Rodgers made a historic title run but limped to the finish line. The club endured a terrible season after but felt he deserved another year. The combination of fans booing and Klopp being available made it an easy decision.
Fast forward and Slot also stumbled last year. Recall he started off with talk of a treble or more. He won the league and started the party before the season was over.
Now we’re into the doldrums of this season. I agree with the folks that say that FSG will give him another year. But the results look exactly like Rodgers. Gone is the prolific attack, and the low block may as well be a fortress. Players are starting to vocalize their frustrations with him.
The timing is a 1/2 season off with Xabi available, and his reputation is not as established as Klopp’s.
But Xabi has done everything on the highest level. He will have the respect of any player in any clubhouse not run by Vini and Mbappe. I laugh at how he supposedly failed at Madrid and here they are decidedly worse without him.
The timing sucks because Slot won’t make it through Christmas.
Which they are clearly at risk of.
With the Diogo situation, the injuries, and the obvious team flaws, I think he'll get another season.
And he should. We're not Chelsea.
However, I also don't know what their plan might be. Weirdass season.
But he's actively making things worse.
If this happens again next season, fine.
But Liverpool has never fired a coach who has won the title. I don't think they should start with Slot one year after he won it.
The results are bad enough but the fans have grown tired of the brand of play.
I have to believe that with Xabi available they can figure out a way to part with “mutual consent.”
But I also fear that Slot is arrogant enough to run the club into mediocrity before he’d agree to walk away.
He changed the style this season because we were hemorrhaging goals.
I think Alonso is attractive to a lot of people because he's attractive and because of his ties to Liverpool. But I am skeptical. He had a great season in a league that's clearly a step down from the EPL, and he fell on his face in his first chance to run a big club. Now, Liverpool isn't Madrid. But Slot is far more proven in his accomplishments. I don't trust the shiny new object.
Given all the difficulties of this season—Salah's cataclysmic drop in form, massive turnover, injuries, Jota's death, and just plain bad luck—I think it would be an injustice not to let an EPL-winning manager have one more chance the fix the problems.
He replaced his three most direct players (Jota, Nunez and Diaz) with players that suit his slow possession based style. He is replacing fullbacks known for providing service into the box with pacy wingers that push forward.
His style wasn’t boring last year because it was Klopp’s team that introduced a more measured possession approach. They built a big lead in the race for the league, and hung on as they limped to the end.
But for mw the most damning piece of evidence against Slot is that Liverpool’s best player this season is one who Slot actively worked to try and replace from his starting midfield.
Slot loves possession based football and has no idea how to beat a low block. And while he tries to figure out the latter, the team gets worse at everything else.
Oh and he insists on starting Gakpo despite the fact that Liverpool’s best run was when Gakpo was injured.
It absolutely was his team.
They are not playing more defensively this year because that's how Slot wants to play. He tried to play wide open at the beginning of the season, and they got torched.
Robertson, Trent, Lucho, Nunez, Jota (they were shopping him), Elliott, Quansah, Doak. Endo may as well not exist.
Frimpong, Kerkez, Wirtz, Ekitike, Isak, Leoni
And as I said, he actively replaced Szobo from midfield. He’s literally playing RB again today. He doesn’t play Chiesa and nobody will buy him.
They didn’t buy Slot a senior player in his first summer or January window.
To argue that it was his team is an absolute joke. Slot knows it wasn’t his team.
His tactics? Obviously. With Klopp’s finger prints all over it.
It's simply not true that Slot tried to get rid of all the players you listed.
Trent left of his own volition.
Diaz left of his onw volition.
Nunez was a disappointment and needed to go.
Elliott left of his own volition because he couldn't get enough playing time.
Quansah left of his own volition because he couldn't displace Konate.
Doak left of his own volition because he couldn't get enough playing time.
Endo is simply not good enough to get minutes over Gravenberch.
Also, he has played Szobo at right back because right back has been Liverpool's Spinal Tap Drummer position all season. I'm quite confident that Slot would rather play Bradley or Frimpong there.
