Arne Slot - Head Coach (Part 1)

[Hope.in.your.heart]

@sgs

Everything you’ve said here is spot on. The only thing missing, which is what gives me pause, re Slot, is the why?

WHY?

We all watch football and we know what we see. We are miles off where we were last season. But why?

Why are our running stats down?
Why can we not play at or sustain high intensity?
Why is our pressing so innefective and bad?
Why is our defending prone with errors?
Why are we so open?

None of the above was an issue just 8-10 months ago.
Why are they now in the gutter?

Caoimhin Kelleher: “I find a bit difficult when I hear people speaking about the players at Liverpool and performances, because I don’t think this season is even important from a football aspect for them to be honest. It’s more about them personally and mentally.”

Ask yourself the question. The new signings have performed ok, considering the difficult circumstances. It’s the old guard, composed of usually 100% reliable players, who has let us down. Why is that so if not because of the above?

Of course, it’s not the only aspect. Wildly changing the squad during the summer is another factor which might have brought inconsistency on us. Bad and long injuries to important players have massively hurt us too.

But the main factor remains the first one imo. Slot is neither better nor worse than last season I think. As you say, why should he? But he faces a totally different environment compared with last season, and different, unexpected challenges.

[Nobluff]

@Mascot

The question is how much. I don’t think it’s pathetic to recognise this.

Not pathetic to recognize, pathetic to use this as an excuse.

[WeeJoe]

@Mascot

listened to a podcast a while ago (the episode was called why can’t we let Liverpool grieve) where they interviewed a psychologist specialising in collective grief. He said Liverpool would struggle all year but the first shoots of recovery would be in spring.

A bit silly of that psychologist to put a timeline on it, unless he’s also a prophet. Grief, including collective grief, is not linear. There are so many risk / protective factors that could take it in different directions. We don’t know how individuals have been affected, the impact on relationships in the dressing room, the support (or lack of) from leadership etc.

[Mascot]

@RIRed

Considering Liverpool got just two more point than the year before and shity and Arsenal got almost 20 points less than the year before it was pure luck on Slot’s part

Had Klopp stayed another year, we wouldn’t have won the league.

We can both make assertions we can’t prove.

[RedOverTheWater]

I think the grief aspect is an important factor to note when it comes to the fog that the team has been in all season. There are other factors that have been discussed throughout the season too, including quantity of changes made, kingpin players like Mo having a huge drop off, and an unlucky run with injuries.

Beyond all that so many have been off form that you have to also look in the direction of Slot, who sets the tone with the coaching, the motivation and the set up.

My conclusion, after giving Slot every benefit of the doubt, is that even with some extraordinary circumstances to navigate, he should still be doing better with the players he has at his disposal.

I would never disrespect him as our manager, and his Premier League win is firmly etched in the record books.

But it is time for a change. And when it happens, Slot might lament some of the circumstances, and he would have justification, but equally, he would do well to reflect on what he could have done better with the things in his control.

To my mind the key thing now is who will come in, and what will the timing be. We are still in the CL, though if we advance past Galatasaray very few will believe we can go further.

We are in a battle to qualify for the CL next season. If a new man is ready to come in and run the rule over the side for the last few games, while also hopefully seeing a little bounce that would help us qualify, I would make the change after the Brighton game. But if it is just an interim, and the new permanent manager is not available until summer, I could see the case for sticking with Slot until the end of the season.

Either way, it seems clear that there will be a parting of the ways. But hopefully with class and dignity.

[WeeJoe]

@Basankayis

I thought that was Mac, writhing injured on the ground

So fucking sick of seeing him do this every time he gets tackled. Leaving us short in defence. Hendo or Milner would have stamped that shot out long ago

[Hope.in.your.heart]

Can’t really argue with this. While Slot was the perfect coach for us when he came in, given the circumstances at that time, he is now faced with wildly different challenges, and seems to struggle to deal with them. So yes, it might be time for a change. But knowing fsg, that will only come once we have a worthy replacement in sight.

