Credit: Imago / Getty Images

Harri Burton

Fri 15 August 2025 22:52, UK

Liverpool supporters were frustrated with Arne Slot’s tactical changes despite eventually beating Bournemouth in their Premier League opener.

Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher slam 'despicable' racist abuse during Liverpool vs Bournemouth	Roy Keane and Ian Wright slam Alexander Isak's 'shocking' behavior	Referee who made major error appointed to Liverpool vs Bournemouth Premier League opener

The game kicked off in a frantic style, with Djordje Petrovic thrown straight into the action, and Marcos Senesi avoiding a straight red card after handling a through ball for Hugo Ekitike.

Putting the incident behind them rather quickly, though, Ekitike netted the opener before Cody Gakpo doubled the Reds’ lead at Anfield on Friday, 15 August, sending his team into cruise control.

However, following a 12-minute brace from Antoine Semenyo, who was racially abused during the first half, the game was blown wide open, allowing the Cherries to push for an unlikely three points.

Before either goal went in, Slot chose some rather precarious substitutions, with Andy Robertson replacing Milos Kerkez and Wataru Endo replacing Jeremie Frimpong on the hour mark.

Bringing the Japanese international into the centre of midfield would have made perfect sense, but instead, the manager chose to stick the 32-year-old at right-back, and it was almost a disaster.

Thanks to a dysfunctional backline, and Endo’s positioning allowing David Brooks down the flank and deliver into the middle, Andoni Iraola’s side appeared likely to win a point before goals from Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah.

Wataru Endo made a surprise appearance at Anfield.

(Credit: Getty Images)

MORE FOOTBALL INSIDER STORIES

It was a whirlwind game at Anfield, very back and forth for both teams, and supporters were rather angry with Slot’s idea to bring Endo on, which nearly saw the Reds lose out on all three points.

Slot later revealed to Sky Sports after the game that Frimpong had “felt his hamstring” at half-time and he didn’t want to risk further injury on top of a similar issue for Conor Bradley.

Of course, Endo did grab the assist for Salah’s last-gasp goal, but with the Egyptian controlling a big punt up the pitch, fans are hardly applauding the makeshift right-back for his contribution.

One supporter labelled the change as a “fatal error”, while another called it Slot’s “biggest mistake”, and while the Reds eventually went on to win three points, it could have quite easily gone the other way.

Slot clearly has some testing to do with his team, especially after also losing the Community Shield to Crystal Palace, but he is unlikely to try the Endo experiment again.

Related Posts