The only side I want to see at Frankfurt:
Mamardashvili
Frimpong Konate Virgil Kerkez
Jones Grav Szobo
Wirtz Chiesa
Ekitike
Oh and do not let Salah board that plane.
Give him a few weeks offā¦
I canāt wait to see Chiesa miss out again 
Sorry Iām being flippant but. Someone should do the threadā¦ sorry Iām out for this season now.
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Heās Carabao Cup fodder.
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Chiesa was the only player absolutely everywhere when he came on against United. One more player like that and we might shore things up a bit.
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Iām beginning to get the vibe from Slotās intransigence that heās basically saying ; ā I won the League in my first season , at a canter , so how dare you criticise me. And just to let you know how affronted I am , I am going to resolutely stick to a losing formula using the same under-performing players.
I hope Iām wrong , but by this time next week weāll probably have more of an idea.
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I think itās his way, his character, we saw it last season and Trent with Salah pulled us through.
His tactical changes particularly the 4222 stuff was mind boggling particularly when we looked like we had completely lost the midfield.
It was start with 433 (4213), lose the midfield battle move to 424, still have no midfield control, move to 4222.
We have now moved to 433 (4123) line against United which looked more like (415) with Isak coming ādeepā for the ball but never receiving it. As it got more difficult where we couldnāt get the ball out of defense it looked more like (505) with Gravenberch dropping into defense. Horrible to watch.
At the end KonatĆ© and VVD completely quit their posts and started goal hanging. I havenāt even see kids do this. Very worrying.
We have no shape so itās not individual players itās tactical coaching and awareness.
This has been coming since the middle of last season so nothing new itās just that now we have lost it so much that we loose rather than win or draw.
The flippant, āhe won the leagueā shouldnāt cover up the disarray we have been heading toward.
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This thing with him constantly starting with Bradley only to withdraw him and put Dom back there has to stop.
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Damnā¦where are the supposed center midfielders???
I understand that itās a common tactic against a team that defends man to man, but yeah, so many times in that first half yesterday our player in possession lacked options. Gravenberch was a bit too much on his own and Mac wasnāt at his best (maybe even less so after the kick he got). Too many players āhidā in congested areas. To break such a block down, you need shorter and simpler passes, be patient, then know the moment when to accelerate, penetrate or switch. I preferred Isakās (he clearly isnāt yet at 100% and itās understandable why) pressing to Ekitikeās against Chelsea, but yesterday I thought when all put together, Ekitike (especially with his link up skills, ability to drop, connect and then attack) was more deserving of a start. Too often we were a bit too spread out, disconnected.
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He needs to come back to Earth fast or else, he might be out of a job come end of the season. He is still negotiating a new contract with the club. Another defeat or two might see the club withhold all contract extensions or give him a very short term contract.
Some posters in the other thread mentioned about Slot himself going off for a partying holiday towards the end of the season while the team is playing like shit.
It has gotten worse since then. If not for the heroics of Ali and the last gasps winners, we might be in a very bad hole.
Just going to bring up something thatās been on my mind a while now concerning how our attacking has changed since Slot came in and isnāt working imo.
Under Klopp our attacks were focused down the right. We would use a trio of players 2 of which could switch it to the left incredibly well, Henderson, Trent and later Szoboszlai. In this system Salah was well supported and could attack or use his support to change things if this got bogged down. It pulled the opposition defense over freeing up Gakpo or Diaz on the left who were easily available to these players.
Even with Bradley, who instead of being able to switch the play, attacking the byline this worked as he had the support.
Now we go down the left and it looks soo much easier for the opposition to defend. The opposition looks like it has defenders to spare. So even if we switch to Salah on the right the opposition swamp him easily. However the problem seems to be the quality, ability and above all the desire to do it. Everything gets bogged down by Gakpoās, selfishness, lack of vision and noose. His inability to see the easy and more threatening options is soo frustrating.
If weāre going to go down the left we need to sharpen things up.
If weāre going to switch to the right it needs to be quicker and better. Also players need to get over to help Salah or whoever as quick or quicker than the opposition get their defence over.
We just seem to go through the motions repeating the same āmistakesā itās so obstinate and repetitive.
Iām going to refrain from evoking how we played when ManĆ© was with us. It was a different time.
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Setup like Burnley, at least we might get some draws.
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We have always struggled against low blocks, even with the above and we perform well when teams open up and go toe to toe.
It is the defensive aspect that is an issue at the moment and we are creating chances, not taking them though
Not sure that this mess has to do with Slot being pedantic or not.
But one thing is for sure,it is a great way of being moved on!
I am concerned that he may have his favourites..that I donāt like.
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Did we get āourā 442 diamond against Villa?
First half looked like it to me. EkitikĆØ dropping deep and Gravenberch staying in the DM position.
MacAlister and Szoboszlai often pushing higher than EkitikĆØ.
Wasnāt at all well executed and our weaknesses stood out.
Second half looked much better to me where we dominated the midfield for at least 30 minutes for once.
For me Villa were the poorest and weakest team we have faced this season. The first half should remain a worry. Our ānormalā weaknesses were there.
Itās funny going on about other teams using the long ball against us when we use it so often ourselves. 
Anyway we got the result and kept a clean sheet which was deserved and refreshing. Personally I didnāt see enough to qualm my nervousness.
Will the confidence boost be enough to pull us together?
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This was us last night:
I was happier with the energy and defending from the front, as a team. Obviously some improved individual performances as well. Still, Villa managed to play too easily through us a good few times, while our focus and the way we set up to press was central based. I know we canāt go from a bad run of performances and results to something āperfectā over night. It was an improvement, a good win and now we have to keep working. It will take more than one game to fully turn this period. Also because we have a new break coming soon.
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Would be better to have average positions for first half and second half as things were definitely very different.
That looks like a mess and not at all conductive to relieving worries.
I always check it at HT, along with some stats. It wasnāt much different. Of course itās not perfectly aligned, itās average positions.
Interesting Maca and Gravās relative positions thereā¦something I mentioned during the game. Sometimes you donāt know if you reacting to just a momentary thing so interesting to see it reflected in the average position
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