Watching CL highlights. Kimmich’s brilliant pass leading to Olise setting up Karl…exactly the kind of pass Trent would be making. We definitely miss that.
Alisson was out with illness and nothing more serious that’s about as positive as I can be.
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He saw what was happening against Forest and said “Que se dane, tō fora!”
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When Slot came in I felt very positive,whan we started losing I felt it was a hump and we would get over it.
Now it looks like a mountain and while it is not all down to Slot,we hope managers can sort issues,at least partly.
Sadly he doesn’t seem to have many at all,maybe time to give someone else a chance to sort it,before the season is completely fucked.
Really didn’t think it would get this far…..
1 big and 1 small positives
- The first half wasn’t bad but we had a comeback in the making
- We scored a goal…
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I hear this quite often in cricket/football. Manager can’t legislate for the above because he’s not out there on the field, coach can’t legislate for fieldera dropping catches. I disagree because that’s his job. It’s his job to ensure that the lead up to the games is meticulous, that training is up to highest standard, that the players are mentally prepared for what’s to come.
These schoolboy errors are mental in nature a lot of the time but it’s exactly the work put in beforehand that eliminates it happening on the field. It’s totally on the manager of it keeps on happening, which it has. That’s simply not an excuse.
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What worries me the most (honestly) is the complete loss of any form of structure , within the team and also individual players , this leads to loss of cohesion , and over time leads to chaos (which you can see clearly in parts of this game) a big change process like this takes time and needs to managed carefully , especially when people are involved
As you can see here , the dip is called the bathtub , the managers / coaches job is to minimise the time the spent in the bathtub (structure is key here , this is your job / position , these are the things I want you to do , I will help you ) , the real issue I see is the amount of change that’s taking place , also is the manager capable of managing the level of change , in business we measure the change in £ / productivity/ efficiency etc , sadly this change is measured in points and ££ and FANS
And the other key measure across the bottom axis is TIME 
and the clocks ticking quickly now , sad to say again it’s always the manager that takes the responsibility and then accountability , noting he signed off on the new players , the next champions league match is critical , which we now know the result of 1-4 ,
One thing is clear here , the wheels have completely come off the BUS in all sorts of ways.
Time for a change , we all know this , but what change and when that is the leading question , the big boys Fsg , need to take hold of this and plan carefully the next steps , there are some very smart people in FSG we all know this , time to STEP UP please (my heart can’t stand much more of this)
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I went straight to bed after the final whistle. Up at 5 to go to work and wondered if I had imagined things. Unfortunately not.
I don’t think there are any mitigating factors in this. A few injuries, but nothing that we shouldn’t be able to cope with.
Aside from that, this was an opposition of modest talent in a league that Slot knows well. In fact, he will have played against this team and most of those players in the last couple of years.
We actually looked OK for most of the first half, but that folding in the second was catastrophic. Not even sure where we go from here.
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I would throw Salah into the hat also.
Gapko is a weird one, as a lot of good things come from him. However, a lot of potential attacks seem to also be stifled by him. I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Salah should not start. Recently, I have had a nagging doubt that certain players have been reluctant to pass to him, I felt this was the case again last night.
Unfortunately, a lot of our football seems to break down in these wide areas.
I don’t want to blame anyone or at the same time make excuses, but last night we gave away two ridiculous goals - VVD and Konate. Our defending was school boy.
VVD gave away a stupid pen on the 6th minute for a ridiculous Handball. Got booked in the 16th for a lazy bit of defending.
Konate, what the fuck is going through his head at the moment. I accept that there is reason to suggest his recent form has been affected by not having a regular RB alongside him but what on earth was he doing for their goal?
Also, the 4th started with Gapko passing the ball to their player on the edge of their area whilst we were over committed. They broke and were clinical.
At the moment, we are suffering from a lack of legs in the press. Slobz does his and Salah’s work, so for the time being I would rather Slobz carry on doing two players work and we replace Salah with Chiesa and benefit from Slobz effort rather than compensate.
Out of interest who would you play instead of Konate?
Gomez seems to have an underlying injury, as reportedly he was taking injections.
Endo can do a job but he is not very mobile.
We have played Robbo in their during preseason, cup game but he would need to play on the left side.
Gravenberch, means losing our best deep lying midfielder.
Does anyone know what Nat “Baresi” Phillips is doing 
?
Unfortunately, with Hindsight we made an error not getting Guehi over the line 
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Yes, but there’s no sign of us getting one point, never mind two at the moment. The defence is leaking goals every game, 3 or 4 at home against teams we’re expected to beat and we’ve lost 6 of the last 7 league games. I can’t bring myself to look at the league table, I’m told we’re in 12th place! This is Everton territory and they’re above us. So yes, I don’t believe we’ll finish top 5. If I’m proven wrong, I’ll congratulate the team and Slot but that’s not looking likely.
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At the moment and I stress, at the moment, I can’t see where 5 points are coming from.
And that’s the problem. Phillips is currently with West Brom.
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I completely agree. I think this is a good point, which is often missed/over looked by a number of fans/media/pundits.
In today’s game players/managers are increasingly being bought/employed to suit a style of football in correlation with predominantly the Sporting Directors ideas but also the manager.
Take Brighton for example, they have made a success at playing a style of football which promotes their defensive midfielder. Bissouma, Caicedo and now potentially Baleba, all massive returns on investment.
Edwards and Hughes are no different, they employ a manager who they believe aligns with their principals. Both successful in that they have employed Managers who have won the league.
They have gambled this season, saw an opportunity to spend big and potentially create a period of dominance. Signed good players but unfortunately it has not quite clicked at the moment.
For me it’s a project, Slot came in last season with no real signings, on the basis of him having license to create his own team the following season. He/the team over performed, no one expected us to win the league and so now, maybe some people’s expectations have been exaggerated by that. 
We need the equivalent (or the real thing) of a Guehi and a Wharton in January , and Bradley back. That defence and defensive midfield is an absolute fucking calamity. And if we were to start selecting players on form then it’s hard to make a case for any of them apart from Dom and Hugo.
I think it’s either a case of Slot not being able to communicate just what it is he’s trying to accomplish to the players , or that he is and they just don’t believe in it and the performances and the capitulations reflect that.
The six games between now and the New Year will probably decide the future of the coach. Ten points should be the absolute minimum to keep him here to the end of the season.
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Damn. Well I will try and kidknapp him on my way home to Birmingham later
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I agree thats why a change is needed before that 5 slips to 8, 11, 14 points and so on.
Its not a terrible group of players.
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I could try on my way to visit a Spurs fan in Hertfordshire today. But I’ll be using the Toll Road, so I think that takes me away from the West Brom area.
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And theyve been awful as well. Lost 5 games in WC Qualifying.
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