Luis Enrique admits ‘surprise’ with Arne Slot decision after PSG beat Liverpool | Football

Luis Enrique admits he was ‘surprised’ by Arne Slot’s decision to play five at the back in Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

PSG delivered a dominant display in Paris with Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scoring in each half for the Champions League holders.

For his side’s trip to the French capital, Slot opted to play a back three of Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez with Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez operating as wing-backs.

However, Liverpool struggled to trouble PSG as they failed to register a shot on target and had just 26 per cent of possession.

Speaking after PSG’s victory, Luis Enrique was asked whether he was surprised by Slot’s decision to start with a defensive formation.

‘It’s a surprise because it’s the first time Arne Slot has played with three at the back this year,’ Luis Enrique told Canal Plus.

‘It showed that they’re changing and trying something new, which is normal. We’re used to opponents adapting to us, so no worries. We’ll be looking to win the second game.’

In a separate interview with TNT Sports, Luis Enrique added: ‘I know Arne Slot is a great coach, it’s the first time they play with five at the back.

‘But we are used to seeing other teams change formation to play against us, it’s normal.

‘I think they played a great much, they are a physical team, very strong, have individual, quality players and it was a very nice match. It’s always a pleasure playing against Arne Slot and his teams because they try to play football in an offensive play and it was nice to watch.’

Explaining his formation after Liverpool’s defeat to PSG, Slot admitted he wanted to counter the threat posed by Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes on the wings.

‘They have pace from everywhere all over the pitch, so it doesn’t matter where you look, you see pace, incredible pace, Hakimi and Nuno Mendes are an unbelievable offensive threat, apart from all the others, so we played with Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, that was the thought behind it and that way I thought we could try to press them really high and aggressive because Jeremie and Milos are also two players, if you press Hakimi and Nuno Mendes they play and they start to run,’ Slot said.

‘They don’t start to run by the way, they start to sprint, actually it’s not even sprinting, it’s just a level above sprinting. You have to cope with that and usually players like Jeremie and Milos are better equipped for that than out-and-out wingers.

‘But I think we could also see when we tried to press them high and aggressive those were also the moments we were completely ripped apart, I think we had five or six big chances from them when we tried to be high and aggressive, it tells you how difficult it is to play against this team.

‘We try to do this in a high press and in a low block means we have more defenders on the pitch, more tight, more aggressiveness, I think you noticed this bringing Joe in, you add set-piece quality as well.

‘There seems to be a lot of focus on the system but what is the difference if I played Rio [Ngumoha] or Cody Gakpo as a left winger because Milos had to play as a left winger facing Hakimi and there were four defenders left.

‘If I could also explain it as a 4-3-3 with Florian on the left, Hugo in the middle and Milos on the left, three midfielders and four defenders but because they are defensively minded people see it as a five, that’s the way I would describe it by the way.

‘I think the margins are really small, just try to think about it if we had tried to play with real wingers here today what would that have looked like against Hakimi and Nuno Mendes.’

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