Copyright Yardbarker
Jamie Redknapp took aim at Arne Slot after Liverpool exited the Carabao Cup at the hands of Crystal Palace on Wednesday night. It was a fixture in which the Reds could’ve done with a morale-boosting win after a miserable October, but the head coach changed almost his entire starting XI from the defeat to Brentford last weekend, with several first-team regulars not even in the matchday squad. The gamble appeared to be paying some dividends until a quickfire Ismaila Sarr brace just before half-time, and the second half was largely uneventful as the Eagles coasted to victory, tacking on one more goal late on through Yeremy Pino on a night which also saw Amara Nallo sent off. Redknapp criticises Slot over team selection Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, Redknapp was critical of Slot for the heavily rotated team selection, believing that the line-up selected by the 47-year-old was never going to be good enough to beat Palace. The pundit fumed: “It was the wrong team, make no mistake. He picked a team today that made it really difficult for himself. You’ve not helped the young players because of the players that are around them. You’ve made 10 changes from Brentford. “You can’t tell me that he’s picked that team today and those subs thinking, ‘That will get me a result against a really good Crystal Palace’. You might hope you can. I didn’t believe for one second they could beat them. He’s made a mistake today. “He’s been unbelievable since he’s come to the club. He’s under some real pressure, but that’s football. That’s the price on the ticket. They climbed the mountain last season and were absolutely sensational. Now they’ve got to go back to that character they showed when they won the title and stick together.” Slot might yet feel vindicated by Carabao Cup team selection Eyebrows would’ve been raised by Slot’s team selection for last night, and the Liverpool boss is evidently prioritising the weekend Premier League clash against Aston Villa and next Tuesday’s Champions League showdown against Real Madrid. If the Reds are to get positive results in those two games, the Dutchman will feel vindicated by the line-up he picked for the Carabao Cup match, although he’s certainly ramped up the pressure to get something out of those by effectively writing off one domestic trophy. It’s entirely understandable that the 47-year-old is conscious of the minutes being played by his mainstays, and he pointed to the dearth of first-team regulars available to him and the players he lost to injury/suspension in the previous round against Southampton as justification for making so many changes (liverpoolfc.com). That said, considering how badly Liverpool need a win – any win – right now, Slot was playing with fire not only by swapping out so many of his main starters, but fielding a hugely inexperienced subs’ bench and not having the likes of Dominik Szoboszlai and Hugo Ekitike to call upon. The jury remains out on last night’s team selection until such time that the Reds’ next two matches have been played. Further defeats will see the spotlight shone even more harshly on the head coach; two positive results in the next week may ultimately justify the Dutchman’s gamble.
