Stephen Warnock has praised Arne Slot for a subtle yet effective tactical tweak during the first half of Liverpool’s 3-1 win over AC Milan on Tuesday night.
The Reds fell behind to a Christian Pulisic goal in the opening three minutes but had recovered to lead by half-time and eventually saw out the match comfortably.
Speaking to BBC Football Daily afterwards, the ex-LFC defender pointed to how Alexis Mac Allister was instructed to drop back alongside Ryan Gravenberch to imporve the balance in our midfield, an alteration which worked a treat as the visitors wrestled control of the game from the Rossoneri at the San Siro.
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Warnock said: “It’s something that’s been highlighted from Arne Slot’s time at Feyenoord, his understanding and his tactical ability to change games and understand them in-play very quickly, and he did that straight away within the first 15 minutes.
“That’s impressive that he was able to do that, and the result itself hinged on those tactical changes because of the dominance of AC Milan in those first 15 minutes. They were cutting through Liverpool at will, they were finding things very easy, but once that change was made Liverpool dominated….That balance in midfield altered the game for Liverpool.”
Liverpool didn’t have a single shot inside the opening quarter-hour last night, whereas Milan had two. By half-time, that particular count was 12-2 in our favour, and the home side didn’t add to their tally until the 74th minute. In the end, the Reds had 23 shots to the Rossoneri’s eight (WhoScored).
Those statistics tell you everything you need to know about how the balance of play completely shifted after the first 15 minutes, and as Warnock rightly points out, Slot’s decision to drop Mac Allister a bit deeper paid quick dividends.
The early impact that Tijjani Reijnders was enjoying was quashed, and the visitors began to make the most of the spaces which had opened up once the head coach made that game-altering intervention.
It’s exactly the kind of proactivity that we want to see from the 46-year-old when it’s necessitated, and Milan didn’t have an answer for the midfield tweak from the Liverpool boss.
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