‘Walked into an ambush’ – Arne Slot criticised for ‘disrespectful’ action as Liverpool humbled

Arne Slot has barely put a foot wrong since replacing Jurgen Klopp in the Liverpool dugout, but the 46-year-old found himself in the firing line after his team’s exit from the FA Cup on Sunday.

The Dutchman made 10 changes to his starting line-up from the Reds’ Carabao Cup victory over Tottenham and named a host of academy players on the substitutes’ bench, but his team selection backfired as his side were deservedly humbled by Plymouth Argyle.

The personnel chosen for the match was a major talking point afterwards, with Steve Nicol believing that the LFC boss was right to rest the likes of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch ahead of a titanic Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Wednesday night.

Slot criticised for ‘disrespectful’ team selection

However, renowned journalist Henry Winter took a different view, admonishing Slot for not showing his opponents adequate respect by omitting so many first-team regulars from the matchday squad.

He wrote on his Substack column Henry Winter’s Goal Posts: “Arne Slot’s team-sheet did Miron Muslic’s team talk for him. It wasn’t so much the 10 changes to Liverpool’s starting XI that was disrespectful to Plymouth Argyle but the bench.

“The A-listers were left at home. Slot naively believed his B team could beat a proud EFL club with an ambitious new head coach, a reinforced defence and an impassioned support. Slot walked into an ambush at Home Park and didn’t have the cavalry to rescue him.”

Slot’s gamble backfired, but starting XI let him down

Slot’s team selection is likely to be a divisive issue even among Liverpool fans. Whilst some might claim that it made sense to rest Salah, Van Dijk et al ahead of the Merseyside derby, others will argue that he treated the FA Cup fixture too lightly and contributed towards one trophy being taken off the table for this season.

Wholesale changes to the starting XI were inevitable, and the team which was selected ought to have been good enough to prevail against an Argyle side sitting bottom of the Championship, but most of those who were picked to start ultimately let the head coach down.

Ideally the starters would’ve had the job effectively done after an hour so that the Reds boss could then throw on the likes of Rio Ngumoha, James Norris and Ranel Young for senior exposure in a pressure-free setting, but unfortunately that didn’t transpire.

Liverpool fully deserved to lose yesterday, and Slot will have to take his medicine over the contentious team selection. However, should we win at Goodison Park in midweek and ultimately lift the Premier League trophy in May, the defeat in Devon will fade into comparative insignificance within the greater context of the season.

The 46-year-old has earned the right to be trusted with such big decisions given the results he’s registered so far at Anfield, and he’ll have accepted that he took a calculated gamble with his matchday squad on Sunday which unfortunately backfired.

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