He walked towards the Kop to greet the Liverpool fans who still adore him after applauding his own supporters, but this was a night of punishment for Alonso, a night for the home fans not to wonder about what could have been, but to delight yourself with what they have under Slot.
Alonso attempted to impart local knowledge to his players, constantly gesturing with his palms toward the ground asking for calm and composure. It worked wonders in a deadly dull first half, but lost its impact as Liverpool ran rampant once they broke Bayer Leverkusen’s resistance.
Slot has made an outstanding start at Liverpool, his almost low-key approach reflected in his polite celebrations after the final whistle, in stark contrast to the fist-pumping antics and wild animation of the man who preceded him.
If Slot has a problem to address, it might be that he should give his team a half-time talk before kick-off, as Liverpool, for their excellent record this season, can be off to a slow start.
Liverpool were put in a difficult situation when trailing Brighton at half-time at Anfield on Saturday before winning 2-1, once again looking listless and lifeless until the spark was provided by Diaz’s goal to break the tie after 61 minutes.
In all competitions this season, Liverpool have scored 22 goals in the second half compared to 15 in the first, and have taken 147 shots (66 of them on goal) in the second half compared to 97 (and 44 on goal) in the first.
Liverpool continued the pattern here as Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky was calm for 45 minutes before suddenly coming under siege that led to four second-half goals.
Slot said: “I don’t know if it had much to do with the intensity, but we took more risks. They overloaded the midfield a lot and we adapted and took the risk of playing one-on-one everywhere. And sometimes you also have to give credit to the opposition.
“I would love to see this from the beginning, but the other team usually has intensity too. What I like is that so far we are still producing this energy and going at a higher speed. Preferably we would start like this from the beginning, but “As I said, “We have to give credit to the opponent.”
Alonso was certainly in the mood to give Liverpool credit, saying: “It’s early to say, but I can see that Liverpool have a very good balance, a very complete team.
“They work with all 11 players and have the power to keep a clean sheet, which is important in the Champions League. In the Premier League, let’s see. It’s early to say, but it looks good for them.”
“The result is painful. The performance is more painful. We lacked some strength and consistency. Defeat, accept it, congratulate Liverpool and move on. I will try to separate the pain from the result, from the feelings of coming back and having love. I am really grateful to have that reception.”
Few could have a smoother transition than Slot, without Liverpool fans pining for the possibilities Alonso offers.
Slot, however, disagrees that things have been easy, saying: “Not at all. If you just look at the results, Brighton was difficult, we were 1-0 behind and we had to fight very hard. We have to play.” hard and work very intensely.
“Anfield is the best place to play, so all the teams that come here are at the top of their game. If we can continue to produce high intensity, we will continue to win and that is what we want.”
And Slot’s Liverpool continues to give its fans exactly what they want.
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