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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Why?
Grieving his mate and possibly grieving the loss of his own ability/career (though in the denial stage).
This doesn’t excuse his outburst but is possibly a better explanation of this than it is for his drop in form.
We can act emotionally, impulsively, irrationally, angrily when grieving
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I should play every game, play however I want to tactically and I shouldn’t be criticised.
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Or
The whole fiasco this season isn’t all on me. Yet, I seem to be taking a huge portion of the blame for the teams failures.
And lets be fair, he gets more criticism than most.
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Because he’s been one of our worst players this season, coming from being the best (certainly the most influential) last year. He earns more money in 10 minutes than most of us do in a year - so yes he’s gets stick when he’s shit. Comes with the territory I’m afraid.
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He also has gotten far more praise than others down the years. He’s a senior player, playing terribly, for a team in historically bad form. Everyone is being criticised. The above reads like he wants to be the exception.
Anyway, van Dijk is getting way more criticism than Salah and he hasn’t said a word in public.
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Is grief a more likely explanation for his behaviour than the fact that he has a track record for throwing his toys out when he doesn’t start games, and using the media to put pressure on the club to get what he wants?
Given the well evidenced impact of grief on physical performance, I’m not sure you can say it’s a more likely explanation for his outburst than it is his loss of form.
I’ve been possibly the biggest advocate for giving these lads space and time to grieve and to lower expectations for the season. I don’t know about anyone else, but in the days after Jota died, I was of the opinion that this season would be a struggle.
But if we are going to suggest that we need to give Salah the benefit of the doubt for his pre-meditated, considered attack on the club in the media, together with his suggestion that his previous accomplishments entitle him to be in the team come what may, then we need to lay of everyone for everything. How do we give Mo a pass and a hug for his decision to air his grievances publicly, but also put the boot into Konate for a split second decision to slide into a rash challenge against Leeds that cost us all three points? If that is where we are putting the barometer, there is going to be very little criticism that feels justified.
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Virgil hasn’t been benched for three games though.
Look, I disagree with Mo doing what he has done. But the least he desrves is a bit of respect for what he has done for Liverpool. The whole bin him to Saudi in January stuff is unfair. Not accusing you of that BTW
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If we had any centre backs he might have been.
Also we play with two CBs and Virgil escapes a bit of flak because he mate has been worse than him.
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I agree he should get respect for what he has done and I think there can be no doubt he leaves this club as a bona fide legend in every sense of the word.
However we also aren’t a retirement home and if what we’ve seen on the pitch from him this season is just his level now - and if he won’t accept a reduced role (which seems clear since it only took not starting three games for this outburst to happen) - then he’s served his purpose here and should be told “thanks for everything, you’re welcome back anytime, bye now”.
It’s just hard for me to read his actions as anything other than him saying to the club “fire this clown and hire someone who will build the team around me again” snd the answer to that should obviously be no.
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I’m not sure if this has been discussed fully but when it was announced that Slot was going to be our next manager (or head coach if you want) instead of someone like Amorin - who many people had wanted - wasn’t one of the main reasons given was that Slot played with a style and tactical approach similar to Klopp?
And thus it would mean that although the manager changed and some things were always going to be tweaked that the main approach to the game would be similar. We were told that players wouldn’t be having to adjust to a completely new style of play.
It seemed as if we went all in on the whole director of football who wants the team playing in such a way that whoever is chosen to manage the team is done so based on how closely they fit our tactics and style idea.
That was what we saw this time last year as we were purring along very nicely.
So what in the name of Christ are we doing this season?
Grav was a revelation as the player shielding the defense so he now gets moved further forward. We bought a new full back for each side who seemed to like to press forward but were more comfortable closer to the touchline where they could put crosses in.
We sold one of only two players established at the left sided forward position. Yet the one we sold was the forward who not only put in a great shift off the ball but was the one who was happy to take players on. Instead we left ourselves with both the left and right sided forwards as players who love to cut in and shoot with their seemingly favoured positions being closer to the corner of the 18 yard box than on the touchline.
