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Liverpool has not seen a great deal of Arne Slot's angry side because he has not had too much to be angry about.
After strolling to the league title in his first season, he has now presided over a 100 percent record in all competitions to start his second campaign. But even in the face of another victory, Hugo Ekitike managed to get on Slot's bad side against Southampton. It's all the more remarkable given that the Frenchman actually provided the winning goal.
But in farcical scenes, Ekitike celebrated by removing his jersey, earning himself a second yellow card and a suspension for the Premier League match against Crystal Palace. It's fair to say that Slot was not impressed with his summer recruit, and Simon Jordan has wholly backed up the head coach.
Slot branded the dismissal "stupid" and "needless." He was also at pains to point out that much of the good work for the winning goal was performed by the superb Federico Chiesa, with Ekitike doing little more than turning the ball into the net.
"I'm old-fashioned," Slot explained, still with a definite note of coolness in his voice even after the win had been wrapped up. "I'm 47.
"If I had scored a goal like this, I would have turned to Federico Chiesa and said: 'This is all about you.' The good thing is that his team-mates helped him because we could get the win over the line, but if the information is correct and he is suspended for Saturday, it's far from ideal."
That information is indeed correct. Yellow cards only accumulate toward a suspension in the Carabao Cup, but red cards carry over into other domestic competitions.
So while Liverpool got away with it on the night, it will fear consequences against Crystal Palace. Oliver Glasner's side is on an impressive unbeaten streak of its own.
Slot is clearly not without options, chiefly record signing Alexander Isak. But Liverpool continues to manage his fitness, and will not give him a full 90 minutes just yet.
Despite this being an obvious inconvenience, some might say Slot has come down a little hard on Ekitike. He did, after all, supply the winning goal — and it was a momentary lapse for which he quickly apologized.
But speaking on talkSPORT, Jordan and Danny Murphy praised Slot for laying down the law. They believe it is a sign of the respect he commands in the Liverpool dressing room.
"I think it’s the product of someone that’s in control of a dressing room because you’ve got a winning team," Jordan shared. "You’ve got a team where he’s just walked through the door and won the league, they’ve started the season now with five wins in the Premier League.
"They’re at the top of the Premier League, they’re not playing particularly well, but they’re still top of the Premier League. So with that in mind, that’s the currency that he gets.
"I wonder if he’d have done this five games into his first season when they hadn’t established their credentials. Maybe he would."
There is every chance that he would have done — Slot has done little for the Dutch stereotype, rarely being anything less than forthright. But it's true that his authority is only helped by the results he has delivered.
Moreover, his attitude chimes with that of the dressing room he inherited. Andy Robertson has also made it clear that Ekitike was censured by his colleagues as well as his boss.
Meanwhile, Murphy branded Slot's approach as "refreshing". He felt that it was nice to see a manager declining to make excuses for his players.
That's all fair enough, although you can't help but feel a little bit for Ekitike, who, at least in the media, is being made something of a sacrifice upon the altar of Liverpool's high standards. Behind the scenes, now that Slot has made his point, you'd hope that a line will be drawn under the whole bemusing affair.
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