Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been praised for his 'perfect' handling of Hugo Ekitike's red card blunder against Sunderland in the Carabao Cup. The French striker opened his shirt, while celebrating a last-gasp winner which led to the referee showing him his second yellow card of the night resulting in his sending off. Slot later openly slammed Ekitike for his "stupid" behaviour.
Slot praised for being honest with his assessment of Ekitike
After Liverpool's narrow Carabao Cup win in the midweek, Slot did not hold back while criticising Ekitike for his irresponsible behaviour. The Dutch manager labelled the striker's celebration as "needless and stupid" while speaking to the media. Ekitike had even issued an apology for picking up the red card at the very end.
AdvertisementAFP'Perfect example of the manager getting it spot on'
Speaking to , former Scotland international Ally McCoist said: "Do you know what I thought? Like a lot of things about Liverpool, I think they generally handle situations extremely well as a club. And I thought they handled that perfectly. I don't like the rule, but that's just me. But the law's there. It is a law, it is a rule, so there's no comeback. As soon as he does it, the referee probably does not want to give him a card. The referee's a human being, he sees the lad score a goal, a winning goal with four minutes to go. The last thing he wanted to do, he must have thought: ‘I'm going to have to send him off here.’ He must have, I don't care what anybody says.
"Arne Slot was different class, he was brilliant. He said a lot of people out there would call it stupidity and I'm one of them. And I thought, brilliant. No pulling the wool over his eyes, ‘no okay, it was a mistake, but you feel sorry for him' or 'the referee shouldn't have booked him'. Completely honest, upfront, Arne Slot got it absolutely 100% right and so did Hugo Ekitike. Because he came out and said that he just got carried away. It's going to cost me a couple of games. I'd like to apologise. And as I say, I generally think Liverpool are brilliant at handling situations, situations a lot bigger than that, I have to say, and they handle it as a club very well. But again, I thought it was a perfect example of the manager getting it spot on. The player getting it spot on after he got it 100% wrong, they'll just move on."
He added: "There was a kind of irony in it, and we were talking about it the following morning on the breakfast show. It's the law effectively that's got him sent off in his own stupidity. Everybody knows the law now. It's not as if you could say, 'well, he's a little bit unlucky because he didn't know the law, he didn't know the rule.' Of course he did. You just get carried away in the moment, don't you? It's pretty simple. He got carried away in the moment. He's apologised. The manager's given him a bit of stick. And the irony won't be lost on either the manager or the player. And I just think we just move on."
Ekitike 'doesn’t need to worry about Alexander Isak'
McCoist also shared valuable advice for Ekitike, as he said: "I was at the opening game, the Community Shield, and I was at the Everton game. The fans like Hugo Ekitike, by the way. Don't worry about it. They really like him, and so they should, because I think he's looked terrific. I really think he's looked terrific. However, he'll play both of them. Probably not at the same time, but it doesn't matter if Isak goes on and scores. There will be games where Arne Slot will leave him out for his own good, you know, in terms of preparation for massive games, because Liverpool want to be involved and are involved in all the competitions, and it does take its toll.
"They are in a position of strength, and they brought in these players. You've probably got two players, you know, in just about every position. They've got Jeremie Frimpong and all these guys, Milos Kerkez, Andy Robertson, fullbacks. The one thing you might be thinking about was centre-backs, but then Joe Gomez played the other night there, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk. They've got players all over the place. But I do take the point, if Isak gets in and he scores. But it's not like it was 20, 30 years ago. Even if you go in and do your job as a £125 million centre-forward and score goals, there will be a point you'll get left out. That's just the mechanics of the top flight at this moment in time."
Getty Images SportSummer signing misses key Premier League clash
The red card in the cup competition means that the French forward will not be available for the club's key Premier League clash against Crystal Palace on Saturday. It was initially reported that Ekitike might get fined by the club for his irresponsible sending off but Slot later claimed that the striker is "allowed to make a mistake".
