Anre Slot acknowledges 'nervous' Anfield energy despite Liverpool 3-goal West Ham win

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Liverpool IconLiverpool FC NewsFeaturesArne SlotThe Reds ran out comfortable winners in the Premier League encounter, but it could have been different had West Ham taken advantage of its spell in the ascendancy during the second halfArne Slot admitted there was a "nervousness" inside Anfield as Liverpool beat West HamArne Slot admitted that despite Liverpool’s three-goal win over West Ham United on Saturday there were spells when he could sense a “nervousness” inside Anfield.Perhaps that’s not a surprise given Liverpool has conceded so many late, decisive goals, including in its last home Premier League outing against Manchester City. And despite the dominant scoreline, the Reds endured a prolonged period at the start of the second half in which West Ham repeatedly found spaces in behind the Liverpool midfield.Tomas Soucek netted in the 49th to make the score 3-1 and, had the Hammers scored another while on top, there would have been understandable jitters inside Anfield.

Instead Cody Gakpo cut inside and struck beyond Mads Hermansen and the game’s momentum swung back in Liverpool’s favor.READ MORE: Arne Slot reveals importance of Joe Gomez in improving Liverpool recordREAD MORE: Florian Wirtz injury latest as Arne Slot delivers update on Liverpool starThe Premier League champions went on to win 5-2, and the post-match narrative centered on Liverpool’s improvement. However, as Slot acknowledged, things could have gone differently.“This happened, I think more this season, that there were three, four or five minutes during a game where we struggled a little bit,” Slot said after the game, on the Reds’ slow start to the second half.“But, as I said here so many times, usually in those four or five minutes a ball went in and if that then happens at 0-0, you have a different feeling because you’re 1-0 down than when it happens at 3-0 up.Soucek's goal increased the nerves inside Anfield(Image: Getty)“I don’t think there was ever a moment that they were close to closing the gap to one goal.“They scored the 3-1, I think we [then] had the biggest chance for 4-1 with Cody Gakpo.“Then it took a while before we scored the 4-1, which was scored by Cody Gakpo as well.“It came back to 4-2, we were having our chances again, so it was never under real threat but I could feel the nervousness in the stadium and that, of course, makes sense because so many times this season we’ve given away a very comfortable lead, completely unnecessary but it did happen.Liverpool emerged from the sticky spell with a comfortable 5-2 win(Image: AFP or licensors)“I never like to concede a goal but if we have to concede a goal I like it that we had 10 players in and around our box and sometimes there’s a bit of bad luck that then the ball just falls with these one or two players of them when we had seven or eight over there, or quality by the individual who feels, ‘I have to be there’ – Soucek.“That is, to a certain extent, something positive because we’ve conceded goals this season as well where not all of our players were back.”The Reds' 5-2 win ensured it moved level on points with Manchester United and is three points ahead of Chelsea in the race for the Champions League places.Liverpool FCArne SlotWest Ham United FC