The homegrown thing will be a massive issue if either Jones or Gomez or both of them leave this summer.
So, I think we need to buy a few English lads. The most obvious options are those two guys whom we sold last summer - Quansah and Morton, as both are playing well in Europe. Other than them, maybe one among Wharton, Anderson, Rogers or Gordon, most likely Wharton IMO. Maybe Lloyd Kelly if Robbo leaves.
CL status may not be the only factor that decides his fate, but it will surely be an important one. How we imagine it happening in our heads (the club telling Slot he’s going or want him to stay), is not important at all.
Give over if you think he has no input
I didn’t say that, of course he has input and he’s part of deciding/agreeing who we go for.
But in terms of money, no, he’s not given money and he’s not the one who negotiates, decides how much we spend, how far we go, etc.
FSG will no longer feel he is the right man to take the team forward based on performance metrics. Qualifying for the CL is a key performance metric for top team managers. So absolutely it will factor in, but I think there are obviously going to be considerations around how and why CL qualification was missed.
Extreme example - if Liverpool somehow charge through the remaining CL matches with stunning performances then lose the final 2-3 after VVD and Konate are lost to injury in the first 5 minutes. Then I think FSG would be harsh to sack him.
in your opinion.
Of course.
which is kinda what im saying… but in a roundabout way.
I agree CL will definitely be a key performance indicator. Due to financial implications alone. It’s what will trigger the review.
In evaluating our under performance they will then evaluate risk moving forward. Manager growth, team clicking, youngsters integrating, squad morale etc. Basically what are the signs of positive momentum.
This is where Slot struggles most of these are neutral and many negative. In fact the only positive I can point to, is the new players have performed well.
[quote=“Notasuperfan, post:7510, topic:4281, full:true”]
But not getting the UCL will make the decision very very easy for those in FSG….[/quote]
I don’t think it does. I think it still comes down to analysis of the season, what went wrong, how much of that was his fault and what he want to do going forward.
He should not be sacked simply because he failed to get CL. And he shouldn’t keep his job because he did.
He should keep his job if FSG think he is still the best person to coach this team. It’s as simple as that.
If getting the CL was so important to the club that you sack a manager as a punishment for not getting it, then frankly he’d already be gone.
I’d be interested in who you think the second one is?
But let’s take Alonso. There is an assumption he was FSGs first choice, but we don’t know really. He ruled himself out before we’d starting thinking about it.
We know that Slot was the recommendation from Will Spearman and the analytics side. We don’t know where Alonso would have placed in that, or whether he was even assessed.
If FSG really do think Alonso is an outstanding candidate, and then think he would be a better candidate for Liverpool than Slot, then you make that move regardless of whether Slot did or didn’t qualify for CL.
I don’t get the argument that our performance on the pitch will not affect Slot’s future at the club. Trainers are always judged on results and there’s no reason to suspect that it’ll be any different in this case. If, by some miracle, we win the CL, it will be well nigh impossible to sack Slot. If, on the other hand, we fail in even our most basic objective, qualifying for the CL, it would be very difficult to justify keeping him on. That’s just the nature of the business.
All the scenarios in between are up for discussion, and that’s why I posted what I did, in order to find out what others think.
I don’t think anyone has made that argument?
It’s one factor.
There has a lot happened that has contributed to the team under performing this year, including Jota’s death, the squad overhaul, the direction the league has taken, the injuries to key positions, the failure to get a viable third centre back, and so on.
The extent to which Slot has is culpable for the underperformance needs to be disentangled, and then they need to consider whether this is likely to be repeated or is it a one off?
And then, even after all that, even if you conclude the season was derailed by issues outside Slots control, and it was an aberration and the data suggests he is still a good coach who will perform better next season, you still have to consider whether Alonso is a better bet.
All I’m saying is that the decision around Slot’s future can’t be a simple matter of if he gets CL he stays and if he doesn’t he goes. It cannot be that basic. You could have a scenario where he was really unlucky to miss out. And you could have a scenario where he was really lucky to get in!
We have the Klopp hiring to point to for that. The consensus was Dortmund fell off because Kloppball had been found out and he was a power that had burned out. Our analysis though showed his final season at Dortmund was primarily an absurdly unlucky one where their football was as good as ever and they really did deserve a lot more than they got.
That very clearly is not the case for us though. The underlying metrics with our football have fallen off a cliff and actually explain why our results have become so poor. Short of giving him a pass because of Jota, or saying they hung him out to dry by leaving him with an inadequate squad (which isnt true and is never going to happen) there really isnt much reason to think that an evaluation of his performance would be any different than could be explained by our league finish/CL performance.
The reality is the quality of football we’re playing right now is poor, and that’s especially frustrating because Arne Slot was brought in largely on the belief that he would maintain the core identity built under Jürgen Klopp rather than move away from it. Instead, the team looks nothing like the Klopp sides that were defined by intensity, relentless pressing, and physical dominance. On top of that, this might be the least fit Liverpool FC squad in years, the energy levels drop quickly, the pressing lacks bite, and without that physical edge the entire style of play just collapses.
Right now we’re playing like absolute shit. The most frustrating part is that if you’re not creating chances, the least you can do is make yourselves hard to beat. But somehow we’re doing neither. We’re not generating real attacking threat, and at the same time we’re incredibly easy to play against. There’s no intensity, no defensive resilience, and no attacking edge. For a team like Liverpool FC that used to overwhelm teams under Jürgen Klopp, watching us look both blunt going forward and fragile defensively is honestly the most worrying part.
Aye, and there is a good chance that Alonso (or any other available top coach) could be more easily persuaded to come to the club if we qualify for next season’s CL. So anyhow, qualification for the CL is crucial for the club, irrespectively of whether Slot will stay beyond the summer or not.
If we were to replace every underperforming player, we’d keep a couple and get rid of everyone else. Salah does seem to be done at this level, but Mac Allister? Jones and Bradley? Even Gakpo, who has been traumatic this season, deserves a second chance. This isn’t the same Gakpo of the previous seasons.
Even if we didn’t change anyone, the whole squad would benefit tremendously from a proper preseason and training sessions. We are far too good to be 6th in March.
A change in “Possessions per game” illustrates a different style, but it’s not necessarily a good or bad thing in and of itself is it?