Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has acknowledged a rare misstep in his in-game management, conceding that his handling of Trey Nyoni during the 4–1 FA Cup win over Barnsley came at the cost of the teenager’s development minutes.
Nyoni was introduced late, in the 87th minute with Liverpool 3–1 ahead, a decision Slot later framed as overly cautious.
Speaking to Liverpool’s All Red, the Dutchman admitted prioritising game control after conceding made him hesitate to trust youth at a key moment, a call he now regrets.
Slot revealed that the decision directly led to Nyoni turning out for the U21s against Wrexham the following day, an outcome he described as unfortunate given the midfielder’s work ethic and potential.
“I feel really sorry for Trey because maybe it was my mistake,” Slot told All Red Video.
“But at 2–1 I thought I had to make the substitutions to win the game instead of giving a young player who is training every day so hard and is such a big talent the playing time he might deserve.
“I thought, ‘Let’s bring Ryan in first’, and that all had to do with us conceding the 2–1, because usually a game like this should go to three and then maybe more.
“But we made it difficult for ourselves.”
Promoted to the senior setup alongside Rio Ngumoha, Nyoni has featured sparingly this season, making just five appearances for a total of 184 minutes, a statistic that reinforces Slot’s reflection that Liverpool may have missed an opportunity to accelerate the 18-year-old’s integration.
