Arne Slot had talked his way into trouble. When an ignominious defeat beckoned for Liverpool, he may have talked them out of it. Confined to the directors’ box for his verbal assault on Michael Oliver after the Merseyside derby, Slot’s touchline ban did not prevent him going to the dressing room at half-time. However angry he was, his words changed the game.
Mohamed Salah described his manager’s mood as “a bit of frustration”. Slot probably showed a nice line in understatement when he said: “I didn’t give them compliments at half-time, I can tell you.” Three changes came immediately, two goals soon after. Victory followed, just as the title surely will. It may render this a footnote.
