https://x.com/ESPNUK/status/2044347546311520625
Sigh… Who do we have to play against again?
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Didnt he come off early against Brighton earlier this season?
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Yeah, he is toast. He was used very sparingly this season, frequently protected despite needing him, all because this is the state he is in. And this is not the first time that he’s had to call time on appearance after a trivial number of minutes. The fact he has not gone over the line into full blown injury is a distinction without a difference for someone like this because even if it means he is protected and available for the weekend he’s just as likely to pull up lame after 30 mins of that game as he is to make it through
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So have numerous players, include Etike in this very match.
My point is, players get injured. Frequency, and time off matter more. Jones sadly gets lots of injuries and we are right to question his value to the squad.
I just don’t agree with the idea “that he only lasted 20 minutes”. We should be saying “another injury and time that he’s unavailable”
In trying to revamp the squad they (Slot and Hughes) have made a godawful mess.
I don’t know how much of it can be salvaged into a genuine PL and CL challenging side.
I feel that we may have to cut our losses with one, maybe two of the new signings to start over.
It’s gonna be painful.
I don’t think its that bad, its set up is a complete mess, maybe certain players should be cut but the right set up and many of these places are not unsaveable. CL is probably beyond us but these players are talented guys.
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Maybe. I feel the priority lies with addressing the issues with players that were here already and have dropped off in form or even quality. VvD Macalister are the two obvious ones. Obviously Mo is leaving already.
Then there is the issue of players and what tactics we want to play. We seem to be caught in no mans land on that front at the moment.
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Yeah, neither a cutting edge nor the suffocating pressing when out of possession
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I’m not sure I understand the disagreement here, but the fact that he only lasted 20 minutes, for the second time this season, is a huge problem. I think the question as it relates to Slot is how much of this is just the natural end point of Joe’s career trajectory vs how much is Slot’s team’s physical preparation of the players leaving them undercooked and unable to cope with the demands of a game situation. Given the overall level of fitness the group as a whole seem to have I am inclined to not give Slot’s methods a pass on this.
For all the increased interest in a scientific approach to player preparation, injuries are still essentially black magic and any of these professionals who try to give you their evidenced based methods for monitoring injury potential and managing risk are either grifters or so unaware of their own limitations to know how dangerous they are. The reality is they are going to happen. And while there are things you can do to reduce the overall cumulative risk across a group of athletes where and when the injuries pop up are still going to be closer to random than they are predictable by any of these monitoring systems. The challenge with that is the Prem is so relentless (compare to France that is down to 18 teams and got rid of one domestic cup) that it only takes a small number of injuries before issues compound.
So eventually the injury bug will hit everyone. However, the questions about Slot’s methods and how little physical work they do in training leaves very serious questions about whether he is preparing his players to cope with the demands of a game situation and setting them up to fail like this. The lack of juice they appear to have in their legs collectively preventing them putting in a solid 90 minutes is the same thing that results in muscle tweaks occurring left right and center
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Just gone for lunch. Is he still here?
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In body, if not in mind.
Considering the day, they wouldn’t do anything today anyhow, might be worth taking note and avoiding posting anything daft.
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It’s an argument around the language used or the metrics being used to raise concerns about his place on the squad.
For me, player value should be driven by their contribution i.e. how often are they available, minutes played etc. injury frequency would be another.
By that metric, how well do we think Isak and gor that matter Alisson has done this year?
Can we all pipe down a bit please. I’m “team sacked before 10,000 posts” and we are getting dangerously close with all this chitter chatter. Give management a chance to do the right thing. 
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Imagine FSG spending 300M+ on Isak, Wirtz, and Ekitike and seeing this return (so far). Wirtz has been stop-start, Isak hasn’t been fit, and now Ekitike is out until 2027.
They already needed another significant summer before Ekitike got hurt. Now they’ll likely need another striker.
Do they want to invest big to back Slot again? Or would it be easier to justify the outlay for a new manager? The last thing they want to do is sign someone for Slot only to sack him in six months. That would be Manchester United-esque.
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my god you must be a joy to be around!!! I’ll be sure to check with you next time I post to get it all approved in advance.
The owners aren’t stupid, and they can see the project has gone off the rails. I like the fact that we give our managers plenty of time and are not trigger happy. It’s the right approach. And now, having given Slot lots of time, and lots of benefit of the doubt all season long after the title win, it’s time for him to go.
The only variable, to my mind at least, is whether or not it happens at the end of the season or before then. I’m still thinking end of the season, but if we lay an egg at Everton, and we might, the thing could start to get a life of it’s own and the owners might end it then. But I think it will be at the end of the season.
I think we will scrape 5th place in the Prem. We will benefit from one game a week for the last few weeks, but the injuries have been piling up and losing Ekitike is a big blow. We’ve got some tough fixtures but I think we will get enough points, just, and will also be helped by rivals for the CL spots being inconsistent too. But obviously it is touch and go.
On a personal note on this day, my thoughts go back to Hillsborough. My two brothers were there, one of them was in the crush in the Leppings Lane end. I was with the rest of the family at our cousin’s wedding, and when news started to come through it was surreal. In a day before mobile phones it was a horrible wait for a few hours before we knew they were both safe. Tragically that was not the case for far too many.
JFT97. RIP.
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They are professionals in sports ownership, and they will understand that players get injured, sometimes badly.
My concern is they gave Rodgers another season and he didn’t win the league like Arne did.
Even with all the mitigating circumstances around this season I’d love to know what the Slot supporters are seeing to give them the confidence he can turn it around. There’s no seeds at all.
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The only real explanation I have seen put forward that isn’t relatively straight forward to reject with counter evidence is that Hughes screwed him by remaking the squad in his image not the one Slot wanted. I think that is implausible, but if we assume its true it is even more of a terrifying answer for why we are here than if it was just a Slot issue
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