Slot on ‘very disappointing’ reason he had to sub Isaac Mabaya on and off against Plymouth | OneFootball

Making your debut for Liverpool is a moment young players in the academy dream of but Isaac Mabaya probably would have hoped his went better.

Although it was more successful than Amara Nallo’s who sent off against PSV, the young right back was subbed on and off against Plymouth.

Explaining the decision, Arne Slot said (via liverpoolfc.com): “I think it is a fantastic moment for every player to make your debut and for him as well.

“But I felt I had to take him off for two reasons. He was already on a yellow and it was a game with a lot of duels and a lot of intensity and that’s their playing style.

“They bring a lot of long balls in, so if you’re one time wrong then it’s a yellow again, and it was a game that was hard enough with 11, let alone with 10.

“And I felt we needed to make an offensive substitution and the other three were Jarell [Quansah], Wata [Endo] and Kostas [Tsimikas] and that didn’t seem smart to me to take one of these three off.

“I took that decision, and I thought I had to tell him because making your debut and then to be taken off after an hour or something like that is very disappointing for him of course.”

It’s a decision that makes more sense after hearing this explanation from our head coach but is still not one that would have been enjoyed by the youngster.

Isaac Mabaya would have wanted to stay on the pitch at Plymouth

(Photo by Pakawich Damrongkiattisak/Getty Images)

After Joe Gomez’s injury earlier in the game, the Dutchman’s defence was already weakened and so the prospect of removing a senior option at the back wasn’t worth it.

Despite being praised by our former elite development coach Vitor Matos, the Zimbabwean didn’t make the most of his first minutes as a Red.

Let’s hope there’s another opportunity in which the full back shows off his talents and that he understands why the boss had to make such a tough call.

Regardless of everything else too, nobody can ever take away from the 20-year-old that he’s played for Liverpool.

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