What's an "absolute joke" is judging Slot without taking any consideration of the obstacles the team has run into this season.
If you believe those players leaving were a
Slot players and not Klopp then I can’t help you.
Answer me this Mr. Spinal Tap, since you believe Slot has endured set backs. Where was Szobo in Slott’s new look starting 11 but for the setbacks you reference?
Pretty much every time. He's a midfielder.
Again, if you think Slot plays Szobo at RB for tactical reasons and not as an emergency bandaid, you and I aren't experiencing the same reality.
Or tell me which starting midfielder Slot had planned for Szobo to start over.
You can’t. He’s Slot’s utility man. Backup 6, 8, 10, RB, RW and false 9 in the 4-2-4.
When everyone is healthy he’s not part of Slots starting 11. Has he earned it? Yes. But where/how? Bench Maca? Surely that wasn’t the “plan”
He should bench his Dutch boy Gakpo. But Wirtz was lured to Liverpool to play the 10, so he’s not going there.
But to my point, Szobo is playing RB because he’s the best player Slot has available that isn’t a starter.
It’s odd that you think Liverpool have had significant set backs. Sure Isak got hurt. But Ekitike has been every good as what we’d thought Isak could be. As for RB there hasn’t been a single game where at least one of Szobo, Gomez, Bradley or Frimpong haven’t been healthy. And Endo was banished.
So Salah has struggled. Is that it? Will everything be hunky dory if we spend another 100M on a winger?
Szoboszlai is the STARTING 8 when we have a healthy right back. The starter. Sometimes he's the 10 when Wirtz isn't in that role. But mostly he is the starting 8.
I don't really understand what your point is here. Yes, he plays at RB when Frimpong (who has suffered 3 different injuries), Bradley (out for the season), and Gomez (out for several weeks) aren't available or can't go 90. He's the oh-shit-we-need-a-fourth-string-right-back RB because he's the most athetlic option. But EVEN THEN, Szobo isn't always the right back. Slot has put Curtis Jones there because he wants to get Szobo further up the field where he is most effective. He even played Endo there in the game where he suffered the ankle injury. (You do know that Endo is out with an injury right now?)
But Szoboszlai is a starter in the midfield, and it's just incorrect and, frankly, ignorant to think otherwise. I mean, this is possibly the dumbest thing I've read online about Liverpool this season: "When everyone is healthy he’s not part of Slots starting 11." He's had 27 starts in the EPL, 1 behind Konate and 2 behind Virg for most. Along with Virgil, he is the ONLY Liverpool player to start 8 of 8 Champions League games. He is second only to Virgil in minutes played across all competitions.
I don't think you know what you're talking about, so I'm just going to sign off here. You're welcome to the last word.
We can agree that you don’t understand the point.
Evidenced by the responding to “when everyone is healthy…” by pointing to lineups when everyone is indeed not healthy.
Pointing out total number of starts is not supportive of the argument that Szobo has started more games at midfield than Maca, let alone the supportive of the position that Slots original plan was a midfield of Gravenberch, Maca and Wirtz. Poll 100 Liverpool fans and 99 will confirm this. You being the exception.
The entire point of this argument started with the premise that SLOT’S BEST PLAYER this season emerged BECAUSE of injuries.
You’ve conveniently avoided stating who Szobo would supplant in the fully healthy midfield. You aren’t completely ignorant so I assume you’re not suggesting Gravenberch. And I doubt Slot spent a billion on Wirtz to bench him, so I surmise you think Maca. I’d love for you to find any article PRIOR to this season suggesting that Maca’s place was in question. I’ve linked one of many pointing to Szobo.
Or maybe I’m not giving you enough credit. Maybe you DO know that there isn’t an 8 in a 4-2-3-1 and have craftily avoided the issue by playing ignorant and stating that Szobo is Slot’s starting 8.
