Slot

[Steveo]

For the record I am simply highlighting the fact that even Jurgen Klopp didn’t get the final say. But Klop certainly was heavily involved in transfers - the above is simply a highlight of a certain infamous period of time where we were in a defensive crisis.

Klopp was the club manager - in the case of Virgil we know he drove most of it - the final capture and the funds for that and Alisson banked through his careful and brilliant stewardship of Coutinho through that difficult process.

The point is. Even Klopp didn’t have the final say - he openly said that - Slot imo doesn’t get much say at all. Technically speaking he isn’t even the manager, his role is clearly defined as ‘Head Coach’.

Chiesa…? Anyone believe he had any hand in that..? Almost certainly a player he didn’t ask for nor want. As for Wirtz I have my suspicions (Werner ahem). Isak and Ekitike but no Diaz replacement…? hmm - no DM..? No busting a gut for a CB?

I would wager Arne Slot asked for these.

[toshin]

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.

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

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.

Does he have something against chiesa? Is he proving a point like, you should have left in the break or, i dont want him to management?
I could not believe he didn't bring him on with endo, at least for gakpo or salah, who were both poor.
Gakpo scored but that was all isak.

[jr81]

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 ?

Yes, why is grav further forward? We are so open to the counter. Last year grav sat a a lot more, offered us more protection and more control.

Slot has changed too much too quickly this season. He needs to revert back to last season and introduce changes slowly.

[Steveo]

Some good points made...

[Ravo19]

Hate to say it but blame lies with slot,so many strange inplay decisions,needs to improve or he could be gone by xmas.

[justme]

Hate to say it but blame lies with slot,so many strange inplay decisions,needs to improve or he could be gone by xmas.

stop trolling moron

[Steveo]

Hate to say it but blame lies with slot,so many strange inplay decisions,needs to improve or he could be gone by xmas.

He has a hell of a lot of new players to integrate . It really ain’t easy. 2 new FB - a new creative man in Wirtz - No Jota RIP - No Nunez - No Diaz….Even Elliot - yesterday we had Endo to bring on… That’s not too clever but we have let plenty go… This takes time.

We will get better from here - at least I think we will. Might be a good thing that we tripped up at this time… the early season results were a bogus reflection of the realty on the pitch. 3 losses on the bounce is the inverse. We aren’t as good as our early from or as bad as our last 3 results. IF we’re still in the hunt come Christmas - it could suddenly click. Who knows.

[Ravo19]

He has a hell of a lot of new players to integrate . It really ain’t easy. 2 new FB - a new creative man in Wirtz - No Jota RIP - No Nunez - No Diaz….Even Elliot - yesterday we had Endo to bring on… That’s not too clever but we have let plenty go… This takes time.

We will get better from here - at least I think we will. Might be a good thing that we tripped up at this time… the early season results were a bogus reflection of the realty on the pitch. 3 losses on the bounce is the inverse. We aren’t as good as our early from or as bad as our last 3 results. IF we’re still in the hunt come Christmas - it could suddenly click. Who knows.

Hope so,like ive said i expect the attack to kick on once wirtz settles in.
Never been keen on gapko and salah has been effected by jota's death.
Still feel it was weird buying eritike and isak would have prefered one and a wide right attacker.
Not sure whats going on with frimpong.

[toshin]

Something else to consider: the club

I was against spending so much on wirtz and isak, as it just doesnt feel like us. While I believe in isaks talent since I saw him yrs ago for Sweden before Newcastle, we overpaid alot.

Anyway thats done, the club clearly wants to join the big boys ever since they failed with the caicedo saga.

I just hope there's no pressure to play wirtz salah and isak regardless of form due to the money. The big boy clubs have no issue doing this.

And the pressure of spending big and not winning is immense now.

[Steveo]

@CCTV

Comparison with the Last Decade's Champions
To put a title win with 84 points into perspective, let's look at the points totals of the Premier League winners over the past ten seasons:

Season Winner Points
2023/24 Man City 91
2022/23 Man City 89
2021/22 Man City 93
2020/21 Man City 86
2019/20 Liverpool 99
2018/19 Man City 98
2017/18 Man City 100
2016/17 Chelsea 93
2015/16 Leicester 81
2014/15 Chelsea 87

84 points is great - but most of us know why it was enough. And it cost us in the other competitions - as Slot has admitted.. 84 points only wins the title the year the Foxes won it.

Worth noting that Brendan Rodgers Liverpool took 84 points in 2013/14 and second place - and within 15 months he was sacked.

[eggy81]

He has a hell of a lot of new players to integrate . It really ain’t easy. 2 new FB - a new creative man in Wirtz - No Jota RIP - No Nunez - No Diaz….Even Elliot - yesterday we had Endo to bring on… That’s not too clever but we have let plenty go… This takes time.

We will get better from here - at least I think we will. Might be a good thing that we tripped up at this time… the early season results were a bogus reflection of the realty on the pitch. 3 losses on the bounce is the inverse. We aren’t as good as our early from or as bad as our last 3 results. IF we’re still in the hunt come Christmas - it could suddenly click. Who knows.

