Arne Slot had not made more than one change to his starting lineup before the trip to San Siro, and he has now explained why he opted for two alterations to his XI against AC Milan.
There has been a lot of pressure on the Dutchman to rotate his side in the face of an intense schedule, with the defeat to Nottingham Forest seen as a harsh early lesson.
Many had hoped and anticipated a handful of changes from the Reds, but Slot settled for two, with Kostas Tsimikas and Cody Gakpo replacing Andy Robertson and Luis Diaz.
Explaining his reasoning pre-match to Prime Video, Slot said: “I think I’ve made changes also during my first four games, but they were more changes during the game.
“Macca was one of them that came back from the international team with, not an injury, but he didn’t play his last game (note: he came off the bench for Argentina amid adductor discomfort).
“It is managing minutes, the other ones do really well, and I have more than 11 good players, so today it is Cody and Kostas.”
It is interesting that Slot name-checked Alexis Mac Allister‘s fitness issues, yet he has started him twice since he returned from duty with Argentina.
As for his expectations for Tsimikas and Gakpo in their first starts of the season, he stressed that they need to play their “team role.”
He said: “[I want] similar things I want to see from the others. It’s not about them, it’s about the team.
“They just have to fill in the best possible way in their team roles, and then if they do this, hopefully, one of them can bring the extra quality, if it’s Cody or Kostas or one of the others that start. I don’t mind.
“It’s all about them doing what they have to do for the team. Hopefully, as a result of that, we will get the best individual performance out of them as well.”
Slot has 12 players on the bench against AC Milan, and that includes Federico Chiesa, who could be in line to make his Liverpool debut after watching the last two games from the stands.
