Liverpool FC - Talk /Gossip/Rumours 25/25

jesuisjuste · 29-04-2026 07:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124430652#Comment_124430652

Nail on the head, the squad is worse. Before people blame slot for not using them correctly, Isak was a shell, and Wirtz was clearly not physical enough, neither can be blamed on him imo and Eketike was like lightening, so no ill affect their either.

Regarding the remaining squad there is certainly more of a case to be had against slot, especially the midfield imo. Defense and attack I mainly blame the players and transfer strategy though tbh. Still works out about 33% each lol.

Infoseeker1975 · 29-04-2026 07:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124430543#Comment_124430543

He is indestructible, the # of games he missed over 9 years is tiny, another aspect of him that cannot be replaced especially in forward areas where speed leads to muscular injuries.

Appletart Upsetter · 29-04-2026 07:30PM

Slot has a lot of failings this season. No question.

I don't for a second think Vincent Kompany is a better manager than him. He's just got better players.

Enzokk · 29-04-2026 07:43PM

I cannot imagine the moaning we would have had if we conceded 4 or 5 goals in a very important match. The comments about our midfield not able to control a match or the defense not being solid, but Enrique is the best coach in the world.

I also find it interesting that Kompany is receiving lots of praise but when he kept playing the same style in the season he got West Brom relegated he was criticised for not being pragmatic to change style to keep them in the league. I guess winning solves a lot and people should keep that in mind when it comes to how you judge a season.

Amazingly we could go 3rd in a season where we have had a disrupted pre-season, injuries to crucial players, lost out on transfers where we had the player signed but the other club did not agree to it at the last minute. We are down to our 3rd choice keeper who played in the Championship last season, we only had 2 fit CB's who we have not been able to rest in the season while one of them was going through tough personal issues (aside from the Jota situation). We have not had a fit RB for most of the season, our new signings at the front have all suffered injuries, and some serious ones, and we have our best players the past 8 seasons lose form as well.

And yet we could go 3rd…but I will just be happy with a top 5 this season though, we need the CL money so whether we finish 3rd or 5th doesn't matter as long as we are in the top 5.

riddles · 29-04-2026 08:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124430611#Comment_124430611

Non sensical defence "better players in a system that worked" he changes the system doesn't rotate and plays people completely devoid of form. Not sure how 33% of the blame is attributed towards the board - bizarre.

Some of the headlines.

Lowest Big Chances Created per game in the last decade.
Worst run in 70 yeats.
Expected Goals against have risen due to slower transition recovery.
First half goals scored have decreased by over thirty percent.
Opponent pass completion rates have reached record highs at Anfield.
Recovery sprints and distance covered way down.
Absolute dog **** fottball.

jesuisjuste · 29-04-2026 08:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124430779#Comment_124430779

Can we stop with this worst run in 70 years crap again. If you just pick a different number of games another manager will have had their own worst run.

Things have been regressing for sure, but when implementing a new style, with a bunch of new players it's always going to get worse before it gets better, this much is obvious. The only question is about how much time it takes, and in Slots case most fans would agree it is taking too long. He'll likely still be here next season, so he'll have more time and a pre-season anyway.

brevity · 29-04-2026 09:33PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124430779#Comment_124430779

in isolation all those things are terrible but if you dig into it a bit more there are reasons as to why it’s happened.

Who is he supposed to rotate with? I think he made a mistake not including Endo more but Chiesa isn’t it and Rio is too young. They should have signed a winger. But I think the one they wanted wasn’t available so they ignored the position.

He benched Salah and all hell broke lose. Isak wasn’t fit because he went on strike and when he did get fit he got injured. Wirtz and Ekitke were not up to speed with the league and the league was very strange this year. Those three players have played only 100 minutes together.

I think the decision to not stick with how well the midfield worked last season was a mistake and they were too slow to change it to stop the bad run of losses. Losing Diaz and Trent was a big blow and those players were excellent at relieving the pressure.

The fitness thing is very strange for sure. I don’t know if that is preseason related or an attempt to reduce injuries on a squad that is thin. Doesn’t seem to have worked as loads of players got injured anyway.