Honestly think we aren’t real contenders for the big titles. Get top 4 and strengthen our weaknesses come next season would be my expectation at the moment.

[CCTV]

@CCTV

Comparison with the Last Decade's Champions
To put a title win with 84 points into perspective, let's look at the points totals of the Premier League winners over the past ten seasons:

Season Winner Points
2023/24 Man City 91
2022/23 Man City 89
2021/22 Man City 93
2020/21 Man City 86
2019/20 Liverpool 99
2018/19 Man City 98
2017/18 Man City 100
2016/17 Chelsea 93
2015/16 Leicester 81
2014/15 Chelsea 87

84 points is great - but most of us know why it was enough. And it cost us in the other competitions - as Slot has admitted.. 84 points only wins the title the year the Foxes won it.

Worth noting that Brendan Rodgers Liverpool took 84 points in 2013/14 and second place - and within 15 months he was sacked.

After 34 games in 2024/25 Cituae had 61 points & Arsenal 67 & LFC 82.

After 34 games in 2023/24 Cituae had 79 points & Arsenal 77 & LFC 74.

After 34 games in 2022/33 Cituae had 82 points & Arsenal 78 & LFC 59.

After 34 games in 2021/22 Cituae had 83 points & Arsenal 63 & LFC 82.

After 34 games in 2020/21 Cituae had 80 points & Arsenal 49 & LFC 57.

After 34 games, Slots LFC had comparable points with every other Premier league winners above, namely Cituae.
Klopp could have won in 2021/2022, needed to beat citaue. And in 2023/2024 that could have been anyone of the 3 in fairness in what was a var crazy season. Arteta/Saka might have won it in 2022/23.
The idea our final points total is down to the quality of last seasons team and squad is bollix.
We were on the beach quite literally in Ibiza celebrating, and dropped 10 points out of 12 in our last 4. Out of the CL & FA cup....

The improvement for Slot this year compared with last year, is that he has more 1st team players he will use more readily.
That's not a major dig at the players moved out, but a fact on Slots readiness to use those players.

In the 1st team its Trent out of his best 11 & Diaz too.
With their replacements being....
Frimpong (barely seen at right back yet)
&
Isak (barely seen at centre forward yet)

We have Kerkez in and Robbo still here, so stronger at left back.

We have Leoni in for Quansah, a 3rd/4th choice centreback swap. Sadly Leoni is out for the season.

We have Wirtz a 1st teamer in for Elliott, a lesser spotted player.

We have Ekitike in for Nunez, a lesser spotted player.

Jota has passed away. RIP.

Nyoni to a lesser degree & Rio to a larger degree seem to be highly rated youths in Slots opinion.

The same issues fans have with Slots squad this year exist as last year.
Fans want a CB/Guehi, 6/Zubi2.0 & a LWF/Diaz.

But Slots got more 1st teamers than last year.
And the ambitions of the club in the summer was to get a collection of players together to do special things.

Fifteen 1st teamers at Slots disposal.

Alisson

VVD Frimpong Konate Robbo Kerkez

Grav Sobozla Maca Wirtz Jones

Salah Isak Ekitike Gakpo

All fit, 11 starters and 4 substitutes off the bench.

7 Back ups from...

Giorgi, Bradley, Gomez, Endo, Nyoni, Chiesa & Rio

A 22 man squad with 2 kids included.
More likely a 21man squad with 1 kid included.

Elliott was unreal per minute last season for goals and assists, but didn't get many minutes.
Jota & Nunez both left LFC 3rd & 2nd to Salah for Goals & Assists per minute. Both per 112 minutes, and Darwin just shading it.
Both trailed Jones significantly for PL minutes last season.

(Chiesa currently is ahead of Salah at LFC, Chiesa per 77.4 minutes, Salah per 92 minutes. But Chiesa has had very few minutes at LFC.
4 goals & 4 assists in 619 minutes)

The ambitions of the club, require we are on it at the end of the season. Performances so far suggest we've not peaked yet. Salah wants a balloon door, the club want one for him and the era. The only way to guarantee that is winning the PL & CL.

Over to Slot & Co to figure it out.

[jozza800]

@CCTV

Comparison with the Last Decade's Champions
To put a title win with 84 points into perspective, let's look at the points totals of the Premier League winners over the past ten seasons:

Season Winner Points
2023/24 Man City 91
2022/23 Man City 89
2021/22 Man City 93
2020/21 Man City 86
2019/20 Liverpool 99
2018/19 Man City 98
2017/18 Man City 100
2016/17 Chelsea 93
2015/16 Leicester 81
2014/15 Chelsea 87

84 points is great - but most of us know why it was enough. And it cost us in the other competitions - as Slot has admitted.. 84 points only wins the title the year the Foxes won it.

Worth noting that Brendan Rodgers Liverpool took 84 points in 2013/14 and second place - and within 15 months he was sacked.

