Arne Slot explained defender Jarell Quansah was taken off at half-time during Liverpool’s victory over Ipswich Town because he felt his side were not winning enough aerial duels.
21-year-old Quansah started Liverpool’s opening Premier League fixture of the 2024-25 campaign, partnering Virgil van Dijk at centre-back, but was replaced by Ibrahima Konate at the break with Slot’s side being held by their newly-promoted opponents in a tightly-contested first half at Portman Road.
Slot confirmed the decision to replace Quansah was not due to an injury concern but because he felt Konate was better suited to cope with the aerial threat of Ipswich striker Liam Delap.
“The first taste in the first half was not maybe as expected,” the Liverpool head coach told TNT Sports. “They were all on top of us and very aggressive. We couldn’t find a rhythm or any balls in behind. Second half was a joy to watch.
”The first thing I said was that we don’t have to talk about tactics if you lose so many duels. And that’s what we did. Not that Jarell lost every duel — many of us lost too many duels — but I think we needed Konate to win these long balls through the air for the No. 9. That gave us control.
“They put so much energy in the first half, they had to keep on running and fighting, they were playing all over the pitch one-v-one. And I don’t think they could keep up with that tempo in the second half.“
Asked if Quansah had been taken off for tactical reasons at half-time rather than fitness he replied: ”Yes.“
Quansah had a 50 per cent duel success rate in the first half according to Opta, winning four of the eight he contested. Konate subsequently won 80 per cent of his duels in the second half.
Quansah’s duel success rate was average among the Liverpool side but below average for the back four, with Van Dijk (75 per cent) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (66.7 per cent) both winning a higher rate, and Andy Robertson (25 per cent) winning fewer.
Liverpool ultimately secured a comfortable 2-0 win thanks to second-half goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah to earn new head coach Slot his maiden Premier League win at the first attempt.
Slot praised his side’s improved second-half display after not showing enough “fight” in the first.
“We showed them during half-time that if a team plays all over the pitch one-v-one, do not play the ball short constantly,” he added. “If you have those kinds of wingers, strikers and attackers, play the balls and then fight for it.
“And I didn’t see them fight for it in the first half. We lost almost every long ball, every duel, to both sides. In the second half they were ready and before scoring we had already had a very good chance. Gaps opened up and you could see that we could play some quite good football.”
Defender Joe Gomez was not included in Slot’s matchday squad on Saturday despite being fully fit, leaving his future increasingly uncertain.
GO DEEPER
The Briefing: Ipswich 0 Liverpool 2 – How did Slot spark second-half revival?
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