The Shill Effect

[KingCanny]

You’ve lost me they backed him to waste an extravagant amount of money on a pipe dream he cooked up in paper that wasn’t tried or tested ditching the system that had been incredibly successful for 10 years and we’d just win the league with

Edwards Hughes and Slot should all go for what they did

We all want klopp back but I can't see it happening so we need to move on. I will be gutted if he takes the Madrid job though

[KingCanny]

Problem is there's no obvious replacements after Slot. Low block tacticians who fail at bigger clubs like Thomas Frank & Glasner next(hopefully at man utd). We need a big character after Slot & theres not a lot of options out there. Just be happy we missed out on Amorin 😵

[Nineteenx]

We didn’t miss our on Amorim

De Zerbi would be good I think he was my first choice to replace Jurgen because he is a big character, gets players to run through walls for him, gets more out of players taking Brighton and now Marseille into Europe

Likes 3 at the back but played the Brighton system 433 adoptin variations on it throughout games so not unlike Jurgen that way

The issue we now have is Slot’s fuck up has left us short in attack and broken from the winning system I think De Zerbi would be a good fit to quickly reinstall it while we have players expert at playing it left

I would hope that will happen soon as soon as possible

[Steveo]

This is not my words its copied & pasted from elsewhere but this is so true.....

I read this earlier today on X and I thought it was absolutely bang on. It comes from Eddie Gibbs.

“My wife left the house just before kick-off and offered a kindness that proved entirely misplaced. "It's only Barnsley, she said, at least you'll enjoy this one." She returned after the final whistle, saw the score, smiled, "4-1, that's more like it." She couldn't have been more wrong.

I'm getting told how much of a negative "wet wipe" I'm becoming on here, but I just say it as I see, I don't know any other way. This was a miserable watch if you care about Liverpool beyond the raw arithmetic of goals.

Entertaining for neutrals, uplifting for Barnsley, but for anyone invested in what this side is supposed to be, it was another evening of sterile control and emotional vacancy. The goals were all excellent, strikes of technique and clarity, but they arrived as isolated acts of brilliance rather than the product of pressure, tempo, or conviction. Once again, Liverpool dominated the ball and once again did very little with it that felt purposeful or repeatable.

This is what possession has become under Slot: slow, stagnant, endlessly recycled, stripped of threat. Gakpo has drifted into becoming the emblem of it all. I hate singling him out, especially playing out of position, but he now represents everything that drains the life from this team: ponderous touches, safe decisions, no fire, no urgency, no sense of demanding the game. SlotBall in human form.

Chiesa looks exactly like a player who has been frozen out and then blamed for the cold. He is off the pace, short of confidence, and visibly disconnected. That did not happen in a vacuum. This is what happens when a footballer is treated as an afterthought and then judged as if nothing preceded it.

Nyoni’s situation borders on farce. He travels the country to warm benches and is tossed five minutes against a League One side as if that counts as development. That is not management; it's neglect dressed up as patience.

Ramsey does not play at all, even with a season-ending injury at right back. Instead, we're told it's a problem while a possible solution sits unused. Szoboszlai is shoved there, hates it, and everyone pretends this makes sense.

Chiesa, Ramsey, and Endo all occupy non-homegrown squad places, and the manager has no appetite to use any of them. That is not a coincidence; it's a planning failure. If that does not alarm you, nothing will.

Four goals, progression, and a deepening sense that Liverpool are sleepwalking through their own season. The scoreline flatters, the performance deceives, and enjoyment has quietly left the building.

Burnley next, wonder how Parker sets them up.”

The story about his wife really hits home ...it perfectly captures the gaslighting so many of us are feeling right now. To the outsider or the casual observer checking the score app, a 4-1 win looks like business as usual, but anyone actually watching can see the massive disconnect between the result and the performance. You aren't being negative for pointing out that the emperor has no clothes...you’re just noticing that the joy has been designed/engineered out of the club. The "raw arithmetic" is fine, but the emotional vacancy he alludes to is clear, and it’s valid to feel like the soul of the club is being traded for sterile efficiency.

It is becoming exhausting to watch this brand of possession where the ball is treated as a defensive mechanic rather than a weapon for the attack. We dominate possession, but it’s too risk-averse and feels like the players are terrified of losing the ball rather than excited to use it. Gakpo...the perfect example of this systemic issue.. he's a player who used to have at least some drive and directness, now reduced to safe touches and recycling play because the system demands control over chaos. It is effective for stats, but it kills the atmosphere and the adrenaline that used to define us. We are watching a team that is well-drilled but completely uninspired. And it's reflected in the acoustics at L4.

The mismanagement of the squad is perhaps the most alarming part because it suggests a total breakdown between recruitment and the manager. Watching Szoboszlai look miserable and out of place at right-back while Ramsey..a supposedly a specialist...is nowhere to be seen or sits unused is baffling. It exposes the reality that Slot would rather try and force a square peg into a round hole. The freezing out of Chiesa and the token, insulting minutes for Nyoni just reinforce that this is a coach who doesn't actually trust the squad, which leads to the exact "sleepwalking" vibe described where the same players are run into the ground while talent rots on the bench.

Ultimately, this seems to be a painful reality of the post-Klopp transition. We seem to have traded heavy metal football for elevator music..technically competent, harmless, but utterly devoid of soul. When you can win 4-1 and leave the stadium feeling nothing but relief that it’s over, something fundamental has broken. We are winning - some - matches, but it feels like we are losing the club's identity in the process.

He knew what was to come v Burnley didn't he.

[JockStrap]

AI slop everywhere and replying to posts copied from other forums

Mods, can we delete this car crash of a thread please?

[Steveo]

On the run




tick tock.