Liverpool FC celebrated another late victory in Burnley on Sunday, with Arne Slot proving that he is not afraid to take unusual measures.
One of the reasons Arne Slot became champion in his very first Premier League season is because he doesn’t care much about public expectations and sensitivities. The Liverpool FC coach simply does his own thing.
In keeping with this, he didn’t even include €144 million new signing Alexander Isak in the squad for Sunday’s away game at Burnley FC. The most expensive player in league history had played for Sweden during the week, but according to Slot, after weeks of individual training in Newcastle, he is in a state where “his summer preparation is only just beginning.” His treatment of Milos Kerkez was also in line with this approach.
The new left-back from Bournemouth, who at around €47 million was one of the cheaper summer signings for the Reds, had to leave the pitch in the 38th minute, even though he was by no means injured. The 21-year-old Hungarian had instead taken a dive and was shown an early yellow card – which Slot did not like at all.
“He told me he felt something, but it wasn’t a foul,” said the coach, annoyed by Kerkez’s dive in the 22nd minute. “I already told him that wasn’t smart. He replied that he felt an arm on his back. But to be clear: that wasn’t a penalty.”
When Kerkez brought down Burnley striker Jaidon Anthony twelve minutes later and the whole stadium demanded a yellow-red card, Slot finally reacted. A sending-off would have been “ridiculous,” he said, defending his defender for the scene. But from then on, it was “a risk.” “We could only have lost this game with a man down. They hardly got past the halfway line,” explained Slot – and he was right: with Andy Robertson coming on as a substitute, Liverpool remained with eleven men and won their fourth league game late on with a penalty from Mohamed Salah.
Dives? “We’re not particularly good at that.”
“It was difficult for Milos because normally you don’t have to substitute a player when he’s been shown a yellow card. But I thought it was the best decision,” said Slot, who was surprised by something else: “It’s funny that the two dives we’ve made in the little over a year since I’ve been here have each resulted in a yellow card. So we’re not particularly good at it.”
In May, Ryan Gravenberch was cautioned for a dive against Crystal Palace. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until August that Slot declared his team the most honest in the league.
