Arne Slot has been a revelation since he arrived at Liverpool at the start of the season. There’s no doubt that our initial concerns that the club would struggle after the departure of Jurgen Klopp were unfounded. Slot defied expectations, avoided spending big in the summer and managed to get even more out of Klopp’s squad.
He hit the ground running, dominating in all competitions from the Premier League to the Champions League and League Cup. The word ‘quadruple’ startted being mentioned in the press. Could Liverpool sweep the board in Slot’s first season in charge? Surely not.
Much has been made of the strength of Liverpool’s squad this season, mostly because the youngsters coming into the side have been impressive, while the stars watch on from the dugout. But whenever Slot has rotated his players, as we’ve seen in the League Cup campaign, he has always had a strong bench just in case.
On Sunday Slot underestimated the opposition. Plymouth Argyle are bottom of the Championship with only five wins from 30 games. On paper they should pose no threat to Liverpool, even with the youngsters on the pitch. He decided to leave out the majority of his key players from the matchday squad and trusted the kids to do the job.
Unfortunately, he didn’t factor in the so-called ‘Magic of the FA Cup’, which drives lower league teams to go that extra mile in every tackle, every pass and every save, cheered on by a raucous crowd eager to see giantkilling in action. And that’s what they got!
Slot was determined to put a positive spin on Sunday’s defeat, explaining that there are big games ahead for his first choice players. That’s true, and hopefully those players will get the job done, win the League Cup final and go on to claim the Premier League title and lift the European Cup. It would have still been nice to have had another trip to Wembley though. Maybe next season he will take the competition more seriously.
