Liverpool head coach Arne Slot gave his team a dressing down in the changing room at half-time but it had the desired effect as they came from behind to beat Southampton 3-1.
Trailing to Will Smallbone’s added-time goal after a misunderstanding between Virgil van Dijk and goalkeeper Alisson Becker, Slot – who was watching from the Main Stand as he was serving the last game of his touchline suspension – moved quickly to rectify the situation.
Having issued his players with an order to increase the tempo, he made a triple substitution with Harvey Elliott, Andy Robertson and Alexis Mac Allister coming on and immediately changing the dynamic.
Within the space of five minutes, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, with the first of two penalties, had turned things around as the Premier League leaders stretched their advantage at the top to 16 points.
Salah, who blasted home his second from the spot in the 88th minute, said in a post-match television interview Slot’s “head was going for us”.
“I didn’t give them compliments at half-time, I can tell you,” said the Liverpool head coach.
“Maybe I can tell you it was because I was sitting up there instead of on the line. When you watch a game from there you always feel that ‘Ah, even I can play in this game’ but when you are on the line, there is more tempo.
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— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 8, 2025
“I don’t think I was wrong if I said at half-time that the energy levels were far, far, far too low.
“That had to change and that is why we made three substitutions, apart from energy to bring in quality.
“Nine out of 10 times when you take three out, the other eight are like, something else should happen.
“That was the only thing I could come up with at half-time to
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