Don’t think that’s true. There’s been more nuance in the discussion here. I thought TAW episode was excellent also. Joyce’s article is unnecessarily nasty
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Ibrahima Konaté starts every game despite the litany of errors which continued at Leeds and allowed them back into a contest when the door should have been kept shut. Yet it is a consequence of injury — and bad squad planning — that there is no replacement for Konaté.
Joyce is under no obligation to balance out an opinion piece on a catastrophically unprofessional act of sabotage by Salah with criticisms at the club or Slot.
It’s poor form on your part to suggest that because Joyce’s piece doesn’t align with your views then it’s a shill piece written by Hughes.
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We’ve been here before, most recently with Rodgers. From past experience, this is going one way. I’m weirdly apathetic to be honest but I’m swaying towards swinging the axe now to put everyone out of our divided misery now instead of the inevitable later on down the line when we’re worse off and even more divided.
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4 words, buried amongst a load of excuses and vitriol. You have to be kidding, surely?
Here’s a genuine question for you - you’ve been vocal about grief surrounding Jota and how you think it’s affecting team performances. Do you not we should take pause for thought before aiming all these swipes at Mo Salah’s character?
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Mo has been exemplarary as a role model for our club, until it comes to the press when he wants something.
He has indeed! I also agree with some of the comments from various places saying that VVD has done all the media stuff through all this shit and Mo has been silent - until now! Club legend and we’ll always love him but I’m personally not impressed with his silence! All he has had to say through these rough times is that he’s been thrown under the bus, that’s it! Why is the boss not telling one or 2 of the senior players to go and face the media too? It shouldn’t have all been on Virgil.
Arne Slot should have been sacked by now in my opinion, but as he’s somehow still here, he has a difficult job on his hands with Mo now. In an ideal world we start winning games somehow, then Mo comes back from AFCON and bangs in a hatrick first game back and goes on a crazy run of form and we all laugh about this at the end of the season when we have CL football and another trophy in the cabinet…Meanwhile back on planet earth.
I think it’s given Slot an unexpected reprieve. He’s got six weeks now with no star player distraction to get this team playing well and winning again. It still remains to be seen however if the players are all in with the manager. More of the same would suggest no and that would spell the end for him.
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Salah has made 420 appearances for Liverpool. Apparently, he’s only spoken to the media on three occasions, in the free zone immediately after a game. One of those was the “I’m more out than in”
interview last season and now his latest premeditated outburst on Saturday.
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Really?? Can you verify the source for that information? I’m certain I’ve seen him talking after matches more than 3 times! (It doesn’t take away from the fact that he hasn’t exactly shown character and leadership through all this either way)
I think it was Paul Gorst in the Liverpool Echo.
Arne Slot decided to do that by shifting Dominik Szoboszlai into Salah’s place wide on the right, given the Hungarian’s greater work off the ball. There is a belief internally that with one win and two draws from the past three games that the change has been effective, with Liverpool conceding few opportunities. [
This is were we are now folks, draws with leeds and sunderland are considered progress
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Well it’s better than loosing which we have been doing a lot of lately…how far we’ve fallen in such a short time. It’s almost unreal!
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Who was it who said, “Before you can win a game, you have to not lose it.”
The Leeds game did feel a step back because we went to bits from a winning position.
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The extra midfielder with a winger dropped is something I support and wanted to see.
It could’ve been also Gakpo sometimes (can’t believe I’m saying this after a few games’ sample), not always Salah though.
Easily done.
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Perhaps he means as in staying in the mix-zone.
Appearing in short post-match interviews is something else, less liberty for a rant. Even if he went on such, maybe they would let him. But he’s not always alone in those, either.
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I would extend - and have extended - that grace to Mo’s performances, yes.
I’m really not sure that we can do so for his behaviour in the media.
If you apply full logic to that argument, then it is also highly unlikely that a manager who won us the title a few months ago suddenly becomes clueless to the point that he can’t have his squad perform anymore.
For me (and I know that I must have been a pain int the *ss of everyone here when I kept banging that drum last summer, in the midst of the general euphoria of our spending spree on new toys), it’s the unnecessary ripping up of the champions squad during the summer which is the main factor, added by Jota’s tragic death. @ISMF has summarized the situation above. It’s 100% accurate.
Slot is in part responsible for that of course, but his bosses too. Edwards and Hughes have now no choice but to own up for it and back their man, while helping him to get over the situation until the new lads are settled and start forming a true team with the remaining champions. I’m not sure that it means delving into the transfer market again, because it would create further instability. The answer comes probably from within: trust the squaddies, look at the talented youngsters, work on all psychological aspects of the situation, and train, train, train.
I realize that it isn’t easy at this point of the season to enjoy many training sessions though, or to take time for introspection. It’s basically a hassle right now, going from one match to the next. Not easy.
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I believe before you win the actual game, you have to win the mental one first. The team have not, and that is why they fall apart when faced with adversity. I don’t think as a collective they have that belief they can win these games. Some will place the blame on the players and some on Slot. I believe the blame is collective (slot and players). We are far better than the teams we have played, but those teams have what we do not: togetherness, an actual plan and, most importantly, belief. The disaster in set pieces is a good example of this lack of belief. long ball, high ball into the box, and they are all panicking and out of sorts.
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Building on that, this is what makes Klopp extraordinary. He may not be the most intricate tactician, but he is undoubtedly one of the greatest motivators the game has ever seen. Many forget that his first match with Liverpool, a 0–0 draw away at Spurs, was not memorable for the scoreline but for the unmistakable shift in attitude, belief, and application. That was the moment the “mentality monsters” were born.
Here are some of Klopp’s most powerful reflections on belief:
On Belief as the Foundation
• “If you don’t believe, then don’t bother. Belief is where everything starts.”
• “We have to change from doubters to believers. That is our job.”
— Klopp’s first Liverpool press conference, 2015
• “You need to believe in a possibility before it becomes a reality.”
On Collective Belief
• “It’s not about having the best players, it’s about building the best team. When everyone believes, you can reach unbelievable things.”
• “When eleven players believe together, it’s stronger than any tactic.”
On Mentality
• “Mentality monsters—yes, that’s what they are. You can’t win if you don’t have that belief inside you, especially when things get tough.”
• “We always fight. That’s our identity. Belief becomes a habit.”
On Overcoming Adversity
• “Difficult moments shape you. If you stay confident and keep believing, these moments become your power.”
• “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.”
(Not original to Klopp, but he has paraphrased this sentiment often.)
On Leadership and Encouraging Belief
• “A leader is someone who makes others believe in themselves.”
• “I can’t promise success, but I can promise we’ll go for it with everything, and I want the players to believe in that.”
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Not sure we’ll ever have another like Jurgen. I hope the next manager brings a new energy to the club and has a similar period of sustained success. Arne will always have a place in our hearts and the history books for winning only our second premier league for sure, but I’m fucking shocked he’s somehow still here to be honest.
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