Arne Slot praised the intensity and tactical flexibility of his Liverpool side following their 4-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield in the Champions League.
The Reds turned on the style in the second half on Tuesday night, with Luis Diaz scoring a memorable hat-trick to help secure the win over the Xabi Alonso-managed side.
Diaz opened the scoring in the 61st minute, with Cody Gakpo quickly doubling the lead. The Colombian winger then netted two more goals in the final stages, completing his first-ever hat-trick for Liverpool.
The win extended Liverpool’s perfect start in the competition, maintaining a flawless record after four matchdays under Slot’s guidance.
He said: “Like many times now, managers change their game plan when they come to Anfield or when they play us – that’s also what we saw today.
“We’ve seen a lot of games from Leverkusen but I’ve never seen [Victor] Boniface playing from the left.
So, they played without a nine and that’s why they overloaded the midfield a lot.
“It was quite difficult to press them high. But the good thing was that we hardly conceded anything and I think during the first half if there were chances, they were for us.
“But [in the] second half we could adjust to the game plan of the first half, we took a bit more risks, we were better with the ball as well.
“Normally they defend more in a 5-2-3, now they defended in a 4-4-2, so they changed quite a lot and we could adjust to that at half-time.”
Slot added: “No, I would love to see this from the start but then the other team normally has [the same intensity] because when the game starts everybody is still very fit and there’s a lot of intensity from both sides.
“What I like until now is that we are able to keep producing this energy – and even go a gear higher – and some situations led to the fact the teams we faced – not all of them, but a few of them – had some difficulties with that intensity.
“But preferably we start like this from the start, but like I said, you have to credit the opponents we played. Brighton had a very good game plan on Saturday; Xabi Alonso – we all know this from him – had a very good game plan today as well, which made it difficult for us in the first half.
“But even if it is difficult for us, and not difficult in terms of them getting a lot of chances but they have a bit more ball possession than we would like, we still don’t concede a lot and that has a lot to do with the work-rate the players put in.”
Read more: Pep Guardiola sends warning new incoming Man United coach Ruben Amorim
Arne Slot explains decision to bench Darwin Nunez against Bayer Leverkusen
Confirmed Liverpool starting line-up to face Bayer Leverkusen
