certainly hope not.
quality footballers.
we are short in a few departments, thats all.
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I see his fans attempting to use this defence now.
The players have let him down this season, but you can’t bin off the whole squad. Plus the players are way too good for this run of results, this ain’t a Hodgson squad. Somethings gotta give and unfortunately that’s always the coach.
But he wasn’t been disruptive this narrative is wrong. Its was quoted when he left by the club he had been the upmost professional through out the process.
Likewise with how it appears they are struggling to understand what he wants them to do he has let them down on that front.
This isn’t a baseless argument.
Both new full backs have been found wanting so far, and fitting in the same lineup Wirtz, Isak and Ekitike , who is too good to be an option from the bench, requires a radical formation change.
This doesn’t excuse the dreadful performances or the massive tactical issues, but it’s not as if the summer transfers were tailor made for our system.
This is a point I made before or more of wishful thinking, I do wonder if the club hierarchy has put in a larger plan in place and this summer was just the beginning. It would explain the latitude that Slot seems to have, even though even those above him must be taken aback with the extent of the nosedive.
I don’t buy the idea that too much was done at once. By the end of the season we were all sure that we would need a right back, that Robertson could not play week in week out, we would need a CB and that Nunez was not consistently good enough. It was also clear to most except the most rosy eyed that Salah would need replacing not too far down the line.
During the transfer window, it became clear that Diaz wanted a move, Jota was no more and that clearly wonderful talents were on the market and we moved for them. Unfortunately, there were also some clearly bad faith actors in the mix who took advantage of the situation to fuck over us and players in either getting the move or delaying it as long as they could (Isak and Guehi). I don’t think Hughes and Edwards have much to answer for. They plugged gaps in the squad insomuch as they could and was it not for Glasner being a prick would have plugged every gap in the squad. You could argue that Frimpong, perhaps, and Kerkez in particular are not at the level required but that’s another argument.
That all of that would have been done without Slot’s input and blessing is inconceivable. Our structure doesn’t operate with the coach/manager sitting on the outside and seeing on the news that Ekitike is having a medical and either rubbing his hands with glee or banging his head on his desk or going, “who??”. What these players do necessitate is a change in style or formation and Slot just hasn’t cottoned on how to use what he has at his disposal effectively or control this side’s suddenly fragile mentality. That’s on him, nobody else.
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Yeah you are absolutely right and I wish they hadn’t sold him. Give me Diaz over Gakpo any day of the week.
My point was though, if standing in the shoes of Edwards or Hughes, If Diaz (or his ‘mouthy’ talk to the papers at every opportunity Father) had decided to ‘dig-in’ for a move at any point, as with anyone else in our squad, the embarrassment and poor optics they could cause to the FSG franchise (LFC), if things had turned slightly ugly between the parties, might not have been worth the risk of releasing him as he wanted.
We only have to look at Sandcastle, and the way they had to cave-in to the demands of Isak. As a multi million pound business, how ‘piss-poor’ do the optics look for them now.
Further to the above, as well as not being able to utilize players effectively, he’s also had Szoboslai being good enough to do a job when a hole needs to be fill and Gravenberch be reasonably effective enough to play at CB which in theory sounds great because you can substitute those defensive positions with attacking players and load the front. Amateurs have a better grasp of what that’s actually doing to the team because the best player this season is now stuck at RB, our talented ball carrier is now at CB and suddenly our midfield is like a deer in the headlights; unable to provide anything going forward and outnumbered and static on the inevitable break. I mean, it’s laughable stuff.
Frimpong just hasn’t been found as he’s has about 2 games without injury or recovering from injury.
Fact remains you can complicate football but the team does not match the results, Dyche 1 3-0 win the PL.
PSV top of the Dutch league but we beat top of the La Liga with a similar side so no it’s not excusable.
Even Man City we made look world beating and this version isn’t
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Once you get pulled in the how come we beat Real, lost to Forest, but how good are Real compared to City and what about Forest calculations…
You just get a messy mind and nothing makes sense.
If you’re not watching football since yesterday, you know really well that results in this sport often don’t make any sense.
It’s a beautiful and stupid game at times, the latter being one of the reasons why it’s beautiful in the first place.
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It’s the three of them. They all need to look into the mirror and to address their shortcomings.
By the way, I’m for no-one to be sacked for the time being. There is too much blood-lust in here for my liking. Neither Edwards, Hughes nor Slot need to be sacked. They are all top professionals who have already proven that they have what it needs to lead this club. So, I’m sure that fsg have told them in no uncertain terms that they need to put their freaking heads together, and find a way to steer us out of this fiasko.
As for the players, they too need a right kick in the ass, and to go into self-introspection. Some individual performances have been simply unacceptable for players with top-level ambitions, notwithstanding tactical issues. Fighting spirit isn’t a tactical thing.
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I do worry about his style and have worried about it from day one. Slot is blunt, whilst that works when everything is going well at times like this it can massively backfire.
It’s sad to say but the odds of him being manager next year are at best 50:50
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Plus, his contract is up to 2027 so a decision will certainly have to be made before the summer of 2026. If he survives until then…
This is probably closer to what is actually happening. Slot could have just pulled out of the deal if he felt he couldn’t integrate the new players that Edwards and Hughes were pushing for…
On paper, it did look very good. A top young PL proven LB, a world class CAM to take the workload off Szobo for certain games, a young exciting RB who has some mad pace, the second top scorer of the PL to replace Nunez, and a young exciting french forward to replace the deceased Jota who can also play on the LW and CF. It would be hard to imagine Slot saying no to all of them. Hughes and Edwards might have even gotten the best English CB in the game as well if Glasner didn’t pull that nonsense.
The only problem is that for some reason, either Slot felt Gravenberch can do a job at the 6 or Hughes didn’t manage to find a DM to rotate with Gravenberch.
That’s a big IF though…
I also think the team chemistry isn’t right anymore. Klopp somehow always managed to keep everyone happy. Everyone was important, there was more of a sense of community, etc. Everyone got their playing time, etc.
Imo Slot has maybe destroyed the group dynamic by always relying on the same players, regardless of whether they’re in form or not. As long as things are going well, you might be able to get away with that, but the way things are looking right now, I think some of the players who never or only rarely get to play are pretty frustrated by now. This also prevents these players from feeling a sense of belonging.
I noticed it in the last press conference when he said, “Joe might be able to help us.” It sounded like Joe wasn’t part of this group.
I can’t judge how the internal communication works there, but I have a really bad feeling about it now. In my opinion, he finally needs to start involving everyone more, if you know what I mean.
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I dont buy that Diaz wanted to leave. He just wanted a better deal. We underpaid him for years so a pay rise was well due. I said at the time losing him would be a blow and boy is it a blow.
He worked so hard for the team. Had a great season last season and we let him go. Huge mistake.
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The rumours about his low wages were fake.
To whom you give contracts that take them into their 30’s is always a good question.
If you give extensions to all of them, then there’s the danger of Barca happening, when their golden team grew old together.
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Hes 29 in Jan so 2 more years wouldve been fine then sell him.
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