Slot

[Crimson Dynasty]

For me it's not so much the fact that we're currently struggling (....or what the various causes are. And we know there are many).
It's more of how he's responding to them and adapting to the situation that's leaving me with questions about him.


I had the same feeling of beffudlement today with his substitution decisions as I had with his starting lineup pick against Galatasary.

And I get that some of it has been forced into his hand by the club's failure to get some players in certain positions where we badly needed them..

But in the moment when you need a change, and you need to put some spark in the team that's been sleepwalking through half after you conceded an early goal, and you decide to bring on a defensive midfield late rather than one of a couple of attackers to try to win the game after Chelsea had just taken off yet another player to injury.

Or when you make the lineup and formation change that forces you to play your influential midfielders in the backline and thus reduce our effectiveness in the middle of the park.

All while leaving on the field players who've been utterly ineffective and invisible (regardless of their status) for the full 90....


....all just leaves me questioning what's going on with the management decision-making.

Today we saw Maresca take a risk - even when everyone could have excused them for tryin to play it safe and instead losing this game with all the injuries they're facing and players they're missing - and he got rewarded for it.

Slot instead was the one who decided to play it safe late and not take a risk, and we got punished for it.

They say a manager's real mettle gets tested when the team gets in a losing rut in what he does to get them out of that rut.

I guess we're at that point now and so far he's not filling me with a great deal of confidence that he's going to figure this out.

[RedMagic]

Klopp said on at least one occasion that he wanted players, but such things weren't up to him. That roughly translates into Klopp saying "I have a lot less say in what players come in and how many players come in than I'd definitely like, and a lot less say than many of our fans think I have".

[jimmyliver]

Honestly I think there is so much to unpack I can’t even be bothered posting it , we look devoid of any ideas both ways , everyone looks an absolute shadow of themselves. One thing I hate is listening to post analysis with slot and sturridge ,

[Kev0909]

Why is he playing Grav further forward too, anyone notice he's not sitting?

So we literally have no protection, as you can tell and concede every week ?

did amazing last season, we had the balance in midfield and Pace and width to stretch games, all gone....

it's not just about Wirtz.. it's about grav's role too, if you look closely..... what the fuck is he playing at, why change it ?

[Steveo]

Klopp said on at least one occasion that he wanted players, but such things weren't up to him. That roughly translates into Klopp saying "I have a lot less say in what players come in and how many players come in than I'd definitely like, and a lot less say than many of our fans think I have".

January 22nd 2021

“I then make recommendations, but I cannot spend the money. I don't make these decisions, I never did."

Jurgen Klopp

[teesred]

Why is he playing Grav further forward too, anyone notice he's not sitting?

So we literally have no protection, as you can tell and concede every week ?

did amazing last season, we had the balance in midfield and Pace and width to stretch games, all gone....

it's not just about Wirtz.. it's about grav's role too, if you look closely..... what the fuck is he playing at, why change it ?

Yeah he does seem to be marauding forward more, even when he switched to CB he was still going forward. He's really good at that which is why it's so fucking puzzling that a real DM wasn't brought in to allow him that creative role without the responsibility of defensive duty.
There's a hell of a lot that different to last season at the moment and if he's changing certain players roles aswell as trying to integrate new players then that's just more change. Is it something that's going to take time to click? Maybe but it does not look that way at all.

[miller0863]

No the amount of money spent was never up to Klopp but he had the say on which players to take from the options given to him.

[Red October]

Sorry I know he won the title last season, albeit with Klopp’s squad but I cannot for the life of me see what Slot is trying to do.

Allowing Diaz to leave rather than paying him the going rate now looks a huge mistake, Gakpo has been absolutely terrible.

Chiesa’s goal contribution per minutes played is easily the best of any of the forwards but Slot refuses to use him properly… absolutely baffling.

He took off 3 of his starting back four and replaced two of them with our best midfielders, wtf???

Salah wasted attack after attack either giving the ball away or blazing it miles over and yet he brings on Endo rather than replace Salah with Chiesa… again why,??

He’s got an awful lot to sort out and it’s not getting any better.

Definitely a rebuilding phase, we aren’t getting anywhere near the league title this year and if we continue in Europe like we did midweek… then we will be lucky to get through to the knockout stages.

And the squad is still glaringly short in three key positions, I hope he can see it.

Agree with all that. Baffling really right now.
Diaz is coming back to haunt us. Together with konate. He was awful today. Our back line really needed revamping and we neglected it notwithstanding the full backs.

[RedMagic]

January 22nd 2021

“I then make recommendations, but I cannot spend the money. I don't make these decisions, I never did."

Jurgen Klopp

That's different to what he said in the press conference that I listened to, so he definitely insinuated on multiple occasions what his position was in regards to players both coming into and leaving the club.

[jozza800]

Yeah he does seem to be marauding forward more, even when he switched to CB he was still going forward. He's really good at that which is why it's so fucking puzzling that a real DM wasn't brought in to allow him that creative role without the responsibility of defensive duty.
There's a hell of a lot that different to last season at the moment and if he's changing certain players roles aswell as trying to integrate new players then that's just more change. Is it something that's going to take time to click? Maybe but it does not look that way at all.

