Arne Slot explains reason for mass Liverpool changes and what 'we knew' about Alexander Isak

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The Reds have undergone a significant overhaul since lifting a record-equalling 20th championship last season with almost £450million worth of summer arrivals while a raft of established squad regulars have departed.The situation has been exacerbated by a succession of injuries during the opening months of the campaign and a lack of proper pre-season for players such as £125m British record signing Alexander Isak, midfielder Alexis Mac Allister and right-back Conor Bradley.Liverpool's inconsistent team selection contributed to a recent run of six defeats in seven games that ramped up the pressure on Slot before he opted to rely less on new signings in his starting line-up, resulting in successive home wins against Aston Villa in the Premier League and Real Madrid in the Champions League.READ MORE: Dominik Szoboszlai makes honest Liverpool admission ahead of Man City - 'That's what we've missed'READ MORE: Arne Slot addresses Andy Robertson form and Liverpool contract question - 'It's been a while'And ahead of Sunday's trip to title contenders Manchester City, Slot - who welcomed Isak back to training on Friday after a fortnight out with a groin problem - has explained his heavy rotation this campaign."I'm known as being a manager who prefers not to change but I couldn’t do anything different to what I did," said the Liverpool head coach. You could say 'why do you play him?', but then he wouldn’t be fit until the end of the season."We knew this before when we signed him that it was going to take three to six months until he’s up to his usual level.

But if I never play him, I can’t bring him to that level.“There have been obvious reasons why we’ve had to change more than I would like. Mac Allister as an example, if you miss out on pre-season then you’re not ready to play three games in seven days.“If you do, you will get injuries, and I can show multiple examples to you – where Alex, by the way, is one – but also from other clubs, which I will not do because then journalists will go to the club and say ‘Arne Slot said something about your players...’!“But it’s so obvious for me, and I’m a bit more, you can maybe feel it, a bit like ‘Jesus, why don’t you see these things?

Why are you talking about me changing?’ when it’s so obvious why.“Ibou (Konate) and Virgil (van Dijk) I haven’t changed because they play in a position where it’s easier to play so many games."Slot added: "It’s not like in the first game of the season I decided not to play Ryan – he became a dad, that’s why I played Curtis (Jones). Then in the first Premier League game he was suspended as he made a dive for the first yellow (against Crystal Palace in the last game of last season when Gravenberch was later sent off).“You know what I want to say now?