Arne Slot believes Liverpool’s thrashing of West Ham on Wednesday night showed exactly why the club were content to have a quiet summer transfer window.
Liverpool began their defence of the Carabao Cup with a 5-1 win over the Hammers at Anfield, despite Slot making nine changes to his starting XI. The visitors took the lead through a scrappy Jarell Quansah own goal from a corner before Diogo Jota headed in from Federico Chiesa’s shot.
Jota gave Liverpool the lead with a slotted finish from Curtis Jones’ pass before Mohamed Salah climbed off the bench to bury a rebound to make the game safe at 3-1. Cody Gakpo then added gloss to the scoreline with two late strikes after Edson Alvarez picked up a second yellow card for a late tackle on Salah.
While Salah was used off the bench, key players like Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai were given the night off. Joe Gomez took the captain’s armband for a team which looked strong despite heavy rotation – a point Slot was keen to emphasise post-match.
“You asked me about new players [all summer], and I constantly told you guys how many quality players we already have,” he said. “I think you all knew. Even if a lot of new players come in, they don’t come in and try to have a good individual performance – they work really hard for the team.”
Chiesa, a £12.5million signing late in the window, was the only addition to the Liverpool squad in the summer transfer window, with goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili loaned back to Valencia ahead of an arrival for the 2025/26 campaign. The Italy international made his first start of the season against West Ham and played 60 minutes before being replaced by Salah.
“It was pleasing to see that he could already play 60 minutes, because he hasn’t played a lot,” Slot added. “He has hardly played any minutes in the last three or four months. So for him it is important to get more match minutes, and that’s what he got today.
“He assisted, although it was a shot on target that was promoted by Diogo to a goal. He worked really hard. I think it’s normal that he’s not already in the top of his ability.
“He has to get used to the club, he has to get used to his team-mates, he has to adjust to the playing style. It was very good to see how match-fit he already is, so that we can use him if we need him.”