I believe if we improve by getting a DM and some pace in the frontline we will be better. Slot doesn’t want to play this way imo. It’s awful but it is a symptom of the poor planning in the summer and the lack of pace in the squad

jesuisjuste · 29-04-2026 09:55PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124431056#Comment_124431056

That's an incredible stat, Seriously how are you supposed to build a new strategy around just over 1 whole game of game time. That's actually crazy really, and with Eketike out that'll be it until next January at the earliest too. 3 players, 18 months, 100 minutes 300M!

As for the fitness it is perplexing, some players seem to have high energy and/or fitness, Szobo, Eketike, maybe Virgil for this age, but others have dropped big time, Salah and Macca most notably. Sometimes when a player builds overall muscle, or loses leg muscle, they can drop in performance as they get used to their new form, but I just don't see that here. Maybe they started a new individualized nutrition/exercise regime, I dunno. It's like they started eating porridge instead of protein shakes in the canteen.

riddles · 29-04-2026 09:57PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124431056#Comment_124431056

The collective lack of details in how he is managing things adds up to the over all challenges. Too much weakness and fragility and a lack of energy.

I personally don't see him being there next season. John Henry personally sacked the Red Sox management team the other day ironically against a back drop of questionable recruitment policies. Getting CL football has been a fortuitous bonus and yes a DM is first on quite a long shopping list .

jesuisjuste · 29-04-2026 10:55PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124431172#Comment_124431172

FSG are definitely pretty ruthless, whatever plan they do have I expect they won't waver too much before the end of the season. I'm not sure if they have decided to sack Slot though, I just don't see them letting fans opinion affect them too much. In with a shout of 3rd, and securing CL is gonna be enough for them imo. They'll try to draw a line under this season and move on. Man U will be a real late season test of whether things are starting to move in the right direction.

Damien360 · 29-04-2026 11:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124431315#Comment_124431315

I would be very cynical about our ability to perform. We need 5 more points from 12 (4 games) to guarantee 5th and CL next year. I find it hard to celebrate that "achievement". Nobody celebrates 2nd place don't mind 3rd. In our current state, Utd might prove problematic.

jesuisjuste · 29-04-2026 11:09PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124431331#Comment_124431331

It's possible one of the teams below us wins out, but probably fairly unlikely. I would say we've a decent likelihood of already getting enough points as pathetic as that is with 58. In any case I think perhaps one win out of 4 should see us through. United can of course be problematic, plus they will probably be more up for the game, which is usually a solid indicator of success whenever we play them.

Libertine07 · 29-04-2026 11:22PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124431172#Comment_124431172

The Red Sox are in a worse position than us and they were slow to act.

They'll be delighted with this little upturn in our form, as it looks to have all but guaranteed CL football. They didn't want to sack Slot and now they can make a case for keeping him. He's going nowhere imo, at least not until the autumn at the earliest. I think it's very shortsighted but here we are.

machiavellianme · 30-04-2026 05:51AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124430804#Comment_124430804

I don't think you quite understand statistics.

Picking a different run of games at any point in that time period won't change anything. There's no way to find a manager that did worse, since last Autumn is the worst run. You need to go back more than 70 years to find a worse run at Liverpool.

70 years is a very long time. A lifetime for many.

I'm willing to bet most of us weren't watching games weekly back then to comment on the quality on offer. It's not just the awful run of results, but the standard on offer was also poor (something that the stats can't represent).

jesuisjuste · 30-04-2026 08:06AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124431477#Comment_124431477

The run of games that actually matters is the league season of which this season will probably be the worst in only 10 years, and perhaps if we pick up 9 more points it would be the worst run of games in only 3 years.

Picking an arbitrary number of 10 games or 14 games or whatever you want is just picking the worst run for that manager and extending it back as far as it can go. Klopp was the first manager ever to lose 6 in a row at Anfield, ever! That's longer than 70 years.

J Mysterio · 30-04-2026 09:00AM

A lot of posters will bend over backwards to accept the absolute mediocrity this great club has descended to. This when we were in such a great position, 'a position of strength'.

