Gary Neville says Arne Slot has already made a ‘brutal’ decision in Liverpool’s win vs Ipswich

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Liverpool won their first competitive game under Arne Slot as they beat Ipswich Town 2-0 in their Premier League opener.

Slot was praised by Liverpool fans during the match at Portman Road, where Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah were on the scoresheet.

Dominik Szoboszlai impressed Virgil van Dijk and Luis Diaz in the victory, with Slot getting off to the ideal start.

But it wasn’t always pretty for Liverpool, who were made to work extremely hard for the three points by the visitors.

Kieran McKenna’s side started strongly, giving the visitors no time on the ball and even threatening Alisson on occasion.

Gary Neville makes ‘brutal’ Arne Slot claim after Liverpool beat Ipswich

Liverpool’s first half struggles were evident by a major decision from Slot at half-time, with the manager withdrawing Jarell Quansah.

Quansah was taken off for losing too many duels, with the young academy graduate replaced by Ibrahima Konate.

READ MORE: Everything to know on Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk from his tattoo to net worth

The decision shocked Gary Neville, who said on The Gary Neville Podcast: “I thought Arne Slot was quite tough on Jarell Quansah.

“Subbing someone at half-time is big and I do not think it is done lightly by managers. He was quite blunt about the way he answered it, there was no holding back.

“So I think there is an element of him being quite clinical and brutal, he was reacting to the game and he felt like they needed to win the duels, that was his main thought behind the decision.

“It worked you have to say, Liverpool were much better in the second half and it was a good win for them.”

Liverpool youngster Jarell Quansah must recover quickly

Quansah looked very upset and frustrated as he sat on the bench for the second half against newly-promoted Ipswich.

But Slot obviously felt the visitors were getting too much joy against the young centre-back, with the manager wasting no time in making the decision.

Slot clearly does rate the 21-year-old, who impressed under Jurgen Klopp last season, before earning an England call-up earlier this summer.

READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp’s best games as Liverpool manager

He was then given the nod ahead of Konate alongside Van Dijk for the season opener, which unfortunately didn’t exactly go to plan.

Quansah must now put the decision behind him and work on the specific area of duels in order to win back his manager’s trust.