They smell blood, so I would imagine this sort of questioning will continue until Slot’s future is resolved one way or the other. I agree that it’s not fair at all that he should have to answer, and that’s one aspect of the press I can’t stand.
Slot would do well to have a soundbite ready to go on that sort of question, as we move forward. Smile, rise above, give a polite platitude, move on, that sort of thing.
I hate the game, but that’s the stage we are at.
Like Fabinho, right?
If we win tonight then we would be only two points behind Chelsea and three behind Man U, so qualifying for the CL is clearly achievable. Whether it’s likely or not remains to be seen. If we lose to Sunderland and Brentford get a point off Arsenal, then we slip to seventh with a bunch of mid-table clubs right behind us.
So CL qualification is achievable and I think we’ll soon find out if it’s likely. IMO, lose against Sunderland and it’s a taxi for Slot.
While the circumstances and mitigations may be different, I dont think it is wrong to highlight that the board won’t sack someone just for failing to qualify.
Especially when Klopp left Slot a side which was a contender for the PL.
Klopp was able to develop young players and brave enough to use them. Same with bench players. That’s was a huge financial benefit.
The damage that’s happening this season we might not be able to repair in the next 5 years.
If this is true, it speaks volumes. The owners are financing a 20 mil. redevelopment of the Academy facilities, let alone the fees paid for transfers, wages, upkeep etc. They’re going to want to see a return on their investment.
It’d look very bad for Slot even if everything else was going smoothly. I hope for his sake that it isn’t true.
Fabinho was class, no denying that, but out of the total number of players that have moved from League 1 him being a success is an outlayer, not the standard. Most are not a success over here.
If someone could post from our CL victory parade that would be helpful, ta.
That’s what I’m talking about.
I mean achievable in light of currrnt form. Not based on the table. But I get your point.
Whilst its mathematically possible, Slot keeps his job.
Hmmm… were we not a distant 3rd in Klopp’s last??? Last season was a big accomplishment.
Champions League squad it was… but it was an unlikely PL winner without Slot pulling something extra out of them.
We weren’t a distant third for 2/3rds of the season. We were in there competing for the quadruple
But it might very well not be repairable in 5 years. Every other team is moving as well or trying to. United are now into the 2nd decade of trying to get back, Arsenal might win the league this season after 22 years. We spent 30 years in League despair plus being relative also rans.
We created a powerhouses over the last decade and history tells us that it’s pretty easiy to dismantle a powerhouse relatively quickly. We should beware of not thinking it could happen.
We fell apart from Feb/ March. Everyone thought it being Klopps season would be a further catalyst to what was looking to be a great season. Instead, seemed the players weren’t quite interested in playing for a manager who wasnt going to be around beyond May. I always thought that announcement was premature and took away from the run in.
Klopp’s heart wasn’t in it as well. But it was the extra fixtures added with the dodgy umpires that did us in.
Serious post alert
Pretty similar to last season really, I don’t think the performance and points total was much different. Main difference was our direct rivals: City and Arsenal both went ~90 points two years ago, Arsenal in particular never seemed to get any injuries - it was all the talk every week - while we had quite a few, including Salah at AFCON. Last season City imploded almost immediately after Rodri’s injury and Arsenal faded away when all their attack got injured. And for avoidance of doubt I’m not saying this to pile on Slot, I felt the same last year and said it too. Just different seasons, different circumstances.
So on one hand, he won the title and like pretty much the majority said, he deserves respect and nothing will take that away from him.
that said
Yeah I hope we get Alonso in asap, sorry about that.
If Ramsey was the only issue of this kind, I’d agree with you. But he has done it with a lot of other players, of whom some have departed the club already.
I think that without wanting to see Slot’s back or something, we can agree that he has an issue with trusting players and giving them the confidence to perform at their best level. Instead of this, he complains about a lack of depth in the squad, players being tired etc. while simultaneously refusing to give minutes to the squad players and the developing youngsters. That’s not good enough for me.
I think that is being overly dramatic.
The ownership is stable and committed, the club is in great financial health, and there is a core of a squad that is young, hungry and has already won a league.
United have been a shambles off the pitch for decades. The comparison just isn’t reasonable.
While your points about Klopp’s tactical plan regarding integrating Williams and Phillips are absolutely valid, there are parallels to be drawn between the way he handled that situation and the way Slot handles the right back situation.
Klopp played his two key midfielders at centre back at the time, resulting in an unprecedented bad run of form. He tore down that plan in response and came up with a new one that involved two League One/Championship standard centre back starting every game, so everyone could play in their best roles, making it easier for all of his players to follow his tactical instructions.
Slot, on the other hand, gave Ramsey his debut (and lad had a really good outing in all honesty) and then continued fielding his best midfielder and club’s best player this season in an unfamiliar role whenever his senior right backs were unavailable, quite possibly undermining the best tactical plan he came up with this season (that lopsided formation during Salah’s absence, where Szoboszlai played as a right midfielder of sorts).
I don’t think Ramsay is the second coming of Cafu but I think he’s less of a risk with Szoboszlai, Gravenberch and Konate covering him than Szoboszlai not playing further forward and/or in his best role. Also, I don’t think that Slot’s constant putting down of Ramsay will be of any help to anyone. There are a lot of sticks to beat Slot with at the moment but that one hurts me. He doesn’t have to play him if he doesn’t think Ramsay’s good enough but he should really either frame it better or just stop talking about it.