Virgil is better at the long switches than playing through on the floor and we have a vulnerability in midfield especially with Macca being off form.
I did think Quansah was good on the ball but lost confidence with a few errors.
I would like to see us go with a double pivot in midfield, just to control the centre of the pitch more.
Its a 19 point swing with Arsenal in 17 games.
If we expected Ngumoha to step up, I bet it was nowhere near to replace Diaz.
I don’t think we can really expect Ngumoha to step up, if he’s part of the first team, training with them regularly… it’s up to him to prove he can step up and push people out of the way. Still very young of course.
I’m actually alright if we judged we can go with Ngumoha as our 6th forward, but the way our summer went with uncertainty right until the end, there we were with also Chiesa at the 5th.
Let’s not forget that last season our best attack was Salah, Gakpo and Diaz. Diaz played up top and also on the left.
I’d say the club hoped Gakpo would turn a pretty good last season (not the whole of it, because he started the season behind Diaz on the left) into at least maintaining that and kicking onto a new and more consistent level. They agreed a new 5-year deal.
So Gakpo was in fact the first replacement for Diaz on the left and one or two (question for the club, this) strikers should’ve been an upgrade on everything we had in that position last season.
It’s absolutely possible that Gakpo took it a bit lightly, Diaz leaving, Ngumoha one of the alternatives for his position and getting a brand new contract. I find Cody as someone who needs to be provoked and challenged in order to bring the best out of him.
There are other players also, for me it was clear from the start that Wirtz isn’t necessarily only a central #10 player, but can play off the sides coming inside. Some journalists spoke about Ekitike off the left and Slot mentioned it as a possibility, but we’ve seen very little of it.
I mean, if we use general terms like top players, international level, quality, title winning, best young players in the world, quality all across, very expensively assembled squad of quality footballers… yeah, some of it is true.
But what are we saying with it? It’s not the full story.
Would it be the first time that a club with a squad of top, international, quality, title winning experience, coupled with some of the best young players in the world, full of quality, very expensive turned out to be, yes exactly, not balanced enough?
Absolutely not. We’ve seen it many times.
I’d say we do have a pretty good 22, but I’m yet to see what’s our idea for the 11 regularly enough.
There are different, good and less good ways to build a good 22 and 11. It’s possible that last summer everything we threw on a pile (not just new players, but keeping some of our current ones) turned out to be too much. At least for this season.
Just got a text from my mate that a Wilson Cox LFC on Twitter/X has posted that Slot was called into a meeting this evening that had gone on for a while, and following it is an all FSG meeting including Michael Edwards. Also, that Xabi Alonso has said that he would be happy to take the job.
No verification, but same source that I get my lineups from.
Due to the sale of Diaz and Rio not been anywhere near ready Gakpo has just about equalled his league minutes from last season in the league.
Could our lack of activity re CB be connected to a pending decision on the trainer?
The owners, their advisors and football people got us the 2 PL and 1 CL titles.
I now trust that while it’s mainly about the money, they worry about their pride and winning. too. Especially as they blow the Glazers out of the water.
While I’ve not landed on whether I want Slot to go (not that it matters), I am sure that FSG’s next move will be the right one. Especially since the coach ensures that their recently acquired young, “big name” players are well developed.
It takes a while to see how a newly recruited leader will perform, when it comes to big name player management. If they’ve assessed him as someone unable to develop them, and establish the right team dynamic, he’s done.
Boggles the mind that after having a deal agreed with personal terms and a medical, we simply let a player move elsewhere the very next window without so much as a sniff of trying to get him in.
That speculation is as good a reason as any and probably makes far more sense than we just aren’t interested anymore.
If I remember correctly Diaz was soo much better than Gakpo against low blocks on the left. I remember quite liking Gakpo there when we played teams that played football as he did a better job when a bit more thought was necessary.
I was quite shocked that we didn’t fight to keep Diaz or find a replacement. I presume it was a financial decision.
That should have remained there problem. If they couldn’t commit to an actual transfer - fee could be over several windows etc - then we shouldn’t be helping them out. There has been far to much of that lately. If Elliot really wanted to leave and Villas best offer was a Put option then he should have been told either accept another offer or stay.
He was our best dribbler by far, although didn’t always get the ball into the danger area. I see a lot of the same skill from Rio, but he is 17 and we won’t be seeing the same from him for a few seasons.
I didn’t misinterpret the tone of your post, don’t worry. 
When I say “unbalanced”, I mean a few different things. First of all, too many players who are probably still settling in and who are not used to the style of football (if we can call this “style of football”) that the team is trying to play. Imagine getting a new coach on top of that who has his own ideas some four months before the end of the season… And who has to get the team up and running quickly enough to secure a CL spot. Maybe some more, let’s call it, “self-aware” people like Alonso will think “nah, I’m swerving that until the summer”.
