Arne Slot confirms Salah, Gravenberch and Alexander-Arnold tactical tweak he made at Bournemouth | OneFootball

Arne Slot has already proven himself as a brilliant coach this season and some changes made against Bournemouth gave us the edge again.

Asked why Ryan Gravenberch was playing further over to the right of midfield in the game, the 46-year-old said: “Not many things that we do are just by coincidence.

“I think it is clear that they have many good things, this team, and their left full-back is definitely a threat going forwards.

“Mo Salah is an incredible player but his main strength is not following the opposite full-back.

“But that’s not the only thing. We want to keep Mo as much as we can forward as well because it is a risk for every team that plays us if the left full-back goes.

“I think Ipswich, that was a moment where the left full-back just wanted to go forward and then Mo was free in transition and it was a goal from Mo.

“It’s clear that if you leave Trent [Alexander-Arnold] constantly with [Antoine] Semenyo and [Milos] Kerkez constantly in a two-v-one, that is not the best idea that I can come up with.”

It was an honest response from the Dutchman who wasn’t afraid to share why he needed the extra support from our No.38 in order to help both Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Mo Salah was given the licence to stay forward against Bournemouth

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

We saw against Ipswich that our Egyptian King certainly has it in his locker to work back defensively for the Reds but he is much more effective offensively.

Two goals in a 2-0 victory proved that our head coach was right to let him stay up the pitch and with Pat Nevin describing his second finish as ‘stunning’, perhaps this wouldn’t have occurred if he was further back.

To allow the balance on the other end of the wing meant that our Dutch midfielder had to help his vice captain at right back.

Although Antoine Semenyo and Milos Kerkez still caused plenty of problems, this tactical change shows the intelligence of our boss and the quality of his players to carry it out.

You can watch Slot’s comments on Salah, Gravenberch and Alexander-Arnold via Liverpool FC on YouTube:

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