Slot isn't solely at fault for everything (e.g. transfers), but he is the manager, and team performance is his responsibility. Team tactics, togetherness, man management, fitness, fight, substitutions, squad rotation - all have been poor to very poor this season.

It's undeniable in my view that the team won the league last season, in large part, due to Klopp's legacy - his team, his style of play. The longer Slot has had with the group, the worse we have become. Yes, he has been unlucky with some injuries, but that is not excuse enough, and he did have a say in player departures, where poor choices were made.

I do think the club will persist with him if we secure a CL spot, but that would be a poor decision in my view. The club should thank him for his contribution, part amicably, and let him go at the end of the season. 'Liverpool are taking a new direction'.

The Rooster · 30-04-2026 09:23AM

The squad rotation one is a mystery to me. Last year i agreed to some extent that too much emphasis was placed on finishing very high in the CL league and Endo in particular should have seen more game time.

But this season I don’t see it. Endo has been injured for large spells. Rio has had more PL minutes than anyone his age according to TNT stats from about 3 weeks ago. Chiesa is just not up to it unfortunately. He has rotated at left back where he has two similar enough options. Curtis has played plenty of games in midfield when one of the 3 normal starters has been benched. The right backs have been rotated in the very small window when they were all fit.

Feck all else Slot could do. He sees them every day, he wants to win, he knows who’s up to it and who’s not. People getting annoyed at the likes of Ramsay not playing is just mental.

Appletart Upsetter · 30-04-2026 09:29AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124431637#Comment_124431637

I wouldn't disagree with any of that really. Aside from I don't think people are bending over backwards to accept mediocrity, it's accepting the harsh reality of where we are.

I think the clubs decision to back Slot completely is driven in large part by the lack of standout replacements. I don't think they are convinced by Alonso. I'm not sure they see Iraola as a good fit.

Klopp and Guardiola are elite level managers, there is no-one out there at that level currently. Slot falls into that tier of managers beneath. In the right circumstances with the right players can deliver titles, see 2024/2025. It's a gamble to stick with him but the risks are similar if you change to an Alonso or Maresca or Iraola.

J Mysterio · 30-04-2026 09:42AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124431695#Comment_124431695

Slot has begun to rotate a little bit more at the end of this season, but for the majority of it, he persisted with players in poor form, and did not give real chances to players who did well in the short cameos they were allowed.

Persisting with his preferred team also, seemingly, led to fitness issues where squad players were or are not match fit, and the regular starters performances dip and/ or they burn out. His commentary around selection also appears demotivating.

He also took part in decisions which weakened our depth e.g. Elliot and Quansah, or made strange decisions like dropping an in form Ekitike early in the season the moment Isak was available, or largely dropping Robertson off the face of the earth once Kerkez was signed. On the latter, he has begun to use Robertson more regularly, but I feel he is reactive to the outcry of fans on things such as that, and when he reserves or reassesses some of those decisions (to play to the crowd?) we see the benefit.

grudgehugger · 30-04-2026 10:14AM

Imo there is a still a lot to play for in the last few games in terms of how this season looks - if we were to win out from here with Isak scoring 3-4 more goals and finishing in 3rd, then the rose-tinted glasses people could say that in the end the league position is as good as most of the second half of the Klopp era - despite us going on our worst run in 70 years! Imagine if we'd just avoided that run…

Obvs we could just as easily see this season peter out with a few dull draws and dispiriting defeats - as I say, plenty still to play for.

And regardless of what happens in the remaining games, I don't think any fans will look back positively on this season. It's been a slog.

dogbert27 · 30-04-2026 11:13AM

United are really good on the counter attack. They're second goal against Brentford came from a sucker punch with a tackle outside the box going straight to Bruno to launch a 3 on 2 as Brentford had over committed.

They have speed with Amad, Mbuemo and Cunha who should return for the game against us.

RB will be interesting decision, Frimpong for speed against them or Jones for more physicality. It better not be Dom!!

Before that though Brentford had United on the ropes and Thiago missed 2 chances that were so good I was wondering if someone should check his bank account!

