“And the winner of the tallest dwarf award goes to…”
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I don’t really get why taking your shirt off is this thing players have this unnatural inclination to do. Not seen a single player score and then immediately take their boots off or pull out their shin pads.
To be honest, I get why it’s a rule. You’re dressed for the game, why are you taking your top off. Even dumber thing to do now because often they did it to show a message underneath but that’s now also against the rules.
There’s zero excuse. You know it’s a rule. Just like you know you can’t jump into the crowd or flip off the opposition. The thought should never even cross your mind.
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Here we are again with the same argument we had after we won the European cup. Klopp should have invested in the squad. Slot should have used Chiesa and Elliott more.
The end of this discussion is that Slot won the league. He won the fucking league.
If he didn’t think Elliott was good enough, well, he won the fucking league. If he thought Chiesa wasn’t fit enough, well, he won the fucking league.
He could have played Elliott and Chiesa more, but then he might not have won the fucking league.
I like living in the reality where Slot turned his nose up at Chiesa and Elliott and won the fucking league, rather than one of those universes where he prioritised minutes for them and fell short.
Basically Slots job isn’t to look after Chiesa or Elliott’s careers. It’s to win the fucking league.
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Slot probably could have used one or two a bit more last season. His biggest defence, of course, is that the way he went about his business won us the league, at a canter, on his first try. So there is that!
As for using a slightly bigger group this season, I think he will. I would imagine that the signings we made in the summer will augment the group he will use regularly, by a couple of players, over last season.
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You can rate Chiesa, and still understand and respect a league winning manager. As supporters we only see half the story. Slot sees it all and makes decisions based on that. His sticking to a small set of players is underpinned by the spending in the summer. Slot wanted better players to extend his squad options. Elliott, loved as he was didn’t fit the bill. Wirtz will before long.
We are lucky to have had managers in Klopp and Slot that see whats best for the team.
A lot of people said Chiesa was going in the summer. The fact that he has appeared in the league and last night shows that Slot sees something in him. I like the player, I have done from a few years ago. I think his cameos and appearances will benefit the team.
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I see him a bit like Shaqiri. He was on the periphery of the squad, making up numbers, but did not disappoint when he was called on.
I like Chiesa a lot, and if he can get back to anything like the player he was before his injury, then he will be asking the right questions of Slot.
But Slot has earned the right to be trusted in these things.
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Absolutely.
We can surmise and pontificate all we want, but ultimately Slot and Klopp before him continously worked what was best for the club.
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The one against Madrid was a lot harder with how it was passed and how it bounced in front of him, this was rolled into his path.
We all have brain farts, for me just move on and hopefully he learns.
I get that. But it’s more the calmness and certainty compared to the frantic and uncomposed nature we’d often see from Nunez.
He also had that header he probably should have scored last night. Again though, no major histrionics afterwards in disbelief at not having done better. Just got back on with getting the job done and I like that in a striker.
Maybe his reluctance to use others resulted in us dropping out of the Champs league, but the whole time for me the priority was the league and he delivered.
This season if we are setting our sights on both then for me rotation needs to happen to keep players fresh.
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Yeah, he does need to work on his heading, but I always remember, Crouchy for his height, wasn’t the best of headers at first but did improve.
They should make it a straight red offence if they really want to stamp it out.
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He was fucking shite in that game , so much so that reporting at the time said that Slot had washed his hands of him.
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I like your posts Rab but any professional footballer missing that chance last night should be banned from ever putting on another pair of boots.
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I think Nunez has missed worse 
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I know. But better strikers than him have missed easier chances and having missed a similar, albeit harder, chance a week ago there wasn’t a doubt in my mind he’d roll that in.
Had that been Nunez in the headspace he was in recent months I’m not so sure that would have been as nailed on.
The point was really about mentality. That previous miss nor the missed header seemed to play on his mind. We weren’t getting that with Nunez, every miss seemed to just chip away at him.
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I’ve actually read that its a very natural reaction to a moment of euphoria. Some sort of primal trigger.
I think there have been many iconic, and seemingly spontaneous, celebrations where players have whipped their shirt off such as Riise’s against Man Utd. It’s a shame to remove some passion from the game but that’s what the sponsors wanted.
But as you said everyone knows the rules and the consequences. I’m not sure a goal against Southampton in the LC was that primal trigger moment I mentioned it seemed planned and presumably he forgot he already a yellow card (which was also a dumb yellow).
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Klopp and Slot clearly have slightly different approaches to their squad. Klopp was a bit of a pleaser and liked to make sure everyone was getting as many opportunities as he felt he could afford to give them without damaging his overall goal of winning. Slot wants to play with his best available XI as often as possible to maximize his chances of winning.
Unfortunately for the lads who not in the best 14/15 players that means limited chances compared to what Klopp would offer but frankly we play to win not to please.
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