Yes we’re the best team, we’re just having an off season. It’s no big deal. Very normal for the champions to get twatted by teams like Brentford, Palace and Forest after spending half a billion pounds. No big deal.
In many ways, last summer we sold our soul. We acted more like City or Chelsea, throwing hundreds of millions around.
First, we lost young players who no longer saw a path to the first team Elliott, Quansah, Kelleher. All three were long-term club assets I’d have kept, and I genuinely think they’d have seen plenty of minutes this season. It’s sad to see those guys moved on. Then we shifted Díaz and Núñez, and basically sidelined Robertson. These were all choices we made, not things forced on us.
We were forced into adjusting after losing TAA and Jota, but instead of evolving sensibly, we ripped everything up. As good as the forwards we bought might be, none of them fit what our system actually was.
I think signing Wirtz was the right call but what was the plan for him to be our creative outlet? I’ve not seen it. And going Ekitike plus Isak just wasn’t prudent management; it felt like an extravagance rather than a plan. Even Tsimikas, limited as he was, brought culture and continuity. At this point it’s debatable whether Kerkez is actually doing better than him.
Ultimately, that’s on the manager. It was a recipe for disaster, especially compared to Klopp’s patient way of bedding players in.
A good manager makes a team better than the sum of its parts. Right now, we look worse. We changed too much, too fast, and we clearly lacked a real plan for transition, integration, or how all the pieces were meant to fit together.
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With the results, form and injuries maybe Quansah and Kelleher would have got time on the pitch, but with how Arne was last year it would have been against what he would have wanted to do.
That for me is one of his weaknesses, he needs to have more trust in the squad.
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It’s quite clear that Mo’s performance is not even close to the only issue we have, so it really is Slot, I don’t see another answer. It’s statistically improbable that every single player that performed last year, is not performing this year. There is only 1 person that could cause such a change within 6? months.
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So what you are saying is all the players that aren’t performing is down to Slot, so they are being paid fantastic wages to down tools and not fight for the shirt.
Seems like Dom must be a teachers pet as he is the only one trying.
Slot must have been in Ibou’s ear to make those brain farts or for Virg to stick is hand up for a handball and then there’s Mo deliberately showing that he can’t beat a man or score, that is all Slots fault.
Pffffttttt
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I watched a bit of the Anfield wrap post match chat earlier and the main guy Neil? summed it up.
For 70 minutes it was a polished job, not outstanding, but we had gone into a ground with hostile fans on a Saturday and we had quietened them.
We were cruising a 2 nil, then out of nowhere Ibou makes a farcical challenge and the rest is history, the players wilt and we fall to pieces.
That isn’t just Arne that is the players and their mental toughness or lack of, a coach can’t give them that.
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It was decent enough that first 70… bit like some of his games last season. In fact it reminded me of a couple.
I don’t think Leeds were scoring we seemed to be defending the box area well, had no confidence we’d see 3-2 out.
The weakness of the mentality of our players after a setback is a major problem, not sure how they get out of it.
However, working hard for each other and trying to to make up and cover each other when an individual makes a mistake is a non negotiable.
Just need to focus on improving and putting in the effort.
@Sportbilly1966 I’ve said this before on this thread that individual errors seemingly out of nowhere or lack of effort is absolutely down to the manager as is mentality. A coach or manager cam absolutely impart a strong mental aptitude on player, we’ve literally just had it with Klopp so not sure how you can say that a coach can’t do that.
Part of a managers brief is to ensure his players are mentally switched on enough to get over the line in the 90 minutes more often than not if you want to be challenging for honours. VVD handling a ball, Konate having a brain fade, Kerkez clearing with the wrong foot, midfielders caught upfield and jogging back. These sorts of seemingly inexplicable individual errors all comes down to mental lapses and situational awareness issues and that is something that can be addressed and should have been. It happens to the best of players at some point but for them to continually happen is a conditioning issue and that comes down to the coach.
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I think with the unprecedented amount of investment into the squad in one season, there has to be some sort of KPI that Slot needs to meet.
If the season being fucked is the KPI, what is the definition of the season being fucked? Getting into top 4? Winning the UCL or reaching the finals??or just don’t get relegated???
Just because you have said it doesn’t mean it’s right 
There can be all sorts of reasons for the mental lapses. Ibou, thinking about Madrid, Virg trying too hard as he is the captain, Mo trying too hard and making the wrong decision and for all of them the passing of Diogo.
Mental confidence on the footy pitch can be affected by all kinds of situations and at the moment they are lacking
There were lots of lapses under Klopp but what Jurgen had were experienced professionals, the likes of Milly, Hendo and other captains in their prime, like Mo & Robbo, they wouldn’t allow this mental fragility and demand better of the players.
Last year we had very few individual mistakes, so was that down to Arne, no it is that players had confidence.
What I will concede is that Slot has his worked cut out to have the players believe in how he wants us to play and that can definitely affect the players mentality, but certainly not to the effect as what happened with Ibou against Leeds, one mistake and he goes from having a very good commanding game to being a wet lettuce.
I doubt FSG would have spent this amount of money for any reason other than winning the league and winning the CL. It may well be seen as future proofing the team but we should be champing at the bit.
.
Sadly now we have further disruptive whispers from media outlets about Slot, then players updates. I dislike my team being the centre of media smear. The team has enough to deal with. Right now 6th is looking remote let alone 4th.
We’ve reached the point that people are so entrenched in their views that any piece that doesn’t support their position has been written in bad faith.
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…But also make sure you put the bit in there about bad squad planning.
Or is that Hughes deviously trying to throw us off the scent?
It’s a failure on every level. Edwards and Hughes set the summer transfer strategy that broke away with what was established and working, Billy Hogan was talking about how “we want to behave like one of the biggest clubs in the world”. When did we ever stop? Slot wouldn’t make use of his smartly assembled squad when he won the title, yet he was entrusted to integrate the expensive signings while implementing a new playing style.
In hindsight, was it really any surprise that it has come to this?
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Well…
Just did the school run and there is no doubt where the ‘call into TalkSport and rant’ demographic stands on the issue…
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Thank God we have “experts” to guide our thoughts. We really are living in wonderful times
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A Golden Age!!!
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Perhaps you could quote it for us, and we’ll see if it’s significant enough to balance out the rest of the article.
I agree. Especially as the apparent pressure that Mo plays every game may partly explain why Arne has been so slow to drop him this season. Leaving him out of the team has now been made much easier and if Arne can sort out the other deficiencies then Mo will have done him a favour; if he can’t then he’s gone anyway.