Gary Neville praised Liverpool head coach Arne Slot for his ruthless approach in their win against Ipswich Town on Saturday.
Slot, who was taking charge of his first competitive fixture as the new Reds boss, watched on as his side struggled in their Premier League opener at Portman Road.
Liverpool registered an expected goals (xG) total of 0.09 from their three shots on target, winning 47.4% of the 97 duels they contested in the opening 45 minutes.
The Dutchman chose to withdraw Jarell Quansah for Ibrahima Konate at half-time, with his side improving after the break as Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah struck to secure the triumph.
Quansah won four of his eight contested duels, while also being successful in two of his four aerial duels, something Slot said was a key factor in his substitution.
"The first thing I said (at half-time) is that we don't need to speak about tactics if you lose so many duels," Slot told TNT Sports.
"And that's what we did, not that Jarell (Quansah) lost every duel - many of us lost too many duels but I think we needed Konate to win these long balls through the air from their number nine."
Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast after Manchester City's 2-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday, the former defender delivered his verdict on the decision.
"I thought Arne Slot was quite tough on Quansah," he said. "It is [a big call]. I mean subbing someone at half-time is big and I do not think it is done lightly by managers.
"It was the way after the game as well, he was quite blunt about the way he answered it and there was no holding back.
"So, I think there is an element of him being quite clinical and brutal and he was reacting to the game and what was happening.
"He felt like they needed to win the duels, that was his main thought behind the decision.
"It worked, you have to say, Liverpool were a lot better in the second half and it was a good win for them."
Jota confident of thriving in central role under Slot
Diogo Jota is confident of flourishing as a central striker under new Liverpool head coach Arne Slot after his impressive opening day display against Ipswich Town.
Jota netted the opening goal of Liverpool's first 2024-25 Premier League encounter on Saturday, finding the far corner in the 60th minute after he was picked out by Mohamed Salah.
Salah subsequently marked his 350th Liverpool appearance with his 300th goal involvement (212 goals and 88 assists) five minutes later to secure the win at Portman Road.
Jota has now been involved in 10 goals in his last 10 Premier League appearances for Liverpool, scoring seven and assisting three.
The Portugal international contributed an expected goals (xG) of 0.95 to the Reds' 2.65 total against Kieran McKenna's side, the highest of any player from either team
He also recorded 11 touches in the opposition box, the joint-most in the Liverpool squad alongside Luis Diaz and Salah, while also winning six of his 13 contested duels.
Slot spoke of his belief that Jota's best position is in the centre of the attack, with the 27-year-old agreeing with his new boss.
"It's obviously a bit different from [Jurgen] Klopp where I maybe was useful out wide," Jota told Liverpool's official website.
"I think here he [Slot] wants our wingers a lot more in one-v-ones and I think we have better options than myself.
"If I stay in the middle and wait for those chances to come in and score them, I think that is what I do the best so you can take that into the season."
Liverpool struggled in the first 45 minutes against Ipswich, managing just three shots on Christian Walton's goal, none of which were on target.
But a much-improved display after the interval saw the Reds muster 15 shots, five of which were on target with 12 coming from inside the penalty area.
And with Brentford up next in the Reds' first home game of the new season, Jota said their second-half showing has given the team a solid foundation to build on.
"Yeah, a positive performance. Obviously, the first half was a bit harder, they were really on it [and] pressing almost man-v-man," Jota said.
“The fans were there and we knew it was going to be a difficult first half because they would give it all – [it is] a long time since they have been in the Premier League.
“And then the second half they started giving us a little bit more space, which was enough for us to start building and start creating those spaces in behind.
"We created a lot of chances and we ended up scoring two, so in the end I think it's a deserved three points."
Ancelotti bemoans 'lack of balance' in Real Madrid's LaLiga opener
Carlo Ancelotti criticised his Real Madrid side for having a lack of balance as they started their LaLiga title defence with a 1-1 draw against Mallorca on Sunday.
Madrid took the lead in the 13th minute through Rodrygo's fine finish, only for Vedat Muriqi to level eight minutes into the second half.
Ancelotti boasted an attack of Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham, with the quartet all playing a role in the opening goal of the game.
But Los Blancos struggled in front of goal, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 0.6 from their 13 shots, compared to their opponents' 0.96.
Ancelotti bemoaned his side's defensive display, going on to say that his players lost focus after taking an early lead at the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix.
"Today I am not happy. I think we could have been done much better," said Ancelotti.
"We need to be more concentrated, work better as a group... It's not a fitness problem, it was mental.
"I don't want to make excuses for anything. We had to do better and show more attitude.
"We can learn a lot from this match, it's a match where you can see clearly where we can end up having problems."
Madrid's draw saw them fail to win their first game of the season for the first time in six campaigns under Ancelotti's stewardship.
The Italian suggested that Madrid could have easily lost the encounter due to their own mistakes and urged his star-studded squad to learn fast from their blunders.
"We started the game well, we took the lead and we had chances to score the second, but in the second half we lacked balance," Ancelotti said.
"It was a game we could have lost because we didn't have balance. It wasn't a good game.
"We are a very attacking team and defensive balance is a fundamental part of the way we are built.
"We struggled to steal the ball, to press after losing the ball. When we talk about defending, we are talking above all about collective commitment.
"The balance is found with the players thinking about the same thing. When we have to win the ball back we have to think about it all together.
"It's a problem for everyone, not the strikers, the midfielders or the defenders.
"It is a problem of a team that did not understand that this was a key aspect of the match."
Lazio off to winning start but Roma and Bologna stutter in Serie A openers
Lazio got their Serie A campaign off to a winning start with a 3-1 victory over newly promoted Venezia.
Visitors Venezia took a shock lead through Magnus Kofod Andersen just three minutes into the match, but Lazio roared back through Valentin Castellanos eight minutes later.
A penalty from captain Mattia Zaccagni put Lazio ahead on the stroke of half-time. The Italy international has now directly contributed to 35 goals in Serie A since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, second only to Antonio Candreva (40) among midfielders.
Venezia mustered seven shots in the second half, but their comeback hopes were extinguished when Giorgio Altare turned into his own goal late on.
Lazio's city rivals Roma did not fare as well, only managing a goalless draw away to Cagliari, with both sides hitting the woodwork in that contest.
Elsewhere, Udinese began their league season with a credible draw away at Bologna.
Vincenzo Italiano's first competitive game in charge of Bologna saw them dominate the match with 22 shots to Udinese's four, and they took the lead through a Riccardo Orsolini penalty.
Orsolini is the second Bologna player to score in seven different Serie A seasons in the past 50 years, after Carlo Nervo (seven between 1996-97 and 2003-04).
But Udinese managed to draw level through Lautaro Giannetti in the 68th minute, and held on for the remainder of the encounter to deny Italiano an ideal start.
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