Arne Slot singled out Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Jonathan Tah for special praise after Liverpool’s 4-0 win in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
A second-half hat-trick from Luis Diaz, plus a goal from Cody Gakpo, sealed Liverpool’s victory at Anfield which has put them top of the Champions League table with four wins from four matches so far.
The Colombia international played in a central role in Liverpool’s attack and Slot has revealed that the presence of Tah at the heart of Leverkusen’s defence shaped his thinking.
The 28-year-old, who played an integral role in Leverkusen’s success under Xabi Alonso last season, came close to joining Bayern Munich in the summer transfer window and is set to be available as a free agent at the end of the campaign when his contract expires.
Asked for the reasons why Diaz played through the middle against Leverkusen, Slot said: ‘A few things… I only have four attackers available at the moment with the injuries of Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa, and Darwin [Nunez] didn’t play that much in the beginning and then he started to play a bit more.
‘With this fixture list, it’s almost impossible to play them all, especially if you haven’t played that many games before.
‘So, that in combination with the fact that I think Tah, who is a real good defender and is one of the best defenders in Germany… maybe the best defender in Germany, maybe likes to play more against a target man, someone who’s there in the middle.
‘We chose to play Lucho more from the left or the midfield and then maybe surprise him afterwards with runs in behind – not only him but in general. If you look at the first goal, that played out – what a pass from Curtis Jones.’
Asked if Diaz could play more games through the middle, Slot said: ‘If we have our injuries like we have at the moment then this could happen, yeah.
‘But that also depends on who is available and how the other team lines up, what the formation is. Last season, I think if both of them played, Cody Gakpo and Lucho, then it was more Cody who played as a nine and Lucho as an 11, and that’s also a possibility.
‘But then we had maybe, again, this height from Cody against Tah instead of someone who’s a bit more versatile and who drops into the midfield.
‘He’s [Diaz] played many, many games but I just said something about Darwin Nunez, in the Premier League and the Champions League, you have to play so many games at the highest level and it’s not always possible for every player to play every game, especially in certain positions.
‘So, if you are a centre-back, normally you run not as much as a left-winger or a full-back or a midfielder, and especially our wingers. But because you all look at the goals Lucho scored and the goals Cody scored, I also look at the fact how hard they track back, how much they have to defend. I ask a lot from them, so that’s why sometimes we have to rotate them.
‘But Lucho, for me, is a starter. And I said this three days ago about Cody as well he’s, for me, a starter also.’
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