And like you, I hope that it will be made with class and dignity, but I’m quite confident that it will be the case.

[JohnBarnes10]

Things just keep getting worse, he should have been sacked months ago, comes across as thick as , the fans were booing the players, this is Rodgers like or even worse. Get him out.

[Hope.in.your.heart]

So, the same manager who brought us nr. 20 last May comes now across as ? That for instance is not very dignified.

[RedArmada]

@Rambler

A cop out to say they are still affected by Jota’s death..? You know that do you?

It’s undeniable that it has had an adverse effect, but the extent of it is obscure for anyone outside the group.

What’s also undeniable is that performances started declining months before Jota’s tragedy. I still remember the League Cup final and the first half against relegated Southampton for example. The stories circulating from journalists about how relaxed and easy the training sessions are, also don’t look good for Slot.

To echo what others have said, it is a combination of different things taking place during difficult circumstances. But the crux of issue is that Slot has failed at aspects of the job that were fully under his control.

[The-AllMightyReds]

I haven’t listened to a single pre or post match of his in about 6 months seeing as he bores the life out of me, only see the quotes that get thrown about here and on the main site, has anyone bothered asking him why teams are constantly putting in the hard yards over us?

9KM seems like an awfully large gap for a gutless side like Spurs to be having over us. This shit is indefensible.

[JohnBarnes10]

We are so unfit, when the game opened up we could see the difference in the fitness of both teams, we look wrecked after one hour of walking football.

[redfanman]

@Hope.in.your.heart

But he faces a totally different environment compared with last season, and different, unexpected challenges.

I’m not sure that is all that true. As posted earlier, I think a number of issues confronting him now may have been visibly affecting us during the final quarter of last season. The fact that in Arne’s first summer here we were reportedly looking to swap Diaz for Alvarez at City suggests that selling Diaz last summer wouldn’t have been a surprise either. Trent leaving was probably also not that unexpected.

[Hope.in.your.heart]

I’m not looking for excuses for Slot. I’m just looking at when he came in after Klopp had gone. Everything was (unexpectedly) perfect, and we won the league.

Now, for different reasons, he is confronted with a different mental environment, different players, and a host of injuries. Under these new circumstances, expected or not, he seems to have lost it, and fsg will probably have to move on that front when the season ends, because the situation of summer 2024 will not magically be reinstated in summer 2026. If there is no clear cut coming from above, the same problems will likely persist.

[redfanman]

@Hope.in.your.heart

Everything was (unexpectedly) perfect,

Except it wasn’t. And, I say that as someone who for much of the last 18 months or so has been particularly bullish on Arne’s abilities.

@Hope.in.your.heart

Now, for different reasons, he is confronted with a different mental environment, different players, and a host of injuries.

Out of our regular starters from last season we lost Diaz and Trent. Perhaps Jota can be included in that too. Mo and Virgil were given new contracts precisely because of their experience and leadership within the club. Arne experienced much higher turnover of players each year at his previous clubs that it shouldn’t have been an issue for him here.

[Hope.in.your.heart]

Winning the title in his first season isn’t a perfect situation? You are hard to please.

Anyway, my point is that we find ourselves, for different reasons, in very different circumstances than when he got into the club, and during his early time with us, and he doesn’t seem to be able to deal with them, nor to put the club back on the right track. If that is right, the logical conclusion is that he’ll be replaced as soon as a really good head coach becomes available and interested.

What is yours then? Are the problems all down to the grieving process around Jota’s death? Should this season simply be seen as a write-down? We keep everything in place, hope for the best and start again next season? Genuine question btw, I hate to see a head coach being sacked, especially at LFC.

[Thomas1195]

He won because he piggy-backed off Klopp’s system and was smart enough to keep it running the way it was, until the PSG loss.

[Noo_Noo]

@redfanman

@Noo_Noo

He did exceptionally well last season. Something has gone seriously off piste this season to which there are probably a number of contributing factors.

