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Arne Slot told to 'tweak' Liverpool team as Andy Robertson decision questioned

tom blow
·2-min read
Arne Slot made changes to his Liverpool team
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)


Ex-Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock criticized Kostas Tsmikas for falling into Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen trap on Tuesday.

Liverpool faced Leverkusen at Anfield in the latest round of Champions League games. It promised to be a fascinating fixture, as Alonso was the leading candidate to replace Jurgen Klopp on Merseyside earlier this year before deciding to stay in Germany. That paved the way for Arne Slot to become Liverpool's new head coach in the summer.

Slot decided to pick Tsmikas ahead of Andy Robertson, Liverpool's long-term left-back, for Tuesday's big game. The decision was scrutinized during the first half when Warnock, who started his career at Liverpool, questioned Tsmikas' defending.

"Lovely movement from Bayer Leverkusen and it is causing Kostas Tsmikas problems," said Warnock on BBC Radio 5 Live. "Jeremie Frimpong is keeping his width so well, the midfield runners break through the pitch and they draw Tsmikas in. Frimpong is then released in acres of space to attack the box."

Warnock also put Slot's tactics under the spotlight, with Alonso's players enjoying much of the ball. The ex-defender added: "Liverpool are just struggling to dominate the ball. We are 25 minutes or so in and Leverkusen have had 60 percent of the possession. Arne Slot has got a bit of tweaking to do here, exceptional from Xabi Alonso and Leverkusen."

Slot also decided to bench Darwin Nunez for Tuesday's game. Explaining his decision, the Liverpool boss said on Amazon Prime Video: "I don't think the intensity [vs Brighton] has so much to do with how we line up today. In general, we only have four [attackers] available at the moment with Darwin, Cody, Lucho and Mo Salah.

"There is a lot of games to be played. Last week, we played with two 10s and now I chose not to play Darwin because he has played quite a lot recently and before he didn't, so it is normal to rotate in the front three and today was a good day to play Lucho."