So back to the point. Slot’s possession based style is awful. He went for pacy wing backs, possession/box midfield playing into technical strikers (he literally bought two of the same strikers) and went away from high press and directional attacking forwards.
The best thing that has come from the season is discovering how invaluable Szobo is. Because of the injuries and Afcon.
And yes Endo suffered a bad injury. Your boy Slot must have predicted a bad freak foot injury and limited him to 171 minutes in the first 30 some games this season. His genius knows no bounds!!
The only two EPL games that Szoboszlai hasn't started this season?
He was suspended for both of them, the first for yellow card accumulation and the second for the red against City.
He has started literally every EPL and Champions League game he was eligible to play in.
Cheers.
The number of starts has zero probative value to the argument that Szobo was part of Slot’s starting midfield to begin this season.
Geez you’re slow.
You said he's not in Slot's starting 11 when everyone is healthy. He has been in Slot's starting 11 in literally *every* fucking EPL and CL game when he wasn't suspended. Literally. Every. Single. Game.
You're like that dril "im not owned" tweet.
And tell me, Mike, where is he lining up today?
Is everyone healthy. Has everyone been healthy at any point this season?
YOU even said he’s the 8.
Correct. FFS Slot doesn’t play an 8. And he’s not playing the 8 today. As you noted, he plays the 10 when Wirtz doesn’t. And Wirtz is not playing the 10.
Learn soccer and we’ll talk.
We have a right back who can play. Gakpo is healthy. Szobo is starting because Szobo always starts, i.e., you are wrong.
And yes, as you give me credit for pointing out, he plays the 10 when Wirtz doesn't.
Go Reds.
Other than that you’ve nailed it. Lol
I'm not going to keep arguing with you because you seem to have trouble tracking the argument. It started with Klopp vs. Slot. My point was that Slott did a good job managing Klopp's team and style. When given the opportunity to create HIS team, with HIS formation - which is 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-4, Slott created a team that took Szobo out of Klopp's style that used Szobo as his midfield engine (the 8 as you know) and replaced it with Wirtz at the 10. (and Szobo deputizing at the 10 is not a midfield engine). Szobo is indeed an indispensable part of the team which Slott has realized. So now that requires so maneuvering that Slott didn't plan. Which is most notably, using Szobo more in a Milner role where Slott puts him in to positions of need. Today the need is the 10 because Gakpo has been terrible as LW. Wirtz most certainly did not come to Liverpool to play LW. That's why he turned down Bayern. He came to Liverpool to play the 10. He's said as much.
Slott intentionally went away from Klopp's 4-3-3. Which is his prerogative. But a significant piece of my evidence as to why Slott's system and plan was a poor one is that Szobo is our best player. And Slott implemented a system that caused him to look for a 10 and move Szobo into a utility a player. So if Wirtz plays the 10, Szobo is not part of the starting 11 unless he's playing in another position. And whether it's Bradley, Frimpong, Salah, Isak or whomever, we haven't seen the full starting 11 since the season began.
There's a lot of season left and the potential for it to really turn south.
Nagelsmann (and whether he's an upgrade is a matter of opinion). Pep won't be an option, nor will Kompany. It would have to be Xabi or bust. Terzić, IMO, is one of the better guys who's available and I don't think he gets enough consideration.
Same cut of Dortmund manager that Klopp was. Would be a good fit.
I haven't paid attention to anything because I'm still in shock at the poorness.
If we have Xabi managing next season we're going to be elated.
Things might be really good or really bad no matter who is in charge.
going from Kelly to Freeman. Yes that's unfair to Arne, but I am not a fan of his background. I am a huge fan of Alonso's. Yes, it could turn out meh or worse. However, I would view it like the coup of the Cubs landing Craig Counsell.
Sup Slots?!?
got old on him, but yes, how do you lose to the team with the worst record in the Premier League?
Wolves have drawn Arsenal and beaten Villa.
Rob Edwards has them playing good football. A little too late, but they're going down with a fight.