Seriously? Sorry tips, but what do coaches really do? We’re losing points to teams that have worse injuries and form than us. And you’re pointing to not having right backs as an explanation? Have you seen how patched up most of our opponents have been? What about our fitness levels? And the belts ‘n’ braces, cowardly football?
Also, Jurgen Klopp was manager. He has already won both the league and Champions League. He had one season of 97 points and another season of 99 points and a second Champions League final appearance. He had taken a team that was nowhere near winning anything significant to be the best team in the world. It was a major major injury crisis in a season where fans were not allowed in stadiums. There was zero question the Jurgen Klopp would retain his job after a poor season. This is not the same. We’ve had some injuries, but it’s a far cry from Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams. Klopp ultimately did find solutions to a squad that was way more problematic than the one Slot has. Slot has yet to show that he has any answers despite having a squad full of players that I would be happy to see still playing at Liverpool next season. There were zero people who believed there was a better person to lead Liverpool Football Club at that time than Jurgen Klopp. This time, Xabi Alonso is available and waiting.
Well, for all we know it may already be a done deal. I'm still not a Slot-out guy but there are definite concerns, primarily around conditioning, tactical flexibility and improvement (or lack of it). Would I welcome Xabi as coach? Sure.
Those are some of the issues why I'm Slot out. It's also interesting that Tomkins didn't touch on any of them.
excellent piece https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...slot-premier-league-champions-league-football Liverpool may end up getting rid of Slot purely because they cannot think of what else to do ................ How much of this is on Slot? What even is it in the first place? What can be fixed and salvaged and what demands to be changed? The short answer – spoiler alert – is that nobody really knows. Nobody can judge the extent to which Slot is responsible for the decline of Salah or Alexis Mac Allister, for Liverpool’s skittish summer transfer business, for the injuries, for the inability to convert a four-on-two breakaway or clear a simple long ball. We can certainly say he was not responsible for the death of Diogo Jota and the emotional turmoil that followed, but we have no real way of knowing whether it had any material effect on results. But there does seem to be a basic assumption that the job he inherited in 2024 – improving an unbalanced squad while evolving its style in a high-pressure environment with an impatient fanbase – and the job he now has in 2026, improving an unbalanced squad while evolving its style in a high-pressure environment with an impatient fanbase, are basically two entirely separate functions, as different as IT support and cosmetic dentistry. In its cruder forms it finds voice in the view that last season was basically “Klopp’s title” with “Klopp’s team”. And, really, the Slot discourse cuts to the paradox of modern coaching. The lines of authority are diffuse. Recruitment is done by committee. The broader strategy is decided upstairs. Tactics are basically an unsatisfactory palimpsest of multiple factors: what the last guy did, what the players feel comfortable doing, what part of a footballing vision can realistically be conveyed to limbs on a pitch. The coach is basically a flavour, an aroma, an ambience, and when a team that won the league by a wide margin last season looks so far off the pace next time round, perhaps it is no wonder people will reverse-engineer the easiest route back to salvation. Naturally, everyone will have their own pet theory for Liverpool’s regression. The failure to reinforce in midfield or at centre-back. The turbulence of the summer. Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back. The lack of leaders. There have been weird selections and questionable substitutions. Perhaps it is Slot’s misfortune that his doctrine of extreme control and elite pressing happened to collide with the Premier League’s 17th-century village football era; long throws and long balls being hurled into the penalty area like giant scotch eggs fired from a trebuchet. But what we have no real way of knowing is how much of this is noise, snap reactions to short-term disappointment.
If we fail to qualify for next year's CL, Slot has to go. You can't finish 6th after winning last year. But with his contract up next summer, FSG will use next season as his 'up or out' year. If we make the CL, we'll have a ton of money coming in and there is no reason to get rid of him. And if he stumbles next year we'll save the cost of firing him as his contract expires.
that is a preetty cogent analysis of how things stand. + - with Wirtz, Ekiteke, one new good Winger and Alexander Isak, integrated we maybe on to something. I'm seriously thinking Rio should not be loaned out next year - but also blooded here more. That kid is a real Diamond IMO
P34 W24 D4 L6. Fired. I think Slot’s numbers as Liverpool manager might not add up to those of Real’s most recent manager.
added a key detail! (I think if Real wasn't a place where player power ruled - Xabi might still be in a job)
The world must be ending as Zaq and I seem to be more and more in agreement with one another of late...
Slot should be thanking his lucky stars the other teams around us are even nuttier basket cases than us. I bet that we'll stumble into 4th given neither villa nor chelsea seem willing to grab a hold of this opportunity. It's especially bad on Villa, who were legitimately in a three team race for the title (through 24 games) and could very well finish 6th.
Ornstein says his sources indicate that Slot is staying and there have been no serious discussions about booting him.
