I see your point. But is it really a gimmick?
Our core issue is defensive.
2ndly our FBs fit the profile.
3rd we don’t have explosive speed in our wide players.
4th we have difficulties managing space behind our FBs.
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One thing that sticks as a annoyance is we seem to manoeuvre the team forward to just past the halfway line and then hope that we tikki-taka a goal. I’m not sure we have managed it once nor indeed do we have the players to do it. We get to their third and spend 10 minutes tripping over ourselves before the inevitable break. There is no drawing back to create space between the lines to then exploit.
Once the play is compressed into their third, we basically make Salah and Gapko useless and close the spaces for Wirtz, Jones and co to exploit…
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I am typically reluctant to raise my own experiences in football because as extensive as they were, it was not premier league football and so obviously limits the usefulness of the comparisons. But I went though this very thing and it is a consideration I have raised previously. My experience of having lived through this is what informs my perspective that the traits of a manger who can get peak performances out of an already good side full of players who know what the expectations are of them are very different to the traits of a manager capable of solving emergent problems and or transitioning the side to the next version of itself without standards falling. It was in retrospect only an eratz high of a new coach who in the short term brought a new buzz and enjoyment into a successful team while observing cracks start to appear that over time was apparent he either didnt see or had no capability of addressing. Are the drills that are fun and engaging a frustrating distraction when week after week you cannot defend set pieces? Are the ways you challenge players when you’re winning productive when you’ve lost?
To further that, there are natural questions that this group would have to answer about its ability to continue to police itself over the maintenance of standards. I am not questioning them specifically because of any doubt about them, but more just acknowledging this is a fundamental challenge for any successful team. With the legacy influence of Klopp and Hendo/Milly one more year removed there were already challenges for the leaders of this group to keep that going. Asking them to do it in a group that lost so much of the knowledge of what was expected for them was always going to be a big ask that was raised in the summer by several of us. This goes beyond how many minutes on the pitch need to be replaced, but just an overall day to day vibe. This is definitely not an “I told you so” because I dotn know that this is what happening and I dont think we’ll ever know. But at minimum we can say that things are currently very similar to the bad case warning for what was possible when you make that many changes to a group that was already winning stuff.
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What you are saying is the pace of our game is too slow and there are not enough quick vertical passes to cause disruptions in the opposition formation??
No. More that once we find that the siege is not leading to a goal, we need to draw them out to the middle third - create more space to attack again.
The mate I mentioned in Wirtz thread a few minutes ago made this observation a few days ago: “It does sound cynical but the way things have been going since March, the difference between Rodgers’ and Slot’s tenures will come down to Stevie slipping.” That particular moment was when the penny dropped for me and I started believing that Slot won’t be managing Liverpool past this season, regardless of whether he finishes it with Liverpool.
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But not all teams will be drawn out. They would rather sit back and be compact, knowing this team will play a crazy high line ,fuck up their passes somewhere and counter.
Then we are fucked…
One thing I want to emphasize here is I am not saying that Slot is this guy, or that he has lost me. But that these are questions he was going to have to answer to me this year regardless of having won it last year and so far the response has been really poor.
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It all depends on what happens in the UCL and/or our league finish.
If this team manages to get into the final of the UCL and wins it regardless of league finish for this season, Slot might get a modest extension in his deal, taking his deal to probably 28/29 or even the 29/30 season. His current deal ends at June 2027 which is the end of next season.
If this team just gets top 4 this season, I think the board might be inclined to wait on an extension and see how he fares by December 2026. If there is no perceptible improvement of sorts in results and performance, then Slot will be naturally let go with the expiration of his current contract, saving him the ignominy of being fired.
If he doesn’t get into the knockout rounds of the UCL for this season and not get a UCL league placing, then I agree with your analysis of him not lasting the season…
It’s absolutely fucking wild how quickly the knives have come out.
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People are allowed to say what they want. Not everything has a rosy side.
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They’re still obligated to make sense
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All it took was a few months of shit performances and 5 losses in the last 6.
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With performances going backwards thats what is the greater worry.
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Someone was saying it was 6 months long…
What makes sense to one person maybe doesn’t to another. This doesn’t make the point any less valid.
But isn’t that the art of the game. We need to find a way. No team will stay on their 18 yard line for ever - it will eventually lead to a goal. Our problem is we lay siege, usually don’t score, and ironically, get sucked in until it is only a matter of time before we have a stray pass and are exposed.
Not going to quote everything you said, but if Slot is to achieve more success he has to be a blend of working well with an established system/squad and adapting to challenges faced by a new system and how other teams have adapted to the original version.
Its a tough mix, but Dalglish did it back in his first tenure and achieved success.
I think, or I hope he has the tenacity and the capacity to change that is required. I think he has to be afforded this season to weave the changes in mentality, system, tactics that are required.
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I guess it is important to recall that just as we all thought Rodgers would turn it around about this time 11 years ago, Slot still might. I think there was some irrational exuberance after 5 wins on the trot to start, equally there is some real catastrophizing. It does look like the era of needing 95+ points to be in the title race may have come to an end, a win next weekend makes things look a little different again. It is a bit early to break out the sackcloth and ashes, and I for one am re-applying last season’s original expectations to this one: Land a Top 4 place, and build a real foundation for a title charge next year.
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Look at the players we have bought, Frimpong, Kerkez, Wirtz, Ekitike and Isak.
2 full backs more suited as wingbacks, Wirtz excelled under Xabi who played three at the back and we bought 2 very good CF’s.
Apart from CB’s all those fit a 3 5 2.
As for winning 2nd balls from the early long balls, with the wing backs we have 5 across the middle.
Our current formation is struggling with the oppositions new tactics and I absolutely agree defenses need to be compact, it is a fundamental to defending, but at the moment we aren’t and teams playing long & early are finding spaces and massive gaps through the centre of our defence.
It could be easily changed in the current format by our CB’s ensuring they are closer, which isn’t happening as they split wide when we are in possession. The other option is to go back to Grav dropping in when we are building but then that is one less player to play the vertical pass to.
No solution is perfect, but the gap between our CB’s is alarming and then when we are compact that inside channel runner is killing us.
Lastly by having 3 at the back the wing backs are wider and can engage their winger earlier and therefore stop crosses. We have missed Diaz and Sadio before him as they because they really helped close down one sidewith their defensive work.
I don’t particularly want a 3 5 2 but i think our defensive issues are solved easier with that formation.
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