Liverpool boss Arne Slot was run through a gauntlet of emotions on Friday, as the Reds began their Premier League title defense with a 4-2 win over Bournemouth.
The Reds and Anfield paid pregame tribute to Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva following the tragic accident that took their lives earlier this summer, a vibrant “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and tifo displays adding to the atmosphere of an Opening Day.
MORE — Recap, video highlights from Anfield
And for a while it looked Liverpool might cruise against a Bournemouth team dealing with back line upheaval. New signing Hugo Ekitike had a goal and an assist as the Reds built a 2-0 lead.
Antoine Semenyo rallied the Cherries to a deadlock before Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah found late goals to deliver three points to the hosts.
Slot will surely be asked about all of the above as well as an incident of racial abuse involving Semenyo that caused a first-half pause in the game.
Arne Slot reaction — Liverpool boss reacts to blown lead, thrilling win, emotional Diogo Jota tributes
Now, knowing the result, it couldn’t have been better. When we were 2-0 up we started really well after the first half. They also had their chances. When we were 2-0 up we controlled the game but all of the sudden two counter attacks, they came back in the game. This team we faced never gives up. Fortunately the team they face never gives up.
As much as everybody is talking about our squad we do have a few issues and one of them is availability in our back line. Joe Gomez has not trained much in 3.5 weeks. We lost a bit of control after the 2-1 and we needed more in the midfield. Hugo Ekitike is getting there but is still not able to play 90. Jeremie Frimpong felt his hamstring a little bit and it’s finding the balance between keeping them fit and winning games.
We lost a lot of players. When you lose players it’s quite hard to sign new ones. Normally in the Premier League it’s about signing, signing, and never selling. We’ve lost four starters but we’ve brought in really good players as well. The good thing is three of them were there at the start of preseason. Hugo wasn’t unfortunately. We weren’t lucky to face Bournemouth, who are one of the fittest teams in the league.
It starts with where you lose the ball. We have a trick from Dominik Szoboszlai which is unnecessary when you’re 2-0 up. Then there was a moment at 2-1 where our fullback made an inside run, normally a great idea to make space for Mo, but Mo decided to square it and it was just not perfect and then the team we faced has unbelievable intensity in terms of running. They just came out of nowhere with 2-3 extra players, great finish by Semenyo. Great player. So yeah, it’s a bit of everything.
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