What night in the stands taught Arne Slot about Liverpool’s academy players

Arne Slot spent the night in the stands as Liverpool beat Southampton 2-1 to reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals, which reinforced his belief in the academy.

Suspended after his third booking of the domestic season at the weekend, Slot watched from behind the press box on Wednesday night, high up in the stands at St Mary’s.

It gave the head coach a unique vantage point, but also an experience closer to the fans, which saw him acknowledge their rendition of ‘Scouser in our team’ for captain Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Slot watched a side with eight changes from the 2-2 draw with Fulham, including a first start for 17-year-old Trey Nyoni and outings for the likes of Tyler Morton, Jarell Quansah and, from the bench, James McConnell and Jayden Danns.

And it helped prove to the Dutchman that those youngsters are “capable of playing at Premier League level” – though he outlined “the next step they have to make.”

“I think this club is known for this,” he told his post-match press conference when asked about the impact of Liverpool’s youngsters.

“I heard the fans singing for Trent, a song about a Scouser, I don’t know exactly what they sing but it probably has to do with him coming from the academy as well.

“We have already a few starters from our academy, and to see these players that train with us on a daily basis, we know their quality and it’s nice to see that they show that they can easily play at this level.

“The thing for them is it’s not about easily playing at this level, you have to compete with Mo and Virgil and all these kinds of players.

“It’s not enough to be good enough to play at this level, you have to be good enough to play for Liverpool, and that is probably the next step they have to make.

“But they’ve shown today that these players are capable of playing at Premier League level, that’s for sure.”

Speaking to LFCTV, Slot reiterated: “It’s good to see them at this level, but they also face this level in training sessions when they have to face Virgil and Mo and all these players we have.

“We know we can trust them, so we have to highlight them.”

Liverpool also had goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros, defenders Amara Nallo and James Norris and 16-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha on the bench at St Mary’s.

While Slot’s changes and the seven senior players he left on Merseyside came out of necessity during a busy run, his decision to trust so many academy talents backs up what he saw on Wednesday night.