Arne Slot was happy to make light of predecessor Jurgen Klopp‘s bugbear after he made a triumphant start to life as Liverpool boss with a 2-0 victory at Ipswich.
One of Klopp’s big irritations was a Saturday 12.30pm kick-off, and it appeared for long periods at Portman Road that Slot may share the same gripe after Ipswich edged a tight first half in which the visitors failed to register a shot on target.
Liverpool, who finished third in Klopp’s final season, went up a level after the break with Diogo Jota able to force the opener on the hour mark after an assist by Mohamed Salah.
Salah went from provider to finisher five minutes later with a smart effort, and in doing so became the outright top scorer in Premier League opening weekend matches with nine goals, to earn three points on Slot’s debut.
“When I started here there were many things that have been told to me and one of them was Jurgen hated the 12.30pm kick-off,” Slot said.
“Today the team showed we hate the 12.30pm kick-off because we were not in the game in the first half.
“We as a team made a big change at half-time because we came out totally different that we came out for the first half, but I have to give credit to Ipswich.
“Second half we won more duels, we won more second balls and we played more balls in behind.
“Because if the other team takes the risk of playing one-v-one and you have the likes of Luis Diaz, Mo Salah and Diogo Jota, then use them. Play the balls in behind.
“That’s what we did better in the second half and from there on gaps opened up.”
Slot played down his half-time intervention, but Ibrahima Konate was introduced in place of Jarell Quansah and 15 minutes later Jota broke the deadlock.
Trent Alexander-Arnold played through Salah, who found Jota and this time he slotted past Christian Walton – 60 seconds after he headed wide with the goal at his mercy.
Ipswich supporters responded with encouragement but five minutes later it was 2-0.
Virgil van Dijk picked out Salah with a superb crossfield ball and he exchanged passes with Dominik Szoboszlai before the Liverpool number 11 steered under Walton.
Salah, along with Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk, are out of contract next summer, but Slot’s focus is on Brentford and an eagerness to avoid a repeat first-half display.
“If I see what Mo does to keep his body as it is and to be ready to play every game, I think there are many more years inside of him to play, but I am looking now at Brentford and not at the end of the season,” Slot said.
“We didn’t cope with that well enough [with Ipswich‘s aggression] in my opinion.
“And that’s what I said to them at half-time: ‘If you want to win over here, you need to step up in terms of winning your duels first time and make a fight out of it’.
“It helped us that Ibou Konate came in because he from the start won his duels and that gave us also a lot of ball possession, which led to two goals. We could have scored a few more though.”
Kieran McKenna was proud of his players on the club’s top-flight return after 22 years away.
Seven of the starting line-up were also starters when Ipswich sealed promotion from Sky Bet League One in 2023.
“I think it was a really positive first-half performance and we showed all the ingredients that we’re going to need to have a good season,” McKenna said.
“Of course the challenge for us then is we have to be able to do it for longer.
“But I think the players should be really proud of their efforts and the way they managed to step up.”