Lemmens made a great instictive save too to stop an own goal so Brentford could have been 3-1 up at half time instead going in 2-0 down.

Casimeiro and Maguire are their other threats from set pieces so we need to reduce to amount of corners and free kicks conceded.

United will be up for this just to finish ahead of us this season and a draw I think will be enough for them to achieve that.

Enzokk · 30-04-2026 11:46AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124431637#Comment_124431637

I guess I am optimistic when it comes to my teams I follow, I don't just want to be the downer in the corner telling everyone we are crap and we should not turn up. The season has not been good enough, I don't think this needs to be said and I doubt anyone is happy with the season or where we are. But I think we were in a similar position at the end of the 2020/21 season where we, as fans, were bemoaning how we allowed the club to slide we did not build on the previous season's title and how we would never be in the position again for the foreseeable future.

We signed 2 players the next window in Diaz and Konate and we let Wijnaldum leave and a few squad players as well. We almost won 4 trophies the next season and I doubt anyone would say we did major surgery that window. I am hopeful we will see something similar, two or three first team signings but the squad we have is still very good. I mean I forgot we lost Endo for a prolonged time as well, yes he is a fringe player but this is just another player that could help with rotation but because we have had so much disruption we have not been able to build good momentum.

This is not me being Slot in, I don't have an strong opinion either way and if he is fired I would understand. But if he is kept on I hope fans understand as well that not all the problems that even fall in his area this season is totally down to him being crap and not good enough. I think many fans were pessimistic we were ever going to compete for the title again once Klopp left as he was the glue that kept us performing well and they still do not trust Slot even after winning it last season.

J Mysterio · 30-04-2026 11:58AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124432067#Comment_124432067

The difference for me is I always had faith in Klopp, but I can't say the same for Slot. He lost my confidence altogether in and around September last year, and the season - watching and following the team - has been a major slog since. I'll always love, watch, and support Liverpool, but that doesn't mean I will always enjoy watching them, or agree with everything the club does.

jesuisjuste · 30-04-2026 12:18PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124432098#Comment_124432098

I think for the most part it's two sides of the same coin. Some people are just in an acceptance phase of the current situation, but looking at it glass half full, we've been worse before, perhaps FSG know more than we do, perhaps Slot can pull a rabbit from the hat etc. In addition who can we hire who would be better, and not a risk of making things worse than they are now.

Others like yourself are glass half empty thinking the club is doomed with Slot into potential years of mediocrity, due to falling behind the pack, and mindset shift into also rans, instead of title chasers. Maybe the players will never recover to their former selves. Perhaps even a caretaker could do better through to the end of the season, like United with Carrick etc.

I would stand behind my comments earlier in the season that Slot did deserve the time to try and right the ship and see out the season, and tbh I think that was the right call, because we'll very likely get CL football, and it provides a level of respect of both the manager and the heritage of the club. Other than that I think FSG have steered things right for the most part, so I'll be ok to leave final judgement to them at the end of the season.

WealthyB · 30-04-2026 12:58PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124342999#Comment_124342999

Guys one more bump on this, 2 tickets for the Liverpool Legends evening

Appletart Upsetter · 30-04-2026 05:30PM

https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/arne-slot-shortlisted-premier-league-manager-month

Some people won't here won't be happy about this!

brevity · 30-04-2026 05:53PM

Isn’t that thing cursed.

~Rebel~ · 30-04-2026 06:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124433180#Comment_124433180

not that much of a shortlist if 1 in 3 of all PL managers are on it 😅

Bacchus · 30-04-2026 07:48PM

He won 3 of our 4 matches in the PL in April. We're actually fairly high up on the form table. Means little in the grand scheme of things but I'm sure that's why he's been shortlisted.

Just need to endure 4 more matches and we can put this season behind us. "Only" need 6 more points if Brighton take maximum points from their remaining games.

noodler · 30-04-2026 08:38PM

Jesus. 7 managers shortlisted.

People probably need to be more decisive

Liverpool FC - Talk /Gossip/Rumours 25/25

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