|
|
|
Squad N0 1
Are you watching Arne?
That’s the football we want, that’s the football you pretend to be trying to produce but not one Liverpool fan believes is possible with you as coach, you absolute FRAUD!!!
First Team
In an alternate reality where we could cross time-zones, I'd love to watch a peak-Benitez side against either of those two last night.
The organisation required to deal with that level of attacking talent and to subsequently find opportunities in your own possession phases or on the counter would be intriguing to watch, given how differently some defenders are coached now in the post-Pep's Barcelona environment.
First Team
Hard to disagree. If Slot wants us to play like that, he's going to have to have a massively transformative next season which seems unlikely given what we've seen so far. What many people seem to forget or ignore is that we weren't playing great stuff last season either but we were winning so it was lost in the haze. To me that points to the issue which is that maybe he just doesn't have it at this level.Originally Posted by miller0863
From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down, I convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend on reading it. Groucho Marx
Rowdy Yates
Good to see that some were paying attention and don't have selective memories.
You’ve hit the nail on the head regarding the "haze" that blinded people to the reality of the situation. What we witnessed last season wasn't any dawning of a new tactical era - just the final roar of Klopp's engine.
It was a total "perfect storm" that we will likely never see again in the modern game. The handover was beyond unique - Klopp didn’t leave because he failed... he left because he was spent trying to fight against the penny pinching. He did the grueling work of the 2.0 rebuild ... then handed over a small but high-performance machine only a year into its cycle.
Also ...when has a departing manager ever literally sung the name of his successor to the Kop? All the integration work is done in an instant - through the passover from a legend to the new. AND it wasn't just a song... it was a command to the fans and players to keep that fire burning. Slot didn't have to build a culture - he simply ran with it.
We were written off by most before a ball was kicked...so the players operated with zero pressure while rivals like Arsenal were buckling under the weight of crippling injuries while City looked every inch the club facing 115 charges. The fact that not one new player was needed to "fix" anything proves the point... the squad was already there and capable of taking 80 plus points.. we saw it even in the 2.0 first season DESPITE the devastating injuries AND Klopp's announcement.
As you rightly pointed out - the 'great stuff' people think they saw was often just individual brilliance (See Salah especially) and the lingering 'Mentality Monster"' spirit... no masterstroke from the dugout. But as the emotional momentum from Klopp's goodbye finally evaporated - the reality of Slot’s (and H'edwrds) level got exposed. Sadly - number 20 was a one-off legacy title - fuelled by the man who left - not the man who arrived.
Last edited by Steveo; Yesterday at 10:09 AM.
Koala tea
Good game, PSG will be kicking themselves.
Should have had the game put away, and now take a 1 goal lead to Bayern due a fortunate penalty awarded.
I'll be shouting for Atletico this year.
And last year Arsenals ppg didnt really change from when they were fit to when their "injury crisis" arrived.
About 2 ppg before and after. Slots lead predated any injury crisis.
Rowdy Yates
Haha here’s the shill trying his best
. it’s a massive revision of history to suggest the wheels only came off for them after Christmas. The reality is that Arsenal were a walking hospital ward from the very first month- and it stayed that way for the duration. People have short memories but they were top of the "injury table" long before the festive period even kicked in... we’re talking nearly double the amount of fitness setbacks compared to what Slot was dealing with.
You had Oodegard - the literal heartbeat of that side- missing huge chunks of the early season with knee and shoulder issues... and Havertz went down as early as August and struggled for months to get back to 100%. By November - Ben White was already forced into surgery after trying to play through the pain- while Saka and Gabriel were basically being held together by tape and injections just to get them onto the pitch.
The contrast is night and day - Slot was cruising with one of the healthiest squads in the league... while Arteta was missing six or seven first-teamers every single week from matchday one. The only reason people point to the post-Christmas period is because that’s when the cumulative fatigue finally broke them - but the damage was done in September and October while they were fighting an uphill battle. It’s easy to look like a tactical genius when you can pick your best 11 every Saturday... but Arsenal were operating at a massive disadvantage all year while Slot was gifted a perfectly healthy machine.
Master Tactician
Arsenal are unlikely to better our tally from last season and they've had the fully fit squad his season.
Slot did take over a really good side, but it's daft to think he's just told them to 'have at it' and carry on from Jurgen...
Last season's set up was as different from Jurgen's set up as this year's set up is from last season. There was so much different from Jurgen's set up, the only thing that remained the same was the players and formation. Last season's effort was made to sound like the lads won the League on their own.
Slot has made an absolute pig's ear of this season and I absolutely think he should go at the end of the season, but to suggest he just coasted through last season is ingenious.
Something, Something, Something, Dark Side
Rowdy Yates
You say it’s 'daft' to think Slot coasted... but he inherited a squad that finished on 82 points in its first season as Klopp 2.0. And - crucially - he had them available to play. Arsenal took 89 points the year before... but you can’t maintain that level when your backline (White, Tomiyasu, Calafiori, Timber) misses a combined 450+ days.
The 'pudding' isn't just the points - it’s the availability. Flip those injury tables... give Slot 1,300 days of injuries and give Arteta a fully fit squad - and the table looks completely different. You’re ignoring the very 'context' you’re claiming to see.
If you want to compare Arsenal last season to us this time out - compare the points we take at the end of this one to theirs. I think you will find with hundreds of millions spent and fewer injuries we still take less.
This is not true either.. Not even close to true. very subtle tweak to the system which before Christmas 2024 looked great - perhaps close to perfection even... BUT was simply the start of the transition to this garbage..
There really is no place the Slot apologist can go. They refuse to accept that last season had far far less to do with him than with Jurgen... THIS is the daftest of all stances anyone could take.
Last edited by Steveo; Yesterday at 06:44 PM.
Master Tactician
I'm not a Slot apologist. But you're not watching close enough if you think hardly anything was different tactically last season.
As you say we've transitioned into whatever the holy fuck it is he's trying to do this season. But it isn't what we were playing last season and neither were we just continuing with Kloppball.
We ran out of steam last season due to Slot not willing to give the backup players a run out, despite Klopp using a lot of them to great effect by giving us a title challenge and a cup.
Slot isn't what we hoped he was, but it wasnt the ghost of Klopp that won the title last season. Both can be true.
First Team
Soft pen blasted in by Gyokeres gives Arsenal the lead in Madrid just before half time.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote