside Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Callum Doyle in a back-three.

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His showing at the back was rewarded with the man-of-the-match reward, a much-needed boost for the youngster who has endured a tricky start to life under Arne Slot. Quansah was trusted by Liverpool's new boss in his first Premier League game in charge against Ipswich Town, partnering Virgil Van Dijk at centre-back.

A tough first half followed for Quansah though, as his England under-21 teammate, and Ipswich target-man, Liam Delap proved a handful in the early stages. Clearly unimpressed with the defensive showing, Slot opted to hook Quansah at half-time, bringing on Ibrahima Konaté.

Explaining the decision was a tactical one, not a forced one, Slot told TNT Sports at the time: "First thing I said was we don’t have to speak about tactics if we lose so many duels and that’s what we did. That’s not that Jarell lost every duel – many of us lost too many duels.

"But I think we needed Ibou Konate to win these long balls in the air from the No. 9." Since then, the 21-year-old has not played a single minute in the following two Liverpool games, with the Dutch boss opting to side with Konate as the man alongside Van Dijk in the two wins over Brentford and Manchester United.

In that time Slot was questioned whether he had been too harsh on his young defender, but insisted he has been treated no different to his teammates, especially during the half-time team talk at Ipswich. " “Maybe language was a problem. I said he did not lose every duel but one or two important duels,” Slot said last month.

"I don’t think it was ‘hard, hard’ but I raised my voice a bit,” he said of his half-time dressing down at Portman Road. "I didn’t take Jarell off for that reason. I think you earn your respect by what you tell them in video meetings and what you tell them on the training ground.

"I think I was harder on the whole team at half-time than I was on Jarell by bringing him out. I think you have to earn your respect by what you tell them. Sometimes your actions help but that was not the idea behind bringing Jarell off. Absolutely not.”