Taxi for Slot

[fiordearg]

Defo deserves the credit for that. The job he had, he did to perfection. BUT that job was made miraculously less difficult for him than at any time since Leicester City won the title.

Putting him on that flag on the Kop - Alongside Shankly, Paisley, Jurgen etc…? Men who built successive teams of winners..? within months of Jurgen leaving was imo - poor form, and sadly Karma has followed.

I say this despite the fact that I personally warmed to Arne after his first interview before he arrived.

BUT the beatification of him post title win is a study in how easily football fans ignore context. To hail him as a genius for winning a title in his debut season requires a wilful blindness to the landscape of the league. Not only did he inherit a squad drilled to perfection by Jurgen Klopp, but the seas parted for him completely.

He walked the league because Man City finally imploded under the distraction of 115 charges and the other challenger couldn't field a fit 11 for half the season. This wasn't a masterclass in management; it was the luckiest title run in history. He steered a pre-built ship into an open dock while his rivals were sinking themselves.

No prizes for noticing that the club were fully aware of this. Yes they made a hash of the summer recruitment BUT that was par for the course pre Klopp. The legacy left by Jurgen was the title win. This is the point.

Yes he was fortunate with his timing and the structures and personnel put in place were excellent. I believe he's running out of time because FSG don't like to see heavy investment wasted. Right now he looks like he can't manage that and blend the new with the old

[Steveo]

Not his fault - who on this planet could follow Klopp while working for these profiteers?

[Steveo]

And for me it wasn’t the structures and personnel put in place. That’s a narrative carried by those who refuse to see who and what F$G really are.

The idea that we could replicate the Boot Room succession under them is a joke. Klopp was an outlier, a miracle worker who dragged a club run by profiteers to the summit with one arm tied behind his back

Look at the timeline: 97 points, a Champions League, a 99-point title win, and a near-quadruple, all while the owners tightened the purse strings. His final gift was rebuilding a burnt-out midfield in one summer, creating the squad that secured the title last season. He did the work of a Manager, a Sporting Director, and an Owner, and it broke him. Barely nine months later, it’s obvious: we haven't replaced the man, and we certainly haven't replaced the miracle

[Insidious]

I don't think the heat will die down even if we beat PSV handsomely. The Eredivisie is currently a pile of wank. Things will either stay the same should we best PSV, or the pressure on Slot will increase even more if we don't take all three points.

Indeed.

League wins are required - and fast.

If we did beat PSV (European football seems to suit our set-up a little better so am quietly confident on it) and went on to beat West Ham away (confidence isn't as high here) then you set up the suddenly very-difficult-looking Sunderland match at Anfield.

If you win there and have won the previous two, then you're (probably) looking at us still being in the automatic qualifying spots for the Champion's League whilst being 3 points or less off the Top Four after 14 games.

That would look a little better as we'd finally have gotten back to getting a couple of wins off in a row and yet would still remain a v-e-r-y delicate position. There's a pack of sides that all have belief that they can attain European football for next season and they aren't going to let up in a hurry.

It's still my belief that things will pick up a bit February-to-May but Slot needs to weather a tumultuous remainder of November, December and January before we get there - not to mention that he actually has to start landing on the right solutions to combat the difficulties we will face along the way, such as brave calls on use of Salah, constructing a midfield properly and addressing our full-back situation without sticking Szoboszlai in there.

Buckle up, as the remainder of 2025 could be a rough ride.

[jozza800]

My concern is that after the City game we were looking at 5 very winnable games - Forest, PSV, Wham, Sunderland and Leeds. It was a chance to pick up some points and try and gain a bit of momentum.

However, i'm not even confidenent of beating PSV, nevermind the league games!

We've started the run horrifically. I wouldn't be at all suprised to see us beaten by any of the sides in this run to Christmas.

[teesred]

My concern is that after the City game we were looking at 5 very winnable games - Forest, PSV, Wham, Sunderland and Leeds. It was a chance to pick up some points and try and gain a bit of momentum.

However, i'm not even confidenent of beating PSV, nevermind the league games!

We've started the run horrifically. I wouldn't be at all suprised to see us beaten by any of the sides in this run to Christmas.

I thought exactly the same, looking at the fixtures yesterday I thought we can win all of them but equally lose most aswell on the flip side. Sunderland probably the toughest of the lot.
There's just nothing to be confident about.

[Insidious]

My concern is that after the City game we were looking at 5 very winnable games - Forest, PSV, Wham, Sunderland and Leeds. It was a chance to pick up some points and try and gain a bit of momentum.

However, i'm not even confidenent of beating PSV, nevermind the league games!

We've started the run horrifically. I wouldn't be at all suprised to see us beaten by any of the sides in this run to Christmas.

I didn't see us going on a "run" as such myself, certainly not winning 5 on the spin or anything. I was more in the line of thinking that it was going to be something like "win two, lose one" or "draw two, win one" for a while, probably into the start of 2026 - very much expecting us to look like a side that would finish 5th-9th for a while, then turning a corner somewhere towards the end of Mo's AFCON spell, landing on a few solutions and looking better in the final 15 or so games of the season to end up finishing 3rd/4th.

