Which evening in the stands, Arne Slot learned about Liverpool’s academy player – Liverpool FC

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

Slot, who was suspended over the weekend after picking up his third yellow card of the domestic season, watched from behind the press box high up in the St Mary’s stand on Wednesday evening.

It gave the head coach a unique perspective, but also an experience closer to the fans, where he appreciated their interpretation of ‘Scouser in our team’ for captain Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Slot watched a team make eight changes since the 2-2 draw with Fulham, including a starting debut for 17-year-old Trey Nyoni and appearances for players such as Tyler Morton, Jarell Quansah and, on the bench, James McConnell and Jayden Danns.

And it helped the Dutchman prove that these young players are “capable of playing at Premier League level” – even as he outlined “the next step they need to take”.

“I think this club is known for that,” he said in his post-match press conference when asked about the influence of Liverpool’s young players.

“I heard the fans singing for Trent, a song about a Scouser. I don’t know exactly what they’re singing, but it probably has something to do with the fact that he’s from the academy.

“We already have a few starters from our academy and when we see these players training with us every day, we know their quality and it’s nice to see them showing that they can easily play at this level.

“For them it’s not about just playing at that level, you have to compete with Mo and Virgil and all those types 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’s probably the next step they need to take.”

“But they showed 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 compete against 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 experienced players he left behind on Merseyside were born out of necessity during a busy season, his decision to trust so many young talents underlines what he saw on Wednesday night.