Gary Lineker nervous after hearing Arne Slot's brutal statement against Liverpool but Alan Shearer and Micah Richards point out the reality
Gary Lineker says he felt 'nervous' after Arne Slot called out Jarrell Quansah following Liverpool's win over Ipswich.
The Reds started their Premier League season with a win after securing a 2-0 victory over Ipswich at Portman Road in The first slot game in charge.
While the Dutch boss will be delighted to claim a win in his opening game, some of his comments have left some pundits feeling a little uncomfortable after criticising 21-year-old defender Quansah and revealing why he was replaced at half-time by Ibrahima Konate.
Explaining the decision, Slot said: “The first thing I said was that we don't have to talk about tactics if we lose so many duels.”
“Jarell lost all the duels, too many of us lost too many duels. We needed Konate to win the long balls to the number nine. That gave us control.
“They put so much energy into the first half, kept fighting, playing all over the field 1-on-1, I don't think they could keep that pace up in the second half.”
Asked if the decision to take off Quansah at half-time was tactical, Slot simply replied: “Yes.”
Those comments did not sit well with Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richard however.
Speaking to The Rest Is Football, Lineker said: “Talking publicly about a player's performance is not something I think you've ever heard of.” Jurgen Klopp So there's already a slight difference there.
“It always makes me a little nervous when coaches criticize their players.”
Shearer added: “But he wasn’t an experienced player, was he? You wonder if he would have done the same with an experienced player,” to which Richards replied: “Right, Alan!”
The Newcastle legend continued: “It’s easier to do it with a younger player than with someone who hits hard.
3
3
“To be fair, it worked, but I thought the same thing when he said that, Gaz.”
According FotMobQuansah were involved in a total of eight duels during his 45 minutes at Portman Road, winning four and losing four.
They included two four-man ground duels won, plus two four-man aerial duels won.
He also committed two fouls when dueling with an Ipswich player.
With Konate replacing him, it will be interesting to see if Quansah retains his place in the starting XI when Liverpool Next field trip.
The Reds will be back in action on Sunday when they host Brentford at Anfield at 4.30pm.
