'You can see' - Arne Slot hails Liverpool star who has been so impressive in training recently

Arne Slot heaped praise on Jarell Quansah's performance in Liverpool's victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers and declared: 'He's back to his old level'.

Quansah enjoyed a superb breakthrough 2023-24 season for the Reds as he made 34 appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals. But this campaign, the 22-year-old has found himself on the periphery of things. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have chiefly been the preferred centre-back pairing in Liverpool's Premier League title chargw.

But Quansah was brought on at half-time against Wolves for Konate, who was walking a tightrope after already being booked. The academy product was excellent during his cameo and made a crucial late clearance to ensure that the Reds held on for a 2-1 win - courtesy of a Luis Diaz strike and Mo Salah penalty in the first half - to restore a seven-point lead at the top of the table.

What Slot said

Slot admitted Quansah hasn't hit the heights he is capable of this term, having perhaps been impacted after being withdrawn at the interval against Ipswich on the opening day. But the England under-21 international has been impressing in training for the past few months and that's why Slot was convinced he would deliver against Wolves.

The Anfield head coach said: "I think all the boys showed great character, great mentality in the second half, but I think everybody has seen recently already – because he's played a few games recently and did really well – and I see in training sessions that he is back to being the same Jarell as in pre-season.

"I think he had a bit of a hard time after being taken off at Ipswich and then the first two or three games after that when he came in, he was also in a bit of a struggle. He is just showing now what he has shown in the last two or three months on the training pitch, but also when he comes in, that he's back to his old level.

"Then you can see how important he is. Again, today you saw how vital players like Jarell – and Wata [Wataru Endo] also – are for this team. If you want to achieve something, of course you need the goals from Mo or from Lucho or from all the others, but you also need these players that if you depend on them that they bring up performances like this."

‘It’s difficult to win’

Liverpool were put under plenty of pressure in the second half against relegation-battling Wolves. Matheus Cunha reduced the arrears with a fine strike and the visitors carried on in the ascendency. But the Reds held on for victory as they now turn their attention to two tough away fixtures against Aston Villa and Manchester City respectively.

Slot added: “It's difficult to win a game of football. People always feel like, 'You've got Mo Salah, what are you talking about? He will always score for you a goal.' No, no, no. It's so difficult to win a game of football every three days after everything you go through in a season, so that's why this win is an important one going into a very tough week, where we hope we can show the same mentality again [against] both teams but play a bit better on the ball.”