Arne Slot has been told he “let the team down, the club down and the fans down” with his team selection for Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
Slot’s decision to start Alexander Isak for the first time in four months backfired as Liverpool failed to score in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
There was surprise when Isak’s name was revealed on the teamsheet and bafflement when Slot revealed in his pre-match interview with Prime Video that the Swede would only be able to play 45 minutes.
Banking on a fast start and his two centre-forwards scoring, the Dutchman instead saw Hugo Ekitike suffer a nasty Achilles injury and Isak touch the ball five times in a half.
And with Liverpool exiting the Champions League to render their campaign an abject failure, French journalist Julien Laurens did not hold back.
Speaking as part of BBC Radio 5 Live’s coverage of the game, Laurens criticised Slot and said: “Tonight is not the game to get it wrong.”
“I don’t want to blame Arne Slot again like we did last week, but that lineup to start was complete nonsense,” he began.
“That second half was exactly how Liverpool should have started this game tonight, to get the crowd going.
“It should not have been Isak from the start. I don’t even understand where that came from. Unbelievable. I don’t understand.
“He made errors in his lineup in the first leg, in the way they set up. And again, we said before the game, tonight he cannot get it wrong.
“Tonight is not the game to get it wrong. You can’t change at half-time and expect turn around this game.
“He had to get it right from the beginning. For me, again, he let the team down, the club down and the fans down.”
Liverpool’s performance was markedly improved on the first leg in Paris, but much of that came after Ekitike’s injury when standout player Mohamed Salah was introduced.
The Reds ended the game with an xG of 1.97 to PSG’s 1.09, with Slot again lamenting his side’s failure to take their chances when speaking post-match.
But he also argued that five-touch striker Isak “was twice close to a goal” despite admitting one of those ‘chances’ “eventually was offside.”
