Liverpool FC Premier League Champions 25/26 - Talk /Gossip/Rumours

Can't say I'm too afraid of the prospect of "becoming like United" on the back of potentially our first managerial sacking in 11 years. Should we just never sack anyone ever again?

Yeh the problem is there is no clear successor, except I would say Alonso. Alonso is certainly not the same package as Klopp was, but he is probably the closest we have available. In addition he would have the fans backing from the get go. Not that fans will automatically think he's great, but there will be a strong sentimentality there. This is a major plus if he is going to be successful, but can also be a hindrance if he is underperforming (similar to Ole at united).

I honestly think if I was Slot, and secured CL football, and won a PL the year before, and no new contract offered I'd consider walking. Like he could easily enough sign a 3 or 4 year deal with a pretty good side somewhere else imo. Most non-Liverpool fans and clubs don't look at him the same way Liverpool fans do. Why take a chance at getting the sack in 6 months, and a miniscule payout, vs signing up for multi-year millions somewhere else.

Lens are a point behind, they'd go top if they win the game. It's not like PSG against some bottom half team or PSG playing 2nd place when already 10 points clear

Ali out for longer than we expected.

No need to park his time really, because most will feel he was hard done by, but in any case, any manager who can win in Germany with a non-Bayern team is already at a pretty high level imo. That was Klopp's main accomplishment too remember.

For style of play, I think Alonso will be more adaptable than people are giving him credit for. He played at Liverpool, he knows the history, and has a strong relationship with the club. The style of play we pursued when he was a player was one of the better styles we've had since the 80s. I'm not saying he will change wholescale, but he certainly will be well aware of what the fans want to see, and I'm sure it will at least inform his strategy to some extent.

Finally I think he will have enough of the fans on board from the get go, and there will be huge excitement around his appointment. He will get a fair amount of grace, which if he is even half decent, should give him enough time to implement a winning strategy imo. More than almost any other manager the fans will want him to succeed. He has a sure shot at becoming a legend for the club as player and manager, which is a rare combo, only the likes of King Kenny have achieved before.

Overall though on a personal level, I still think it is a big hill for him to climb, but I certainly would like him to have a shot at it.

I think it’s a lot to do with the middle tier / lower tier teams being set up better against the top teams. The people who say Slot deliberately plays slow boring football must watch very little football. We certainly did go through a phase earlier in the season after some bad defeats in a row when our defence was all over the shop, that we switched to a much more conservative game plan. But that was only for 3 or 4 games, it ended after the first Arsenal game, but people harp on about it, as if we’re still constantly doing tippy tappy for 90 minutes

We still of course (like others) have struggled to break down very well organised defences, and the performances against Forest and Brighton were very poor, but it’s not because we’re not trying to play higher tempo attacking football. It just hasn’t been happening for our creative players. Giving away an array of needless stupid goals has been a heavy chain we’ve had to carry too.

Apart from Ali, news has been relatively good on the injury front. If we can keep all those fit for the run-in, no reason we can’t have a good end to the season.

As a fan I certainly believe that there has been a bunch of misfortune that has gone Slot's way, which wasn't necessarily his fault. In addition I think a fair amount of blame can be placed on the players themselves.

He has though made a fair few mis-steps. Imo the close out of last season with the celebrations etc. before the end was indicative of his complacency which would come to haunt him this season. In addition his lack of leadership and man management this season has become apparent. Sometimes a manager can go for years before their faults come to the fore, but sometimes things just don't work out, and as you said I don't think the fans will be able to come back around to him easily.

If I was to envisage a happy medium for everyone, Slot can secure CL football, still garners international respect for winning the league, and walks, heads to manage the dutch national team, or somewhere in Germany etc. Alonso comes in, and the fans overall can be thankful and not vitriolic to Slot. in future this season would all be forgotten about really and his reputation can be rebuilt.

If they do allow him to continue next season, and it's more of the same, and a poor start, and he then gets sacked imo his reputation would suffer a lot more, and he'll end up like Rodgers, a journeyman manager who'll never get a chance at the top level again.

Translation

I didn't suffer any new injury. I'm in the treatment phase, and the plan is to be in full playing condition by end of April!

Chicken and egg there, should we not judge whether Wirtz is like under a manager who will get more from him?

No. Hard disagree! I've seen us give up far too many chances to break over the course of the season in favour of slowing down and keeping possession to be gaslit now into believing something completely different to reality. We constantly play like we are 3-0 until we go a goal down and then we see what we are actually capable of.

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