League games right now the confidence just isn't there as we have a number of players who don't look "on it" when behind the ball and our attack isn't bailing us out of that. We don't look like a side that wins two but loses one - we look like a side that could lose 3 more on the spin (in the League) and if that happens, I think the players will just stop responding entirely, if that Forest match hasn't already tipped them.

Europe I am way more confident about (could see us getting to the quarters or semis in the Champion's League) as there is a lot less of the long-throw, second-ball, lump-it footie that we are seemingly incapable of dealing with right now, plus players always seem to get themselves up for Europe, plus the Anfield factor, plus having more time/space.

I thought this period of questioning Slot's capacity to sort us out would be occuring in December/January and then we'd land on the "post-Salah" template and a lot would click into gear, but at the moment......oooof.......Slot has to get that far first and he seemingly can't buy a result right now. The West Ham away is huge.

[Steveo]

Yep and binning Slot might seem like the only way to stop the rot BUT, is Slot the real problem…? As much as he doesn’t deserve all the plaudits for last seasons title win, imo he doesn’t deserve all of the blame for this seasons current debacle.

None of us know who decided to target the players we did - or who sanctioned the sale of Diaz for instance. Slot has had to integrate lots of new faces… This is never easy - see Klopp 2.0 for teething problems.

It’s bad right now - and there is the real danger that we lose another 3 or 4 games before the year is out..Eeek

BUT another manager while offering the hope of a short term fix - may well provide potentially a longer term problem. We change the stability of the club. At least with Slot there is a legacy between him and his predecessor… a link to the mentality monsters. So many of the players are part of that link.

No way Arne is as bad as these last 8 or 9 results… is there? Could he be in Tent Pegs bracket? Naah

Is this all on Slot OR a panic by the club? Panic that Klopp’s team was aging in some areas and being broken up in others and that drastic action was needed? Does Arne really choose Isak ahead of Hugo or is there pressure from above? Who the heck knows. But imo disastrous as things look right now, binning the manager isn’t the answer just yet.

It’s damning for him at a glance because we payed top dollar AND we didn’t sign shyte players but quality… BUT - crucially why did we fail to bring in the players most needed? No replacement for Luis - a feable and late last minute attempt for a top CB when it was a glaring need back in February…. ! Still no attempt for a 6…?

It’s crazy - yet surely this bunch can be utilised to work as a side capable of a top 4 challenge?

[Steveo]

That bottom line will be the deciding factor in Arne’s future. The length of time that possibility remains and or the speed with which it disappears dictating the timeframe…

The golden goose is all the leeches are here for after all.

[Kev0909]

Every time we finish top it seems we do too little (like last time) Or this time..... completely bizzare transfers... and too much perhaps, and not even get what we fucking needed.... is the transfer team to blame this time surely? because FSG actually tried to stay on top by coughing up the money..... but it was a waste of time.

[CCTV]

It seems that many people are putting a lot of the blame on individual players be it existing players such as VVD and Salah whose performance levels have fallen off a cliff, or new players such as Wirtz, Isak and Kerkez, all of whom have yet to put in any meaningful performances. However given that effectively the performance levels of the entire squad have been poor, I think the problem is more than individual players either simply being over the hill, not being bothered, or not being up to speed or even suitable for us or the league.

We have been piss poor since the backend of last season. That was before we signed the likes of Wirtz, Isak and Kerkez. Also up to that point Salah had be brilliant, whilst the likes of VVD, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch etc were all playing well. Nobody can convince me that all of our players have all suddenly massively declined in quality at the same time, and that most, if not all of the players we bought are not good enough or suitable enough to play in the PL for us.

There is only one unifying factor or in this case one person that links all our players, and that is Slot. You only have to look at the way he sets us up, the players he uses or doesn't use, the things he says, and what he does when things are going pear shaped to realise that the blame for our predicament is liable to be down to one man, Slot.

Slot just doesn't look or sound like somebody who has the tactical nous, gravitas or motivational skills needed to get the best out of our players or to get them going when they need a proverbial kick up the arse. Klopp was someone who could inject energy and desire into players, even those who were running on empty, or those who weren't exactly world beaters. Slot currently looks and sounds like the exact opposite in that he may well be sucking the life out of the players, something that is making our players look like they're over the hill, not trying, or simply aren't good enough.

I for one wouldn't be surprised if the players performance levels jumped dramatically if they had someone potentially less draining leading them. It will be interesting to see if I'm right should Slot get the boot.

Well this will largely be speculative as we dont know what's gone on behind the scenes since last season. But I'll defend Slot and make the case it is the players who need to step up, and several senior players in particular. In contrast to these players I will give a quick shout out to Sobozla, Grav & Bradley for example as lads who visibly have stood out in terms of simple effort on the pitch.

