All Aboard the Slot Express

[RedMagic]

Champion's League football, both for ourselves and denying surrounding sides (Chelsea, Man United) a chance to accelerate their own respective projects is pretty key for us in my view. I don't think we'd Weather a season (or multiple) without it under Slot as well as we would under Klopp.

If we miss out on CL football not only will we find it harder to attract top quality players, but we'll also be less likely to go after such players to begin with as a result of the subsequent drop in revenue. On top of that unwillingness to pay big transfer fees (the summer splurge was an outlier) there will also be a increased reluctance to pay high wages, something that may have been key in Guehi going to Man City. That reluctance to pay big wages certainly won't be helped by both Salah and Virgil currently not justifying their huge pay packets.

If we fail to qualify for the CL and we keep Slot, some of our quality or promising young players may start getting itchy feet. It will be like a row of dominoes. Once that first one falls the rest will soon follow. If Klopp was in charge you'd expect him to turn the situation around fairly quickly, whilst if Slot stays it's not hard to envisage us reverting back to being an also-ran.

[JockStrap]

I genuinely don't think it's simply the personality thing - 5 League wins since September and 64 points from our last 39 games isn't a good read and that is over half of the League games that Slot has been at the helm (62 thus far) whereas the win rate for Klopp was over a much more sustained period of time. Another factor is the style of play - the current iteration of Slot-ball is genuinely so insipid that I don't look forward to games, whereas under Klopp we were generally entertained even when we lost.

I've sympathy for Slot - I do - he was faced with a multitude of issues this season rather than a single one (indeed, I made a thread about it) but to have this 4-points-from-15 within the same season as the 9-losses-in-12 is disconcerting. With Klopp's "poor" season in 22/23, we had the one rotten run and then turned it around. Whereas Slot is now in his second run of poor form within the same season. I'm (regrettably) not sure that Slot will turn it around, though I of course hope he does.

We were worse off under Klopp in 22/23. Sitting in 9th at this stage, with less points and playing worse football. Beaten 4-1 by Napoli in the CL.

Lost to Forest, Leeds, Brentford, Brighton, Wolves and Bournemouth in the league. City stuffed us 4-1 at their place.

Klopp finished that season strong and we ended up in 5th. Which is what Slot needs to do this season.

[Insidious]

Klopp finished that season strong which is what Slot needs to do this season.

Do you back him to do it?

I HOPE he does, needless to say. I'm not confident he'll galvanise us into a unit that can turn this League season around though. I'll be delighted if he proves me wrong.

Still think we'll go deep in Europe, but if we finish in the quarter-finals or semi-finals of the Tournament whilst missing out on the Champion's League spots that won't do well for our 26/27 campaign.

RedMagic - I'm largely in agreement with your assessment. Hopefully Chelsea find a way to cock up what looks like a relatively kind run of upcoming fixtures.

[sydenham red]

If we miss out on CL football not only will we find it harder to attract top quality players, but we'll also be less likely to go after such players to begin with as a result of the subsequent drop in revenue. On top of that unwillingness to pay big transfer fees (the summer splurge was an outlier) there will also be a increased reluctance to pay high wages, something that may have been key in Guehi going to Man City. That reluctance to pay big wages certainly won't be helped by both Salah and Virgil currently not justifying their huge pay packets.

If we fail to qualify for the CL and we keep Slot, some of our quality or promising young players may start getting itchy feet. It will be like a row of dominoes. Once that first one falls the rest will soon follow. If Klopp was in charge you'd expect him to turn the situation around fairly quickly, whilst if Slot stays it's not hard to envisage us reverting back to being an also-ran.

Apart from the outlier window (with a substantial recoup dont forget) we're like the kid who won't spend his birthday or Xmas money. Hoarding it away whilst piling up the sponsors and the hospitality revenue. The 3 main mids signed in 2023, no-one of note since and no senior CB since 2018. They'll prob consider selling Jones to finance anew mid whereas they should be adding to the numbers. It's back to being laughable

[JockStrap]

Do you back him to do it?

I HOPE he does, needless to say. I'm not confident he'll galvanise us into a unit that can turn this League season around though. I'll be delighted if he proves me wrong.

Yes, of course I back him. That's my point. He has enough credit in the bank to deserve our backing.

If he fails to turn things around by the end of the season then that changes. But for now it's full steam ahead (pun intended).

[Insidious]

Yes, of course I back him. That's my point. He has enough credit in the bank to deserve our backing.

If he fails to turn things around by the end of the season then that changes. But for now it's full steam ahead (pun intended).

Sincerely hope you're right Jock and I'll be delighted if we prevail.

[Insidious]

Apart from the outlier window (with a substantial recoup dont forget) we're like the kid who won't spend his birthday or Xmas money. Hoarding it away whilst piling up the sponsors and the hospitality revenue. The 3 main mids signed in 2023, no-one of note since and no senior CB since 2018. They'll prob consider selling Jones to finance anew mid whereas they should be adding to the numbers. It's back to being laughable

We tended to prioritise wages and keeping a core together - I think our wage bill in 23/24 was (roughly) £380m which is not insubstantial.

I think what lies around the corner is a bias more towards accepting some need to adjust to the ever-increasing fees within the game, but slightly lower wage packets.

Van Dijk and Salah's wages (as an example) I don't think we'll see offered to many players in future - but who knows?

[sydenham red]

We tended to prioritise wages and keeping a core together - I think our wage bill in 23/24 was (roughly) £380m which is not insubstantial.

I think what lies around the corner is a bias more towards accepting some need to adjust to the ever-increasing fees within the game, but slightly lower wage packets.

Van Dijk and Salah's wages (as an example) I don't think we'll see offered to many players in future - but who knows?

Salaries are out of control, the lure of playing for Liverpool should mean we could offer less and still attract top talent but too many greedy insincere young men out there. Earn their extra through success bonuses off a lower basic, those on lower salaries to get a higher % bonus. It be hard to enforce a wage cap as the likes of city would want to bypass it but the majority of clubs should make a stand and hold out against greedy agents and players. Once some of the big names realise they would have to drop their demands or have nowhere to ply their trade then there might be a momentum shift

[RedMagic]

Salaries are out of control, the lure of playing for Liverpool should mean we could offer less and still attract top talent but too many greedy insincere young men out there. Earn their extra through success bonuses off a lower basic, those on lower salaries to get a higher % bonus. It be hard to enforce a wage cap as the likes of city would want to bypass it but the majority of clubs should make a stand and hold out against greedy agents and players. Once some of the big names realise they would have to drop their demands or have nowhere to ply their trade then there might be a momentum shift

Unless that wage cap was brought in across all European leagues, all that would happen is that all the best players would join these other leagues and PL teams would struggle to be competitive in Europe.

[sydenham red]

Unless that wage cap was brought in across all European leagues, all that would happen is that all the best players would join these other leagues and PL teams would struggle to be competitive in Europe.

With rules on squad sizes and home grown quotas then there is a finite number of players the big clubs could sign anyway. If UEFA said from 2030 e.g the max salary allowable before tax is £8M plus max bonus 25% on top that would shake it up lol. Might stop the likes of Trent heading to RM. Could also push for savings on salaries be used to reduce season ticket prices. Greed is not good