Arne Slot responds to Jack Grealish’s Merseyside derby complaint – ‘Completely correct’

Arne Slot has had his say on one of the major talking points following Saturday’s Merseyside derby ahead of Liverpool’s Carabao Cup clash with Southampton on Tuesday night

Arne Slot revealed he will ring the changes for Liverpool’s Carabao Cup clash with Southampton before backing the referee’s decision to add just three minutes of stoppage time during the Merseyside derby.

The Reds beat Everton 2-1 thanks to first-half strikes from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike, though Idrissa Gueye’s effort on the hour mark gave David Moyes’ side hope. But one of the big talking points after the game revolved around the stoppage time, with an angry Jack Grealish adamant that the officials should have added on more time.

Slot had already hinted at changes after the weekend for Tuesday’s encounter with the Saints. But with a Liverpool delegation in Paris for the Ballon d’Or ceremony, he confirmed a completely fresh XI will be named for the Southampton clash. And he then insisted that match officials got it right with their stoppage time call in the Merseyside derby before admitting that he would have actually preferred more time given his team were in the middle of a promising counter-attack when the full-time whistle went.

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“We can go through all of [the players], Wataru Endo and a few more, these are the players that need a game and we’re happy that we have one,” Slot said, via the Liverpool Echo. “If we wouldn’t have had one, we probably would have arranged a friendly in this week for these players because they need to play games as well to keep them ready whenever we need them.

“We’ve used quite a lot in the last three games because we thought we needed to keep this energy throughout all the three games – but not all of them. And the few we haven’t used, it’s definitely the perfect moment for them to get playing time.”

“Yes, there will be a completely changed line-up,” the Dutchman continued. “But that our players are fit, that’s clear. Because a lot has been said about the added time against Everton but I would have loved to play on for 34 seconds more because we were in a five-v-two situation at that moment. Now that tells you, I think, all about the mentality we have, always wanting to score a goal.

“The three minutes were completely correct [against Everton], by the way, because there were only three moments where a substitution was made. There was no time-wasting because that’s not what we do – unfortunately, I have to say, sometimes – and there was no treatment of injuries, one goal scored.

“Then you come to three [minutes]. Where in many other games when we need a goal, there’s a lot, a lot, a lot of time-wasting going on, I can tell you.”

Slot continued: “Last season we reached the final with these [changed] line-ups. There’s no trophy we underestimate, we always want to win every trophy we compete for. But that’s the good thing about the quality of the squad we have, that we still have a very good team that we can play tomorrow.

“But we have to think about the long-term as well. If we want to compete in every single trophy then some players need a normal week, which is not playing during the week once in a while as well. That’s managing a team throughout the whole season with trying to compete at every level we are competing for.”

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