After that, I believe that we lack certain types of players. We want to play controlling, attacking football, right? Our biggest weakness this season, for me at least, has been our build-up. Van Dijk is slowing down, so we should ideally have a dynamic centre back next to him who’s good at bringing the ball out under pressure. Something similar goes for Gravenberch’s midfield partner after Mac Allister’s form has fallen off a cliff - we can all make jokes at Zubimendi’s expense but he’s exactly the press-resistant, technical and dynamic kind of player our midfield needs and who will be able to enjoy the mountains of San Sebastian next summer with at least PL winner’s medal hanging around his neck.
Further up, you have Salah who has firmly entered his twilight years and the team that was built around him has shifted its focus on Wirtz and Ekitike/Isak, leaving Salah in the cold. On the opposite flank, we have Gakpo whose form has also fallen off a cliff and who just doesn’t work with his fullback for some reason.
Beside the academy not being able to produce any players for the first team at the moment (plus Slot’s reluctance to use the likes of Ngumoha and Nyoni more often), we also have two young players whose season has been ended by horrendous injuries, who definitely fit the bill when it comes to the style of football we’d like to see from Liverpool. Also, there’s Isak whose season has been a write-off so far, a record signing who new coach will absolutely have to make work, otherwise he’ll become the biggest flop in club’s history.
Even Alisson, quite probably the best goalkeeper in club’s history, hasn’t had any meaningful contributions since Crystal Palace away and has been making at least one erratic pass in every match that leads to a dangerous counter-attack from the opposition. I don’t know if that suggests fatigue or lack of focus or something else entirely, though, but it is worrying.
I wish Slot turned this around - we all do - but I’ve also been of opinion that majority of this is on him, even though Hughes and players have to shoulder the blame to a certain extent. I’ve been joking for a while about supporting whoever played against Real Madrid at the time but I’m genuinely of opinion that Alonso might be the best available candidate out there to take over from Slot and shake things up, get the team back on track. I just don’t see it happening before the season ends, though.
Yup. I was very vocal at the time that if our sixth forward was going to be Ngumoah then Chiesa couldn’t be our fifth option because Slot doesn’t want to use him.
But I don’t think everything is a sacking offence. We can’t expect perfection of everyone. But, you’d want to see the mistakes recognised and rectified. As it stands there appears to be no interest in that.
The way the deal was agreed, I think buying back Quansah at some point was always part of the plan.
As bad as we’ve been I did not expect us to draw with Burnley at home.
Last time I felt ‘the end’ is that close for Slot was before the two difficult home games against Villa and Madrid. Easily the two games with the best atmosphere this season - felt Anfield saved him that time.
He now lost parts of the home crowd but Anfield wont be able to help him this coming week anyway.
Two difficult away games where he has to go all in. Guess he at least needs a good performance in Marseille but definitely the result in Bournemouth on Saturday.
It’s not all on Arne, but the reality is that things need to change — and they need to change fast. Given the situation, the most straightforward and impactful move is to replace him. With Alonso available, and widely viewed as a long‑term fit for FSG’s vision and the club’s management structure, the timing couldn’t be clearer.
Honestly, it’s hard to find any real downsides. The advantages of moving now and bringing in Xabi are overwhelming:
• A new‑manager bounce is almost guaranteed — just look at what happened at United.
• Xabi has already proven he can transform a team quickly; Leverkusen is the perfect example.
• He knows Liverpool, understands the culture, and commands instant respect from the fanbase.
• The dressing room atmosphere would likely lift immediately, especially among players who currently feel sidelined.
• Salah is crucial for the next four months — under Xabi, he gets a clean slate.
• Xabi already knows players like Flo and Frimpong, which accelerates adaptation and planning.
• And if the club sees him as the long‑term manager, they’re far more likely to invest in January.
When you weigh it all up, the logic points in one direction: act now, bring in Xabi, and give the season — and the squad — the reset it desperately needs.
All really valid points and hard to disagree with any of them.
Is this then the inevitable transition that’s to be expected when you change manager and some of your key players for the last 5-6 years are moving on or slowing down.
It’s an unenviable job to be replacing van Dijk, Salah and Trent, not to mention Jota, Robertson and Diaz and only really one of those is of our choosing. Have we simply been too slow in doing some of the necessary leaving us too much to do in a short window now?
Behind the scenes has been a bit turbulent with a lot of change in DoF, executives and then Klopp going too. Does it stem from a lack of continuity across the board but that bit of continuity we do have on the pitch is precisely the bit we need to be preparing to move on from.
It’s hard to see the big vision. With Klopp there was a clear identity on the pitch, even if it evolved over time, and the you could understand the types of players needed to make it work. But now Slot’s approach is less clear but when you look at what we think he’s trying to do we’re not seeing a squad of players built to play that way.
I guess the big decision then is do you give Slot another transfer window and spend more money getting him the players he needs or call time on his tenure because even with an imperfect squad you’d expect him to do a better job. We brought him in as we felt he was the best coach to work with what Klopp left behind but now we’re trying to evolve and he’s struggling to make it work.
Hard to know but it can’t carry on like this without the pressure mounting game by game.
Almost as if they thought that Slot wouldn’t be around forever?
I’m just worried that he would end up under the same pressure. At least it would give him a few months to assess the squad before the summer.
I so want to believe this. 