Arne Sloter's substitution helped Liverpool comeback to win

In the 29th round of the 2024-25 Premier League, Liverpool defeated Southampton 3-1. It was all thanks to the substitutions made by coach Arne Sloter that the team was able to win smoothly.

In the first half of the game, Will Smalley opened the scoring for Southampton, and Liverpool ended the first half trailing 0-1. However, soon after the start of the second half, Liverpool scored two goals in three minutes and quickly reversed the situation.

Darwin Nunez scored the equalizer, followed by two penalties from Mohamed Salah, allowing Liverpool to win the game and gain three points, accumulating 79 points in the Premier League and firmly sitting in the rankings, 16 points ahead of second-placed Arsenal.

In the post-match interview, the reporter asked Sloter about his conversation with the players during the halftime break. Sloter said: "I can tell you that I didn't say anything nice to the players during the halftime break."

"At halftime, I told the players that their energy level was ridiculously low and that this had to change. So we made three substitutions, not only to improve the quality on the field, but also to inject new changes into the team."

"Because when you take three players off at once, the other eight players will think that the situation should be different. This was the only way I could think of at halftime, to make some changes and make the second half different."

This season's competitions are very tight, and Liverpool will play against Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 on March 12. When asked by reporters if he was worried about the intensity of the game, Sloter confidently replied: "No, I'm not worried, because I know the players can show a completely different level of energy than in the first half today."

"PSG have set a great example for us. They showed incredible intensity against Lille, leading 4-0 at half-time. Then they played against us with an intensity we haven't experienced this season."

"We need to go one step further in terms of intensity against PSG. If we compare it to today's game, we need to increase the intensity a lot, maybe seven levels, otherwise we will have no chance of qualifying for the next round of the Champions League."