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The decision to substitute Milos Kerkez in the first half of Sunday's win over Burnley may have caught Liverpool supporters off guard. Yet, it's a move that Arne Slot, as Reds head coach, has shown he's willing to make.
Kerkez, a summer acquisition from Bournemouth, had been in the starting line-up for every competitive Liverpool match this season, including Sunday's trip to Turf Moor. He was booked for diving in the Burnley penalty area in the 22nd minute and shortly after received a warning for fouling Jaidon Anthony.
This led Slot to the tough call of pulling his left-back out of the firing line nine minutes before half-time, with Andy Robertson stepping in. It came after Jamie Carragher berated the defender for his diving antics.
While it might be a bitter pill for Kerkez to swallow, the decision was made to ensure he won't face suspension for next Saturday's Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield.
Ibrahima Konate can relate to this situation, as Slot didn't hesitate to replace him during the half-time interval of the Reds' home Premier League clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers last season in March.
The French center-back had been warned early on for halting a counter-attack by pulling back Matheus Cunha. Not long after, he collided with the same Brazilian and was lucky not to receive a second yellow card.
"I saw him [Konate] getting his first yellow, that was for me a soft yellow. If he would have gotten the second one for a shoulder push that would again have been a soft yellow," Slot explained after that game.
"So then he would have been sent off for two soft yellows. I think the referee felt the same, that's why he didn't [show a second yellow]. But I've watched football so many times in my life and I know that a player and a referee is then under pressure.
"So every next foul will lead again to maybe a referee that thinks 'maybe I now should give him' – I think back on three days ago. For Ibou it's so difficult to play 45 minutes of football against a strong Wolves team [on a booking], so I had to take him off. Because you can play football knowing in your head you can make a foul against such good players as Wolves have."
On Sky Sports commentary duty for the Burnley game, Jamie Carragher had branded Kerkez's decision to dive in the opposition 18-yard box 'absolutely stupid', and praised referee Michael Oliver for reacting quickly.
On the Hungarian's substitution for Robertson itself, the defender-turned-pundit added: "It's always a shock for any player when they see their number come up in the first half but I think that's good management from Arne Slot.
"It was absolutely ridiculous what he tried to do in the first-half trying to win the penalty and then getting that foul. And then he had the foul on the halfway line, the manager is speaking to him about that."
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