I’d be willing to bet that means he’s staying until the end of the season no matter what. Serious discussions can wait until the summer if there is the need to reassess. My guess is that there is already a budget in place for the summer transfers and those are likely not dependent upon CL participation next year. I’d really doubt anyone they are looking at will make their choice based solely on if they are in CL next season, as long as there is the prospect of some European football and future CL qualification. Quite frankly if someone was concerned with that, I’d likely want to pass on them anyway… But I really doubt there hasn’t been some discussion of who might be a replacement for Slot if things go even further off the rails in the closing games of the season. I can see that a judicious decision about Slot might be to see how he does next season if we bring in some additional players during the summer and he has a chance to reorganize his coaching team and tactics. I”m not a big fan of this unless there is some significant rally and evidence of organization during the run-in of this season. I’ve seen way too many games played exactly the same way, with mostly the same players, with exactly the same problems, and exactly the same outcomes. That signals to me inflexibility and an inability to adjust your tactics based on the strengths/weaknesses of your squad. That quite frankly isn’t something that is going to change over the summer, and it isn’t something that bringing in a couple of new players is going to magically solve. To me, the defining problem this season has been the problems integrating our new players efficiently and adjusting to the new weaknesses that losing TAA and Diaz/Nunez have uncovered. Just adding a couple of new players won’t solve Slot’s coaching team’s inability to change and adjust to other teams scouting and adjusting to our playing style and weaknesses. I hope that changes next year, but if that still doesn’t happen, we will see the same problems next season, just with new players failing to efficiently integrate into the team. Frankly, we have played basically the same players with the same formation and passing schemes all season, and we’ve only seen changes in a couple of games this season - and none of those changes were sustained and represented a substantive change in tactics, we always reverted to same formation and passing schemes after these aberrations in play style.
The main danger with waiting too long is possibly missing out on the replacements at the top of any shortlist.
I have real trouble thinking a guy who just won the league should be sacked. I don't like that mentality unless things are really untenable -- LFC isn't ManU or Chelsea. Just comes down to whether you think this is untenable. I don't think missing CL is the curse others think it is, I think the 5th spot is here to stay right? Retool a bit, refocus, don't have issues like Mo / Jota / Isak hanging over your head at the start of next season... with the minimum goal being get top 5? That's pretty achievable. That said, can I see him gone after not getting CL? With Xabi jobless? With what I've seen in terms of effort, energy, mentality, and speed of play (or lack thereof) regardless of the injuries? I mean... yeah. Is the argument for that pretty compelling, to do that ASAP so as to not miss out on Xabi again? 100%. I just don't know if I would do it. This isn't Hodgson, the very definition of managerial untenability, even with the FSG bullshit. And this isn't Brenny, either... Brenny didn't win the league, and while Xabi seems like a very good manager that would likely be an excellent fit at Liverpool, he's no Klopp.
When are the new CBs healthy? Are they on track for the start of next season? What would Slot ball look like with a healthy roster? 2 up front, no Mo, Wirtz and Szoboszlai running wild in midfield... 3 atb maybe? Rotating in those young CBs who are evidently quite good? I suppose you could fairly ask the same question of Xabi, or any potential replacement; the failure of this season, as many have noted, is obviously not all about the injuries. Just saying.
My expectation (raise my hand - my fault) is that any top manager should be able to adapt the team based on availability and opponent. I don’t feel Slot has been able to do so. Add to that our lack of pace and our midfield is a mixed bag right now and super imbalanced. IME all 4 of Jones, Macca, Szobo, and Wirtz operate best as attacking midfielders. I’ve become convinced we need to balance out our midfield defensively and help our Ryan. He’s also not the best defending set pieces. I think having a DM would do wonders.
I cannot disagree. I don't think anyone could. My aversion to sacking him is probably more emotional than logical.
A lot of these games have been losses or draws in very tight margin (one / two mistake games) Add into that that we were dominating a lot of games and not scoring, or not going for the full jugular, and I don;t think its a mangerial thing. Just a number of factors adding up badly this year that will have changed by next year. The midfield thing seems key - Gravenberch to MacAllister's position, I think, and a midfielder like Anderson would fix a lot
I think this is a compelling point too... well said zaq. It's fine margins either way, apart from the totality. The results have not been there since the very start of the season, and those too were often close/tight wins. Sometimes against supposedly inferior sides. One thing that's been largely consistent is that they have conceded goals all season, to all sorts of sides. I'm not tactically adept enough to be able to say to what degree this kind of thing is on the manager.
Initially with Kerkez not being in a comfortable zone on the pitch, and Virgil glowering at him, probably is worth a few of those ( - minus ) goals - he seems to have largely figured this out now. Would these have mattered much if Salah was at last year's goal rate and Isak was playing quite a bit more - prob not, IMO Let's also not forget that Isak went out scoring one of the goals of the season in combination with Wirtz's sharp playmaking efficiency .... All of these factors are already in our bank!