ReactionTrent Alexander-Arnold: We had a point to prove in the second half
Trent Alexander-Arnold explained Liverpool’s determination to make amends in the second half of Saturday’s 3-1 win over Southampton.
The Premier League leaders were below-par for the majority of the opening 45 minutes at Anfield and their disappointing display was compounded by the away team taking an added-time lead courtesy of Will Smallbone.
Frank exchanges inside the dressing room during the interval paved the way for an improved offering from the Reds, who overturned the scoreline within 10 minutes of play resuming.
Darwin Nunez levelled and Mohamed Salah converted a penalty to put Arne Slot’s side ahead, and victory was sealed by a second Salah penalty near the end.
Liverpool’s response moved them 16 points clear in the division before second-placed Arsenal travel to Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.
Post-match, Alexander-Arnold spoke to Liverpoolfc.com about the clash with Saints, the squad’s mentality and the excitement for two major cup fixtures in the coming week.
Read the Q&A in full below…
On it being a game of two halves against Southampton…
To say the least, yeah. Obviously a very, very, very disappointing first half, one that we’re not proud of by any means. But I think the most important thing for us today was three points, that’s all we wanted and that’s all we aimed for. The performance wasn’t great first half but if you leave with three points then you’ve done something right.
On Slot being animated with his players at half-time…
Probably the most we’ve seen him so far. It’s a good thing that he has not been too animated so far! But I think rightly so, it wasn’t good enough, deserved to be down I suppose. But came out second half with a point to prove and did that really early on.
On the change in tempo from the outset of the second half…
Yeah, huge. We played with intent, with meaning and with purpose. And you could see that from the start, we had a point to prove, we knew we needed to get three points and that’s what we did. Outstanding performance second half, really showed the quality we’ve got and controlled the game in the way that we wanted to.
On finding ways to win…
Of course, as a team, as individuals you’d like to be very good every single game but it’s not possible. You’re going to have days like this where you don’t play well, you’re not proud of the performance but it’s days like today where you’ll look back on it and just think, ‘Yeah, we got the three points.’ That’s the most important thing. As long as there wasn’t a big upset today, that’s all we really cared about. Three points is huge, shows the character that we’ve got, and we needed to win a game like this today.
On Salah stepping up to convert two pressure penalties…
Yeah, fair play to him. Obviously he has got the trust of the players, the manager, the staff to take the penalties. He’s cool, calm and collected in those moments, you see that. He’s a game-winner for us, they’re the type of players you need to be successful and to win this league. You need players to step up in those moments where they’re difficult and it could go wrong. He’s got a positive mentality, he believes in himself, he’s got the technique, he’s got the composure to go and put them away and win us the game.
On digging deep and recovering for a big week ahead…
That’s the main thing, of course. We can’t downplay too much how important today’s win was – to go 16 clear at this stage of the season is huge, it puts a lot of pressure on Arsenal. We’ve done our work in the league now until after the internationals, and now we’ve obviously got two other competitions. It’s a chance to get into the next phase of the Champions League after getting a good result on Wednesday, and obviously a cup final is always a pleasure to play in. Playing down at Wembley is always an honour. Very excited for the next two games. They’re going to be very, very difficult but we wouldn’t want it any other way.