Arne Slot talked about Liverpool’s new signings after the match on Sunday.
The FA Community Shield final didn’t go the way the Reds expected. Liverpool’s defeat against Crystal Palace on penalties has raised a few question marks about the club’s upcoming season.
Slot started with a 4-2-3-1 formation as expected, but there were some surprises in the starting eleven, as Ryan Gravenberch was not even on the bench. Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of the 3pm BST kick-off against Crystal Palace, Slot revealed: “Ryan Gravenberch became a dad last night.”
Also, Alexis Mac Allister didn’t start the match, as Slot had earlier mentioned that Macca couldn’t play the full game. Liverpool’s No.10 came on as a substitute later and played the final 20 minutes.
However, all four of Liverpool’s major summer signings started the match against Palace. The two goals the Reds scored came from their new arrivals — Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong.
Meanwhile, the Merseyside club’s record-breaking signing, Florian Wirtz, also registered an assist in the final. The game ended 2-2 and went to penalties, where Liverpool lost 3-2.
ALSO READ: What went wrong for Liverpool in Community Shield defeat
What Arne Slot said about Liverpool’s new signings
The Dutch mastermind spoke on Ekitike and Wirtz: “These are players we have brought in for quite a lot of money, so they know how to handle the pressure. Both of them played a good game.”
As Slot noted, this was the first major game for the newcomers in the Red shirt, and the Liverpool boss seemed pleased with their performance in the frontline.
He also admitted that things might take time, saying: “We’ve replaced four players, and sometimes you need time to adapt offensively or defensively. Against Bilbao, we didn’t concede chances — just two set-pieces. I don’t think we conceded that much today, just two goals. Maybe I’m forgetting a few. It felt to me the equaliser was their second big chance of the game. There needs to maybe be a little bit of adjustment defensively.”
ALSO READ: Liverpool transfer news: Latest on Isak, Guehi & Nunez