Slot did very well not to tell the reporter to fuck off. I would have.
He should not have to deal with reporters asking him questions about a potential successor for his job. The club should be making it clear to journalists that this is off limits.
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Not the first time journalists ask such things.
Although the noise about Xabi is still largely from fans and part of media, there aren’t reports about anything being close. Us being potentially interested in Xabi if Slot isn’t here whenever in the near future… that’s not big news.
Then we have how the question was even asked, so childish that it made everyone laugh by the end.
I thought it was that Hungarian clown for a moment, but then he was next I think. With another gem of a question about Szobo scoring in the CL this season, so does that mean he’s an effective goalscorer.
A question so dumb that Slot then went on a little monologue about us more in general this season, pretty much off topic of the question.
Yeah… asking for accuracy and morality in press conferences, you’re at the wrong place.
Because the decision to sack Slot and appoint Xabi is nothing to do with Slot and it isn’t about the match or the playing staff. It’s entirely to do with Hughes.
It’s a problem that the only person who is ever wheeled out to speak to the media is the head coach.
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Slot also spoke in detail about Quinten Timber possibly joining Marseille from Feyenoord…
And yeah, the coach being the only one (apart from players) facing with media in press conferences, answering sometimes questions about things that aren’t his responsibility is not good. It’s not often though, we’re well organized in that aspect and Slot deals with it pretty well.
There are things that are given a pass, I mean Tony Barrett can come in and react, but from what I saw, Slot didn’t mind answering the question, especially as it ended funny the way it was asked.
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He is under more pressure with Alonso around. FSG are more likely to pull the trigger with a suitable replacement available. The question in the press conference was out of line, but I don’t see what’s wrong with the suggestion.
I was referring to the “clown” that asked the question at a press conference.
I think the key thing is that performance is relative.
With past managers it was a successful season if we got CL football because we were the underdog. We were trying to punch above our weight, winning trophies against the odds. (Typically a few stars mixed with some pretty average players, and paper thin squads )
Look at who played in their last games:
Rogers last 11
Mignolet; Can, Skrtel, Sakho; Clyne, Milner, Lucas, Coutinho, Moreno; Ings, Sturridge
Kenny’s last 11
Doni, Kelly, Agger, Carragher, Johnson, Downing, Henderson, Shelvey, Rodriguez, Carroll, Suarez
Rafas last 11
Reina, Agger, Kyrigiakos, Carragher, Aquilani, Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Babel, El Zhar
The club is in a very different place today, post Klopp. On paper we went into this season with arguably the strongest squad in the league , further reinforced with top talent (best attacking midfielder in world, one of the best strikers in the PL). On the whole we got the signings we wanted. Our expectations should be high.
A manager scarping 4 with this squad, and transfer spend is as bad as being 7th or 8th with our past managers. We are just 3 points above 9th place.
I do not think we are entitled, more we have an overwhelming wealth of talent in the squad. We are performing worse than the sum of our parts.
We have last years golden boot winner and broke our club reccord three times buying attacking players. People will become disillusioned not only by results but our style of football (lack of attacking football) and inability to play more than 60 minutes of quality even against teams that will likely get relegated.
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Can you imagine Klopp in that situation?
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It’s disrespectful to assume the availability of someone else, who incidentally seems to have preferred pastures other than ours, immediately means Slot should be looking over his shoulder. It’s like saying Alonso is better so you better win or we’ll make it known we want him.
Reporter who asked it needs reminding of his place.
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I think it is disrespectful. Slot jumped at the chance to be here, Alonso had eyes elsewhere. And Slot has a better CV than Alonso. He’s won a title here and deserves some respect for that.
We can suggest Alonso might be a viable replacement should Slot go. It’s the notion some are pushing that Xabi getting fired means Slot should count his days that I don’t like.
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I think the question was disrespectful, but also understandable given all the circumstances in play. It’s a press conference. Most of it is banal rubbish that has to be seen to be done, but occasionally, with the press being the press, you get a little zinger from time to time.
The main thing is Slot didn’t lose his cool, as that would make it bigger.
