If anyone found the opening half at Portman Road less interesting, Alexis MacAllister and his Liverpool teammates in the second half showed glimpses of what life under Arne Slot could be like.
That second 45 minutes saw the Reds show real quality and intensity which eventually proved too much for Ipswich Town. The tweak in tactical play fuelled by the introduction of Ibrahama Konate for Jarell Quansah meant Trent Alexander-Arnold was given the greenlight to comb the midfield, which gave Liverpool the impetus to charge forward. The final results, after that second half one could say flattered the hosts.
Alexis MacAllister believes the fine-drawn tweaks intoduced by Slot can bring the team success this campaign.
The No.10 told Viaplay: “I think this manager asks more to stay in the position, and that’s maybe like a different structure.
“But the principles are the same. We know that defensively we have to run, we have to give our 100 per cent, the last two steps are so important and that can make the difference.
“There is a couple of changes, not much, but I think Arne can help us to be a better team.”
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Liverpool showed visible improvements after the break, wining more duels, creating thrice as many chances they managed in the first half, with Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah scoring within 5 minutes of each other to ensure Slot’s era began with a win. And the World Cup winner thought despite the significant improvement, there is much more to come from them.
Mac Allister analysed, “I think it was more about the last step when we were pressing.” “Maybe [in the] first half we were not at 100 per cent but in the second half we showed the team we can be and we are really happy with our second-half performance.
“It was good to start with a win – it’s always important. We know that we came to a tough place.
“You could see how excited they [Ipswich] were to play football, to play in the Premier League again. It was a nice game for both. I think they showed good things as well.
“But the important thing is that we got the three points.”
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