Been saying this for weeks, if you're going to play with a 10 the other two mids have to sit. The amount of times the 'holding' midfielders are caught ahead of the ball is frightening.

To me that's 100% tactical. Grav can do it , we saw him do it last season. Same with Macca.

The stuff Slot can't control is a player's inability to pass the ball. Macca was absolutely abysmal a d Grav wasn't much better. Or watching Mo leaning back and shanking every effort on goal (though at least he was getting into better positions tonight)

It's an absolute horror show at the moment. New players not hitting the ground running, Slot not getting it tactically right and usually dependable player's form just dropping off a cliff. It all culminates in weeks like this.

It could be a a damn sight worse if we hadn't won the first 5 games.

We have to collect ourselves and get it sorted.

[teesred]

Been saying this for weeks, if you're going to play with a 10 the other two mids have to sit. The amount of times the 'holding' midfielders are caught ahead of the ball is frightening.

To me that's 100% tactical. Grav can do it , we saw him do it last season. Same with Macca.

The stuff Slot can't control is a player's inability to pass the ball. Macca was absolutely abysmal a d Grav wasn't much better. Or watching Mo leaning back and shanking every effort on goal (though at least he was getting into better positions tonight)

It's an absolute horror show at the moment. New players not hitting the ground running, Slot not getting it tactically right and usually dependable player's form just dropping off a cliff. It all culminates in weeks like this.

It could be a a damn sight worse if we hadn't won the first 5 games.

We have to collect ourselves and get it sorted.

Agree. I said to a pal earlier that you can't coach out lazy sloppy passing which was prevalent in the last 20 mins. We just couldn't get our of our half.
Everytime the midfield lose the ball we look vulnerable to a counter. He had to nip that in the bud as it's been a constant theme since the first game and multiple people on TV have pointed it out yet Slot is still not addressing it.
Salah simply has to start being rotated more now, Chiesa has played well each time he's featured yet can't get in in today's game when Mo stank the place out. Gakpo was equally as poor aside from the goal.
There's so many things wrong we just have to hope it's a bad spell and we can get out of it. The biggest worry is they just don't look like a functioning unit in any way.

[Steveo]

That's different to what he said in the press conference that I listened to, so he definitely insinuated on multiple occasions what his position was in regards to players both coming into and leaving the club.

Here’s the full comment and background:

"Of course someone else is making the decisions, it was always like this," Klopp said when asked to clarify comments he made after defeat to Burnley, where he implied he did not have the final say on bringing in reinforcements.

"If people are surprised about that I cannot change that. The situation we have is we discuss on a daily basis.

"Could we improve something or not? I then make recommendations, but I cannot spend the money. I don't make these decisions, I never did."

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11669/12195434/liverpool-transfer-news-jurgen-klopp-hints-at-frustration-over-transfer-targets

[miller0863]

Yes but he’s saying he can’t spend the money, not that he can’t pick the players

[jimmyliver]

Been saying this for weeks, if you're going to play with a 10 the other two mids have to sit. The amount of times the 'holding' midfielders are caught ahead of the ball is frightening.

To me that's 100% tactical. Grav can do it , we saw him do it last season. Same with Macca.

The stuff Slot can't control is a player's inability to pass the ball. Macca was absolutely abysmal a d Grav wasn't much better. Or watching Mo leaning back and shanking every effort on goal (though at least he was getting into better positions tonight)

It's an absolute horror show at the moment. New players not hitting the ground running, Slot not getting it tactically right and usually dependable player's form just dropping off a cliff. It all culminates in weeks like this.

It could be a a damn sight worse if we hadn't won the first 5 games.

We have to collect ourselves and get it sorted.

This is it though , they are not coming into a cohesive team , Everyone is shit, ekitike aside the new boys have been awful and so have our current squad .
Watching the analysis on MOTD Salah was absolutely awful , he’s gone isn’t he , I mean it’s not a blip he’s on his way out , he was declining end of last season but he looks finished , he has to sit out of the next few games

[Steveo]

Yes but he’s saying he can’t spend the money, not that he can’t pick the players

Even if we ignore

“Of course someone else is making the decisions, it was always like this.”

While Klopp can certainly "pick" a player by making a recommendation - as he says, "I then make recommendations" - that choice is immediately vetoed if the club's financial decision makers refuse to provide the funds. When Klopp says, "I cannot spend the money. I don't make these decisions," he is admitting that the final, critical step of executing his choice is controlled by someone else. A manager's pick that the club won't finance is essentially a player he cannot get.

The context of this quote, given during the January 2021 centre-back crisis, shows Klopp felt he was unable to recruit the players he desperately needed. His frustration stemmed not from a lack of potential targets, but from the owners' financial reluctance to enter the market for a high-cost, immediate solution. Therefore, even though he had the power to identify and approve a player ("pick"), the club's financial constraints ("cannot spend the money") served as the ultimate block, meaning he couldn't actually solve his defensive crisis with an external signing. This effectively stripped him of his power to pick a player when it mattered most.