Liverpool boss Arne Slot clears up Jarell Quansah confusion as he gets ruthless

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has explained his decision to bring off Jarell Quansah at half time during their 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town on Saturday.

The Reds cruised to an easy win over the newly-promoted side thanks to goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah to put them top of the table, at least temporarily.

But one of the talking points was Quansah’s removal from the team for the second half, with Ibrahima Konate emerging in his place after the interval.

The 21-year-old had been solid at the back and it was understood the centre-back had not suffered an injury at Portman Road. When asked about the substitution, Slot clarified that it was a tactical change to protect the Reds backline from Ipswich’s aerial threat.

“First thing I said [to the team at half-time] is we don’t need to speak about tactics if we lose so many duels,” Slot told TNT Sports after the game.

“Not that Jarell lost too many duels. We needed Konate to win many balls in the air from their number nine [Liam Delap]. That helped and gave us control. I don’t think Ipswich could keep up with the tempo in the second half.”

Quansah has emerged as a serious contender to partner Virgil van Dijk this season after making 33 appearances in his breakthrough campaign under Jurgen Klopp.

Slot also chose to select him ahead of Konate and left Joe Gomez out of the squad entirely, which could be regarded as a huge display of faith in the youngster.

But the defender looked far from happy as he slumped on his chair on the Liverpool bench shortly before the second half began in Suffolk.

Despite an impressive opening day performance from his side, Slot made a point of mentioning his players’ lack of desire in the opening 45 minutes.

“If a team plays all over the pitch 1v1, do not always play the ball short constantly,” Slot added. “I didn’t see them [his players] fighting for it in the first half, we lost almost every long ball.

“In the second half they were ready and then gaps opened up and you could see we can play quite good football.”

Slot will experience his first game at Anfield in a competitive setting next after passing his first test, with the Reds welcoming Brentford in eight days’ time on Merseyside.