When we won it in 19/20 - 83 points would have been enough...

Is that title win diminished any by the fact that City dropped of by 15 points from the previous season?

[Steveo]

When we won it in 19/20 - 83 points would have been enough...

Is that title win diminished any by the fact that City dropped of by 15 points from the previous season?

No - nobody is diminishing the title. But 83 points the season we won it with 99 wouldn't indicate a monster team at all. in fact going out of the CL v Atletico and taking 83 points would have been seen as a significantly less impressive season as the season prior.


I am saying it - we were not that special last season. You went to games right? I did - I didn't get to too many games but saw us live 4 times - and at best we were decent, never special and often matched by relatively ordinary opposition. The team had the smarts and the mentality to win the close games. That's it. The Palace away game - was dour and could have gone either way. The home game v Leicester probably the best we looked and even then... it was as you expect any Liverpool side to handle such a weak side. The game v little Bologna was just poor. My first game post Klopp and they more than matched us. As the away side in Europe - they not only out sung the Kop but they played to my eye the better football. We were not close to the same level as we had been in 2019 or 2020 or 2022 - Not close in fact and no better than we had been the season prior with a huge injury list and a totally new starting midfield.

You can only beat what is in front of you and last season we did just that. However - imo Arsenal had a significantly stronger/deeper squad than we did. Arteta's players were not Klopp players tho, just as Arteta is not and never will be a match for Jurgen Klopp. They had no title winning pedigree in their ranks and no mentality monsters. Slots team (left to him by Jurgen) had every ounce of that PLUS a midfield 4 (4 counting Endo) with its first season under its belt at a new club - 3 of them in a new league.

We took 84 points without any real threat. City vanished 20 points down and despite the fact most on here want to sweep it under the carpet Arsenal with a mountain of injuries and no striker.

Now it is debatable either way as to whether it is easier to make 84 points without a rival breathing down your neck or with no challenge in sight. But I know where my money is.

Last season - we had:
ZERO expectation
Settled squad with no signings whatsoever bar a player Slot refused to use.
City devoid of any impetus to win ANYTHING at all.
Arsenal's campaign severely hampered by a relentless string of significant injuries to their most important players, while we had a relative clean bill of health.


Decisive factors in why our 84 points was attainable and enough imo.

Doesn't diminish anything - and every season some teams suffer injuries and others escape unscathed. Arsenal might have had no injuries and took less points - nobody knows BUT a weaker Arsenal the season prior in a more competitive year took 89 points and came second.

[Red October]

No - nobody is diminishing the title. But 83 points the season we won it with 99 wouldn't indicate a monster team at all. in fact going out of the CL v Atletico and taking 83 points would have been seen as a significantly less impressive season as the season prior.


I am saying it - we were not that special last season. You went to games right? I did - I didn't get to too many games but saw us live 4 times - and at best we were decent, never special and often matched by relatively ordinary opposition. The team had the smarts and the mentality to win the close games. That's it. The Palace away game - was dour and could have gone either way. The home game v Leicester probably the best we looked and even then... it was as you expect any Liverpool side to handle such a weak side. The game v little Bologna was just poor. My first game post Klopp and they more than matched us. As the away side in Europe - they not only out sung the Kop but they played to my eye the better football. We were not close to the same level as we had been in 2019 or 2020 or 2022 - Not close in fact and no better than we had been the season prior with a huge injury list and a totally new starting midfield.

You can only beat what is in front of you and last season we did just that. However - imo Arsenal had a significantly stronger/deeper squad than we did. Arteta's players were not Klopp players tho, just as Arteta is not and never will be a match for Jurgen Klopp. They had no title winning pedigree in their ranks and no mentality monsters. Slots team (left to him by Jurgen) had every ounce of that PLUS a midfield 4 (4 counting Endo) with its first season under its belt at a new club - 3 of them in a new league.

We took 84 points without any real threat. City vanished 20 points down and despite the fact most on here want to sweep it under the carpet Arsenal with a mountain of injuries and no striker.

Now it is debatable either way as to whether it is easier to make 84 points without a rival breathing down your neck or with no challenge in sight. But I know where my money is.

Last season - we had:
ZERO expectation
Settled squad with no signings whatsoever bar a player Slot refused to use.
City devoid of any impetus to win ANYTHING at all.
Arsenal's campaign severely hampered by a relentless string of significant injuries to their most important players, while we had a relative clean bill of health.


Decisive factors in why our 84 points was attainable and enough imo.

Doesn't diminish anything - and every season some teams suffer injuries and others escape unscathed. Arsenal might have had no injuries and took less points - nobody knows BUT a weaker Arsenal the season prior in a more competitive year took 89 points and came second.

You could see last season as the dying kicks of Klopp's team. We all knew we needed a rebuild are were praying that Salah and VVD would stay fit. Thankfully they did and we had the mentality, as you say, to get through. Reminds me a bit of Fergie's last few seasons: the team wasn't great and you could see the Fergie was the one pushing them to achieve. When he left they collapsed.