The exit to PSG was naturally disappointing. In that 1st leg we were dealt with by PSG exceptionally well. Outfoxed and they were setup to nullify our key strengths, a master class from Enrique. We were at battlestations and being smashed up. Nunez stole a win for us setting up Elliott to finish.
The 2nd leg we went with the same 11 and played better, not hard tbh, and conceded an early goal. We lost on penalties.

Conceding early goals a hallmark of the squad in recent seasons, including Klopps last 2 seasons at least.

When our last season under Klopp went to shit, playing 433, in a thread titled "What is the explanation for our dramatic loss of form" i gave this reply on conceding early to Steveo's claims of fatigue being the cause. The 1st part on our 2 games v manu towards the end of that season.

CCTV said: 28th April 2024 10:22 AM

We lost a winning position 3 times in 2 games and conceded 6 goals in 2 games.

We gifted them 2 goals in 13 minutes after half time in the league game.

Do you believe the half time break really left our lads shattered for the first 13 minutes of the second half. This is where fatigue manifests and that explains the goals conceded

Or that fatigue has led to us conceding first so regularly this season. Even in October as it was the year before in October.

14 October 2022
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has pointed to a tendency to conceded the first goal in games as a "concern".

Analysis by Nielsen Gracenote shows the Reds have conceded first in six of their eight matches this season. That means in every match in which Liverpool have conceded a goal at all, the opposition have scored first."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/articles/czv4n0rv77vo

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October 11 2023

Only Sheffield United and Luton Town have conceded the first goal in a Premier League game more often than Liverpool this season, and it’s not a new phenomenon for Jürgen Klopp’s side either.

https://theanalyst.com/eu/2023/10/why-do-liverpool-keep-conceding-the-first-goal/

This trend has continued through the season.

https://forums.lfconline.co.uk/showthread.php?310349-What-is-the-explanation-for-our-dramatic-loss-of-form%85/page7

Now Slots successes in Holland and winning Number 20 seem to be very underrated at the minute by many.
And coupled with calls for Klopps return, I think it's worth noting that our team has had mini-collapses and blips before.
That it's only really in October 2024 that defense wasn't an issue. After Slot arrived. It's an issue again and as shown was an issue in the 2 seasons prior to October 2024.

There's some comment about the loss of Heitinga? iirc. However the successful October defensively, over this and our last 3 seasons, was Slots use of 4231 and players performing in it.

Think that should really be enough to defend Slot & Klopp and put the focus on several players and the culture of players. Although the managers carry the can...
If Klopp returns soon, I'd take that as a sign the players have got Slot sacked. Which is never a good look.

[jozza800]

I've got to agree with RM here CCTV.

You might see a bit of a drop off from maybe one or two, or maybe one or two of the new lads not being quite up to speed but it's the entire squad other than Szobo, Ali, Chiesa and Ekitike.

Mac, Mo and Konate's drop off has been frightening. Virg, along with Grav and Gakpo have gradually dropped off as well. Wirtz, Kerkez, Frimpong and Isak haven't even got started.

To me, the way we started the season and the way it's gone since absolutely looks all about the system. Even with the first 5 wins of the season it didn't look right, but with the ability we have in the squad, and we DO have ability in the squad, we managed to get the wins but it was never going to last if we kept playing the same way. And it hasn't lasted and if anything, we're getting worse.

It has got to the point where we look absolutely shot to pieces. The system was/is broken but now so too are the players.

We end up with 8 cones all stood about not moving on the edge of the oppo's 18yd box then are surprised when we get 'done' on the counter with just Konate and Virg trying to stop the counter. And it's been happening all season.

[miller0863]

Not one element of our back 5 or 6 including Ali has worked this season, not one.
Now we’ve stopped scoring it’s a perfect storm.

Both full back positions have been chopping and changing due to injuries and an attempt to try and get things working, to no avail.
Virgil hasn’t been great but Konate … absolutely shocking.
Ali can’t stay fit.

MacAllister hasn’t looked fit since the run in last season.

Jeeez I could go right through the squad.

It’s a combination of the players letting the manager down and the manager seemingly incapable of galvanising the squad into some sort of reaction.

What a shit show

[teesred]

Looking at the stats from Saturday it beggars belief we lost the game. 75% possession, 598 passes, 20 shots. The list goes in but the fact is we conceded three goals to a team that had 25% possession.
It reminds me of the really bad spell under Rodgers where we were dominating games but losing to the one chance in the game we'd concede. Similar spell under Klopp too.
It's really difficult to see how it changes, that's why I think everybody is just so despondent right now.

[Steveo]

Worth noting that the spell under Klopp was at a time when we had ZERO senior centre backs - after another idiotic summer where we let a senior go and didn't even bother to replace... that time we had to put Hendo and Fabinho in there. That dreadful run took us from top of the table at Christmas to nowhere in weeks. Something I feared might happen last season with any kind of an injury to Virgil..