As ever, what the team does on the pitch will go a long way to determining the narrative.
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Definitely not. Strongest squad on paper? Many people thought we lacked balance and that Arsenal had the strongest squad. Arsenal were the biggest spenders this past summer (net). Man City have just done what they do best - spend money each window and they are also well above us in spending in the last 18 months.
And this was with one of our best players (TAA) pretty much leaving for free and our most natural goal scorer in Jota passing away. Everyone was wondering when Salah’s performances would drop off a cliff… and it happened sooner than we expected.
So no, this squad is much weaker. Especially when you consider that two of our most expensive signings Isak and Ekitike play in the same position and a 3rd in Wirtz is not playing in his best position.
Hughes and Edwards are smart guys. I’m sure they knew the squad wasn’t balanced but also because the style is reminiscent of Edward’s first stint with us where he tends to buy who he feels is good enough for us and not to fill a need. Rather than rushing to fill the squad with short-term / inadequate solutions, Edwards has historically focussed on just buying right - even if it requires patience and to be short of certain positional players.
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Arsenal definitely ended last summer having the best strength in depth and most balanced squad.
It’s not only about throwing a massive net spend for quality individuals. We’ve seen in the past at different clubs that it’s no guarantee that it’ll work and immediately.
This side should definitely retain the CL status and you also want a trophy at Liverpool every season, there’s no hiding from that.
I think we need to be careful of revisionism. Objectively we were overwhelming favourites. We ended the summer with high expectations off the back of what was perceived as a good transfer window.
These were the sort of headlines at the time.
Transfer window: Has Liverpool’s spending spree made Premier League title race a formality? - BBC Sport
Many on the forum, and in the press were saying this is the best squad in the league, and that we had just had the best transfer window. A tier above anyone else. People were not contemplating Salahs form, instead in September they were frustrated that Salah had been snubbed for the Ballon Dor. As many regarded in the best in the world (again newspaper articles written at the time).
Here is what pundits predicted:
| Predictor | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
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| Chris Waddle |  |
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| Joe Hart |  |
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| Michael Brown |  |
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| Steph Houghton |  |
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| Paul Robinson |  |
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| Nedum Onuoha |  |
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| Fara Williams | |
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| Micah Richards |  |
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| Troy Deeney | |
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| Lindsay Johnson | |
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| Pat Nevin | |
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| Ellen White | |
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| Ashley Williams | |
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| Alan Shearer | |
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| Wayne Rooney |  |
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| Chris Sutton | |
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| Anita Asante | |
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| Steve Sidwell | |
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| Rachel Brown-Finnis | |
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| Shay Given |  |
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| Dion Dublin | |
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| Danny Gabbidon |  |
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| Clinton Morrison |  |
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| Theo Walcott |  |
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| Danny Murphy |  |
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| Rob Green | |
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| Glenn Murray |  |
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| Matt Upson | |
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| Martin Keown |  |
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| Thomas Hitzlsperger | |
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| Sue Smith |  |
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| Leon Osman |  |
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| Jermaine Beckford | |
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| AI |  |
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| Opta’s Supercomputer | |
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I think if you look at the threads at the time, expectations where sky high. Perhaps I have red tinted glasses, but even now there are perhaps only 3 players from Arsenal that would walk into our team.
I dont doubt some posters were worried about balance, or did not align with the commonly held view. But general mood, expectations, on paper belief at the start of the season, was were were going to retain the league (in the very least challenge) and perhaps also win the Champions league.
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amazing no one looked outside those four clubs.
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What’s our best team in your opinion, by the way?
Interesting to know if you have a better idea what we tried to build.
Anti Everton bias?
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More of a surprise no one shoehorned Man Utd in.
I think we were 4th in most of the previous seasons teams it’s a curse. As for CL it’s the lap of the gods. Win a penalty shootout and PSG just had another bang average season. Margins are tight in that night.
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I would agree. We definitely have a better starting 11. Arsenal’s have much greater depth though. Had almost £300m on the bench against us
What’s our starting 11?