It all felt like a return to the days of Robertson and Trent staying out wide to create chances through their crosses and which allowed Mane and Salah to drive in towards goal. But so far we seem to be doing the opposite of that. Our full backs haven’t been going up and down the touchline and Gakpo and Salah haven’t found themselves further in field.
If Slot was our choice because we wanted stability in our set up, be it tactics and style, then why are we actively trying to veer away from that now after winning the league like that last year?
Also, whilst I don’t think Salah has a future here after his statements to the press, I’d love to know what he meant by promises aren’t being kept.
I find it highly doubtful that he would have signed a new contract if he was told that he was going to be staying out wide more often than not and would generally receive the ball when he had a couple of defenders closing him down.
And I don’t really think I’m trying to blame any one person for this shitshow as I don’t know who decided to drift away from the style that we were told was to be implemented throughout the Club irrespective of who the manager was.
Unfortunately there has been a little bit of me who listened to Slot’s interviews after games last season where he would inexplicably go into depth about how and why we set up the way we did for different teams and wondered if he was doing that to prove how good he was so that he wasn’t in the shadow of Klopp.
Then with all the talk (mainly from rival fans and a few people in the media) about how he only won the league because it was Klopp’s team I can’t help but wonder if Slot actively tried to change things this year to prove himself again by further distancing or style from how we set up at the start of last season.
I’d like to think that what I’ve said above is all bullshit but I honestly thought that when I heard him discussing tactics after games - and that was when we were winning.
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From Slot? From his teammates? He’s been criticised online by fans and in the media, but Slot’s responses have been supportive and not singled him out.
The problem is that we don’t usually know what goes on behind closed doors. Klopp may have had issues with individual players, but the only one I remember in public was Sakho, mainly because he was filming the thing for his social media.
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I totally get what you’re saying, but everything runs its course. It’s not unreasonable to say that if Mo wants to go then lets get maximum return for him, which would be this January. I think Mo can be re-invigorated here under a new manager, but if they keep Slot in place then it’s debatable if Mo will still be here on 1st Feb - or frankly if we’ll be fighting for anything above mid table.
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he can be equal parts calculating and manipulative using the media in a selfish way…and making that decision to do so through the lense of grief.
i think thats the point.
hes not thinking straight.
when you really think on it, its probably more in line with the Jota reasoning for our bad form than stuff like ‘the fans shouldnt sing the song at 20 minutes in’…
the players are on the park and in the zone for the song, the players are with their mates in the dressing room as they walk past his vacant seat…the stuff you have previously bought up is less likely to affect them than the moment when they are by themselves.
Mos by himself on the bench, losing his grip on the golden boot, and losing his spot on the park…shit must be circling in his head…
one of the flaws in the premeditated accusation is that how did he know he wasnt getting on the park, how did he know we would lose…maybe…maybe he said to himself if he didnt get on the park and we lost from a good position he was gunna unload…but that relies on those two moments to actually happen, in the same match…
for everything hes done, im gonna give Mo…not a free pass…but im going to not act like its the crime of the century
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It is relevant to point out that after the game he walked through the press area and told them to wait as he’d be back to talk to them. He then went in to shower and change before going back as promised to give this interview. Gorst made a point of saying that this was a not a spur of the moment outburst but something he had clearly thought through.
When you have things pulling at you emotionally, such as the ongoing grief over the death of a friend, that can drive you to make bad decisions even when you’ve had time to consider your options. But it does seem that this was something that was very calculated
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This is absolutely the crux of the matter, in my eyes.
Every numpty I heard on talkback this morning began with, ‘SALAH IS BEING SCAPEGOTAED, WHY IS EVERYONE BLAMING HIM FOR EVERYTHING?!?!?!!!’
Mo’s entire broadside is based on a fallacy.
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