Arne Slot has given the impression of being largely cool and collected during his Liverpool tenure so far, but every so often his fuse will burn out and he’ll let rip.
Chris Kavanagh will attest to that after the earful he received from the Reds’ head coach at one point during the 3-1 victory over Leicester on Thursday night, which the Premier League leaders earned after coming from behind.
Until Cody Gakpo’s equaliser on the stroke of half-time, the Anfield faithtful had been left frustrated by the visitors, who were only too happy to slow down the game at every opportunity once they’d hit the front through Jordan Ayew.
The closing exchanges of the first half saw Liverpool seeking to quickly build upon the Dutch forward’s goal, but referee Darren Bond called a halt to proceedings just as the Reds were building an attack.
Amid boos from the home supporters, that tipped Slot over the edge, with the 46-year-old approaching fourth official Kavanagh and pointing in the direction of where the play had stopped, the LFC boss clearly unhappy over how his team’s momentum had been interrupted.
Although Liverpool emerged victorious last night, there were still a few moments from the officials which would’ve vexed Reds supporters.
Bond gave just seven fouls in the first half (five for Leicester) but, despite the lack of any robust challenges, still saw fit to issue two yellow cards. For a finish he booked three players from the home side, including a harsh one for Dominik Szoboszlai which has now triggered a suspension for the trip to West Ham on Sunday.
Slot also had every right to feel annoyed over the abrupt ending to the first half when his team were on the attack. It was a role reveral from our trip to Newcastle at the start of the month, when the Magpies were enraged at the full-time whistle being blown when they had a promising counterattack in motion.
After the interval, there were two VAR reviews which took at least five minutes combined (hence the nine additional minutes at the end) and left many in Anfield venting their displeasure with the needlessly drawn-out process – in the end, the on-field decision was preserved in both instances.
Even in a match with no standout controversial moment, Bond and his team of officials still had a few moments which would’ve tested the patience of both Liverpool and Leicester.
Thankfully, those were mere footnotes to yet another LFC victory, one which leaves us seven points clear at the Premier League summit this morning!
You can view Slot’s exchange with Kavanagh below, via @asim_lfc on X:
Slot is fuming with the ref. #LFC pic.twitter.com/UlDBFipZxp
— Asim (@asim_lfc) December 26, 2024
The post (Video) One moment during Liverpool’s win v Leicester provoked rare angry outburst from Arne Slot appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.
