David Lynch thoroughly enjoyed one thing that he witnessed from Arne Slot during Liverpool’s win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Although the Reds extended their winning run to six games in all competitions and made it nine victories out of 10 to start the season, the result at Selhurst Park wasn’t without its complications, and not just because of Alisson Becker’s injury.
Although the home side were left seething over a penalty not given to them when Virgil van Dijk had hold of Marc Guehi inside the box, the visitors also had reason to fume at the officials, with the Eagles being given no fewer than 14 free kicks before we were awarded one by Simon Hooper.
Lynch enjoyed Slot’s angrier side
Speaking to Anfield Index‘s Media Matters podcast as he reflected on the match, Lynch described the refereeing on Saturday as ‘bizarre’ and labelled the lopsided free kick count ‘outrageous’.
When he witnessed Slot doing his nut on the touchline over one instance where a seemingly clear foul wasn’t given against Palace, the journalist described it as the Dutchman’s ‘welcome to the Premier League moment’, adding: “I absolutely loved Slot’s reaction…this is what it’s like…We are seeing more of his personality now.”
Slot had every reason to be dissatisfied
Prior to the game at Selhurst Park, Slot had generally exuded a calm demeanour on the touchline, certainly more so than his boisterous predecessor Jurgen Klopp.
However, even the most Zen of coaches would’ve lost patience with some of the decisions that Hooper made on Saturday, and both teams had cause for complaint over his general performance.
The Liverpool head coach made it known afterwards that he wasn’t overly impressed with the officiating, getting his point across in a measured manner rather than going in on the 42-year-old with a stinging rebuke and even claiming that, had VAR given a penalty against Van Dijk, there wouldn’t have been reason to overturn the call (TNT Sports, via Daily Express).
Whether Slot’s touchline outbursts are a sign of things to come or a momentary loss of temper will become clearer as the weeks progress, but he and every Reds fan will be hoping that our subsequent matches are referred to a higher standard than the one in south London.
