Post match: PSG v Liverpool (UCL 8/4/26 8pm)

The Albert Match Days
101

its hard to really pinpoint why i dont like this mindset.

i mean, im not opposed to a defensive awat display in Europe… love it infact, but this wasnt it. This wasnt a pragmatic response with a clear end goal in focus.

it was a glorified hail mary.

even your defence of that, based on ‘i dont like it but its where we are right now’ is not right… its a sport to make comment on, its fair game to comment on.

if someone (litterally) painted themselves into a corner and walked fresh paint footsteps through the rest of the house, they cant turn around to you and say ‘are you mad?, what was i meant to do?it just is what it is’

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102

Absolute bullshit. We are having one of the most consistent seasons in history.

We have unfortunately wasted a career year on VVD and Mo. A decent season and we would of probably got 50m for Mo, so saving 10m on a Slot firing doesn’t seem that smart anymore.

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103

What puzzled me about Slot tonight was his substitutions, why take Salah to Paris at all if you have no intention of playing him. The consequences for the Fulham game if he plays are that it is not a way of motivating a player and he will not be busting a gut for the manager. I think he knows he is not going to be the manager and he is trying some crazy things knowing it wil not make any difference to his situation.

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104

You’re going to have to explain that analogy to me.

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105

Salah is a senior professional in the squad and it would be absurd not to take him. It would become the story. I don’t think he should be starting games at minute, but not including him in the travelling squad would be disrespectful.

I think there are game situations in which he would been introduced, but it really wasn’t the game to bring him on.

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106

yeah sorry, a bit clunky. my bad.

i guess im saying that Slot and the team has made their bed, now he has to lye in it.

hes had 18 months to prepare for away day european fixtures… the defence of ‘what else can we expect, we are where we are’, is not even worth typing…what are you doing? asking us to not comment on why after winning the PL and spending 450m the best we can offer is a cobbled together 3 man back line?

A classic away defensive European tie is well drilled (over months of work). this was not that.

i know its a cliche, but im actually now starting to think they are genuinely undertraining.

ive never really bought into the ‘we only had 2 days to prepare’ line, even from Rafa and Klopp… yes, you had two days to recover and condition, but youve had months to prepare set game plans.

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107

Maybe getting a shot on target is somewhere to start???

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108

Just to buttress your point, yesterday Madrid was hunkered down in a low block at home, waiting for the counters.

Several months ago Guardiola was playing a low block at the Emirates.

We’re where we are. It’s no use wishing on fantasies…

If Arsenal went to Paris today they would be in a low block also. Yes they’d much better. But that’s because we’re simply not good this season.

We have to accept that we are only going to be able to scratch out a few things from what’s left of this miserable season.

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109

Yeah,it has been a fun season.until an issue is sorted it is unlikely to U turn,but we can hope…

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110

Didn’t expect an easy game, but that was ridiculous 26% possession for Christs sake.

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111

1, It was clear we needed a CB. Why else did we go for Guehi? Arguably, we should have kept Quansah, but if not, we should have got someone other than just Leoni.

2, We needed a right winger who could gradually replace Mo. The suddenness of his decline was a surprise, but going into the season with no real backup was another mistake.

3, The sale of Diaz was clearly a mistake at the time, and even more so now.

4, We needed more depth in midfield. Endo’s a great lad, but a very limited player. We went into the season with only four first team midfielders and they are all showing signs of fatigue.

The fact that, despite our busy summer, we have lost so much ground points to our dealings not being fine at all.

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112

2-0 down in the first leg is not good but not too bad from the surface…However, if one looks at the stat, you know it is pretty much done with zero shots on target…

In addition, I don’t think Anfield will be too pleased to see another repeat performance like this again…

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113

Yeah I only saw the highlights (lucky me!) but I thought he looked poorly positioned for the first goal and shouldn’t be conceeding that.

114

Yes, Mo has been out of form and lacking confidence.

And yet in the game last night, we tried a back three with Kerkez and Frimpong to provide width (the set up they are familiar with from their previous clubs). This formation then allows for an inside forward. At 80 mins, bringing on Isak to play the inside right channel position was not a good move. He should be on the training pitch working on fitness.