I think with hindsight you can now stretch back into last season. There was a narrative that the drop off in performances in the tail end of the season was due to a combination of lack of rotation and from starting the celebrations early because we were winning at a canter.

However, from what we have seen this season it now looks more like it was the start of problems that have still not been resolved. For example,

Fitness/ energy levels of players dropped.

It also coincided with a switch in how teams set up against us - fewer were playing out from the back so as to evade our press and altered the way they pressed us, while also sending more runners at us when in possession.

I may be misremembering but where we starting to concede more from set pieces during that period too?

And, that’s before you consider the changes in personnel - Arne’s first summer, we had identified the key signing needed was a ball playing DM. We failed to sign one and the narrative was that this was because it was a fairly niche role and no-one suitable was available. We lucked out with Gravenburch but his skill set is fairly limited in that role, particularly his passing, - and we didn’t bring in a better cover option last summer. Yet, we’re still looking to play a more patient, progressive style.

Last season we could play on the front foot - we had a forward in Diaz who could take the attention of two or three defenders so creating space for other forwards. He also helped press teams and could hold the ball up so others could join him. We appear to have lost all of that.

Trent leaving meant that our option for getting the ball forward quickly through long passes from the back and accurately has also disappeared to some degree. With the slow progression, we’re heavily reliant on Wirtz to get the ball forward through shorter passes, and we seem to lack the movement from other players to take advantage of those passes.

I can’t disagree but for me the fact that Slot appears to be struggling to correct the issues we have is my main focus. You expect challenges, be it tactically, injuries and so on. You have to grow and evolve. We don’t appear to be doing that, for whatever reason(s). You have to find a way.

A penny for the thoughts of the players. Same for Slot too come to think of it.

[RedWhippet]

@Hope.in.your.heart

Now, for different reasons, he is confronted with a different mental environment, different players, and a host of injuries. Under these new circumstances, expected or not, he seems to have lost it, and fsg will probably have to move on that front when the season ends

I think it’s a fair point. And it is quite possible that Slot hasn’t had to deal with some of the issues before. Certainly not the death of a teammate, and quite possibly not the general lack of confidence that goes with it.

Maybe Klopp was better at that side of things (e.g. when Alisson’s father died and the general upset during the pandemic) but I would have thought FSG would have brought in assistance if they felt Slot needed it. Maybe they had grief counsellors, I don’t know.

From what I have seen of his previous managerial stats, he has never had such a rut of form before. Do managers ever pull out of that? I suppose that they usually get the sack before they get the chance to turn it around.

[redfanman]

@Hope.in.your.heart

Winning the title in his first season isn’t a perfect situation? You are hard to please

Perhaps it’s a language thing, but winning the league isn’t everything. It makes it a near perfect season, but not absolutely perfect. To suggest otherwise papers over cracks that we already saw last season and had questions over coming into this one (yourself included).

@Hope.in.your.heart

What is yours then? Are the problems all down to the grieving process around Jota’s death? Should this season simply be seen as a write-down? We keep everything in place, hope for the best and start again next season?

No, I’ve written about some of that earlier today. Seeing posters such as @sweeting and @Limiescouse express such big concerns over his coaching set alarm bells ringing for me as I respect their insights into the game and neither appear to be the sort to take extreme positions for the sake of doing so.

I’ve pointed out a couple of things tactically that were appearing before this season that doesn’t look to have been addressed. There were also doubts last year around his abilities on a personal level with the players, which again we appear to be seeing play out with Curtis. Some of the comments being attributed to him are also I think concerning.

I think there are a dozen or so different factors affecting us this season, and I have no special insight into them to know how to weight them or how much of it is down to Arne. But, until recently I was all for giving him until the end of the season and the club reviewing his position. Now, I’m one leg in the get someone else in now camp. I’m not sure I see how he turns things round. Perhaps signing a new DM and a winger or two fixes everything and he can compete for the league and other trophies again - but if he has been unable to resolve any of the issues we have seen throughout this season, and if much of it is training related as many are suggesting, then I’m not sure how we could be confident in him doing so next season…?