Arne Slot knew full well that the first question of his post-match press conference after Tuesday night's Carabao Cup win over Southampton would be about Hugo Ekitike – but he wasn't happy about it.
"I would prefer to start with something positive about a situation that is not positive: the tribute we gave Matt Beard was, I think, of Liverpool standards," Slot said of the impeccably observed minute's silence in honour of the club's former women's team coach, who passed away last week at the age of 47.
"How the fans always do this is something that makes me proud to represent this club, how we always find a way to be so respectful for people that have done so much for our club.
"But then we go immediately because of your question to the last minutes of the game, where Hugo got a second yellow card…"
What followed was nothing but negative for Ekitike, who hadn't previously put a foot wrong following his summer signing from Eintracht Frankfurt and was actually winning the intriguing battle for a central striking berth in Slot's side due to his decisive display in the Merseyside derby – only to gift his starting spot to Alexander Isak with an act of sheer stupidity just 30 seconds after scoring the winner against Southampton.
Getty Images SportWisely ignoring the Isak transfer talk
We may never find out if Ekitike would have agreed to join Liverpool had he known that the Reds were also going to sign Isak. What we can say for sure, though, is that the French forward's response to the Swede's deadline day arrival at Anfield was incredibly impressive.
Having immediately endeared himself to the Kop with three goals in his first three competitive appearances for Liverpool, Ekitike scored the crucial second goal in the 2-1 win over Everton last Saturday afternoon.
By that stage, it was clear that the 23-year-old had no intention of playing second fiddle to the most expensive player in British football history – and had plenty of people once again asking if the Reds really needed to sign Isak.
Certainly, when Ekitike scored on his debut in the Community Shield clash with Crystal Palace at Wembley, his celebration suggested that he was wisely blocking out all of the transfer target surrounding Isak.
However, when he scored the winner against Southampton, his celebration pointed to a player trying unnecessarily hard to remind Reds of his quality.
AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'Not smart at all'
Ekitike literally took his shirt off on Tuesday night to show everyone the name on the back – as if Anfield had suddenly forgotten who he was and how much of an impact he'd made in his short time on Merseyside.
It was a really embarrassing exhibition of ego and Slot was just as incensed by the lack of gratitude shown towards man of the match Federico Chiesa, who had left Ekitike with an open goal after a sublime first touch had allowed him to kill Andy Robertson's lofted pass stone dead before unselfishly laying on his second assist of the game.
"If you score in a Champions League final in the 87th minute after outplaying three players and hitting it in the top corner, I can maybe understand that you’re like, 'This is all about me, what did I do?'" Slot said.
"But I am old-fashioned, I’m 47 and old maybe. I haven't played at this level but I did score a few goals and if I would have scored a goal like this, I would have turned around and walked up to, in this situation, Federico Chiesa and said, 'This goal is all about you, this is not about me.'
"So, yeah, it was needless, not smart at all. I call it stupid as well."
Getty Images SportMaking life more difficult for his team-mates – and himself
Ekitike's stupidity didn't cost Liverpool on the night but, as stand-in skipper Andy Robertson said, "the last 10 minutes were made more difficult by being down to 10 men."
The Scot wasn't overly harsh on his new colleague – at least not publicly – but, just like Slot, he did point out that Ekitike's first yellow for throwing the ball away in frustration was almost as stupid as his second.
"There were two silly bookings to pick up," Robertson told , "and now we miss him for Saturday."
And Ekitike's suspension for the game against Crystal Palace is significant, as he was almost certain to start at Selhurst Park, given Slot and his coaching team are clearly not as convinced by Isak's readiness for 90 minutes of Premier League action as the man himself.
The striker was visibly stunned, in fact, when he was told that he would not be joining the rest of his team-mates in the dressing-room during the interval on Tuesday night and would instead remain on the field to do a warm-down because he was being replaced up front by Ekitike.
Isak took his half-time work-out in good spirits. "Yeah, that was a new one," he admitted during his post-match interview. "It was funny, it was a new experience. But I've got to get fit."
And Liverpool need him as sharp as possible for what is likely to prove one of their toughest away games of the season. People may scoff at such a claim but Palace are the only other undefeated team in this season's Premier League and have already shown in the Community Shield that they have absolutely no fear of Liverpool – which explains why Slot was so frustrated by Ekitike's senseless suspension.
ENJOYED THIS STORY?
Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting
Getty Images SportSlot needed Ekitike at Selhurst Park
Slot had enough to be worrying about as it was, with Giovanni Leoni's eye-catching debut having been brought to a premature and bitterly cruel ending just five minutes before the Reds were reduced to 10 men.
The 18-year-old summer signing from Parma fell awkwardly while winning the ball wide on the right touchline and Slot's worst fears were confirmed on Wednesday, when it was revealed that Leoni had injured his ACL.
There's every chance, then, that Leoni won't play again this season, which means Liverpool's lack of depth at centre-back will only come under even greater scrutiny ahead of the game against Palace.
The English champions had, of course, tried to sign Marc Guehi on deadline day but the deal collapsed at the 11th hour because of Palace's failure to sign a replacement of sufficient quality to satisfy an irate Oliver Glasner. Consequently, Liverpool will be facing rather than fielding Guehi this weekend and the difference between the two is enormous.
No Premier League side has conceded fewer goals (two) or kept more clean sheets (three) than Palace so far this season, so Slot really could have done with being able to call upon his team's top scorer, rather than relying on a player who didn't have a proper pre-season and hasn't played more than an hour of a competitive fixture for four months.