Slot Talk: Left-Back Gauntlet Thrown
Yesterday at 02:00 PM
The Liverpool boss has consistent choices to make
Speaking ahead of Liverpool's Saturday kick-off against Ipswich Town, head coach Arne Slot was clear that he has decisions to make. While much will be said about Harvey Elliot, who lacks minutes but makes up for them with bright cameos, Slot addressed the increase in minutes that Kostas Tsimikas has seen this season.
Though asked whether this increase in game time came for rotation or skill level reasons, the Liverpool boss hedged his bets:
"I think both. If Kostas was on a completely different level than Robbo [Andy Robertson] then it would not be smart to rotate in that position or manage the load because then you drop so far in quality that it could be a risk.
"I don't know what Kostas' situation was last season, I know he didn't play a lot but I don't know where he was at which level. But from the moment I came and in our tour in the United States, he did really well.
"He's proved that he can play in the left full-back position as well. Since we've now got two good options, in my opinion, you can indeed see we are managing loads and rotate in that position quite a bit. Yes, that's true."
It's worth noting that Robertson, who is 30 years old, came into this season carrying a knock from international duty, which means he did not start the season on full fitness.
Slot insists that the rotation is a positive for them both, though fans and press are not usually liable to accept a much ado about nothing answer when it comes to form and fitness.