Those final ten mins would have been better with Gakpo left, Salah right, and Isak up top off the shoulder of the defensive line. This would at least give PSG something to think about.

Instead we got more of the same with Curtis (initially) and then later Alexis taking up the advanced Dom position. If Slot wanted more defensive duties, then Chiesa (even though he is not up to the quality needed) would’ve been better on the inside right to continue to allow our low block formation.

Overall, changing something drastic for pragmatic purposes was fine, but imo the in game management was lacking.

Usually at 60 mins, a sub is made to freshen things up. Slot I feel was happy with being a goal down and wanted to keep the same players on to hold that score. But we all could feel that second goal coming, and it did.

Anfield needs another special night next week. More of these head scratching in game paralysis will end with the fans making their thoughts heard out loud after the whistle.

Even in November 2024, when we were gunning for the league, the lack of rotation and in game management was absurd. This has continued game after game. Slot keeps on gassed players if the scoreline is acceptable to him.

Since the end of last season, we then inevitably let in a goal, followed by deployment of the infamous kitchen sink formation. As it was the first leg, we were saved from seeing that formation last night.

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115

Granted, Ibou was poor. Had some nice progressive passes and a Matip type of run, but defensively was too eager at times a la Lovren.

However, in a low block formation with five at the back when defending, it allows for an aggressive defender to run out to challenge/close down. Bringing in a back three for the first time from the start of the game meant that those drilled defensive movements were not up to scratch.

When we soon play Everton, Tarkowski and Keane will be diving in and challenging in their low block formation, and the other defenders/midfielders will back them up. Someone like James Garner would’ve been throwing himself at the shot by Doue.

We looked just like a team not comfortable with the structure due to probably a last minute change.

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116

I’m not going to comment too much at the moment because I’m pissed off and I’ve better things to do than get banned just because you have to use ever other thread to try and argue with people who think Slot is shite at managing our Club.

But you want to talk about the tactics and set up?

Really? What tactics and set up has Slot been whinging about for a year or so now?

Do the clubs that set up like that believe that if they went toe to toe with Liverpool they would do well? Yet when we want them to go out and play open football so we don’t have to break through their low block we spent our interviews after the game bitching about it.

I’m now well past the stage of being nice about him. Hearing his messages after tonight’s game did it for me. The sheer hypocrisy this man showed tonight is fucking unbelievable.

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117

Just watched the game was on nights last night.

That is the worst I have ever seen a back 3 play, with Joe the exception.

Virg was absolutely shite in that game, and I hate to call players that, his positioning was absolutely horrible and Ibou was just as bad.

When playing a back 3 it is important to keep small spaces between you and move accordingly as if you are connected by string, not effing weak elastic bands.

Virg never covered any balls in the channel between them, he just kept leaving massive gaps and was especially culpable for their 2nd goal even though Grav just let his man run, but a switched on CB should have read that and covered accordingly.

Ibou was just as bad he just kept going walkabout.

Then lets discuss our ball retention/passing, or in this case, the lack of, apart from spells from Wirtz our passing and most importantly our movement to create angles for the pass was inept.

Arne is just proving he lacks tactical nous, but the players also seem to not have any positional awareness either on or off the ball.

We need something very special from all to turn this around and the only thing I can see is from the crowd to somehow give us belief.

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118

He had no chance with the 1st goal, just one of those deflections

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119

People recently have compared Slot to previous managers, including Rodgers.

If you remember when Rodgers went to a back three one of the main pluses of that that we liked was the fact it allowed each of the back three to only cover a small amount of space. It literally played perfectly for players like Skrtel who had been having a much worse time when we played open football.

I don’t think we were set up like that tonight.

How many times we’re players pulled out of position over the course of the game?

I honestly wonder what we’ve done in training all year because we don’t look like a properly coached side. So it doesn’t surprise me that we didn’t look like a team who had any clue what way to approach this game.

Now with Slot basically coming out and saying that PSG would have win regardless I can only imagine how deflating that would be as a player to hear your manager saying that.

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120

To play a back to the wall back 3 it is all about being narrow and not conceding space, with the wi g backs tucked in on the opposite side to the ball, we had none of that.

People talked about parking the bus, looked lie or guys were parking pushbikes!16