Arne Slot | Liverpool manager | Bald watch

For the first time in a long time the signings they've made havent/arent working out. Thy've had such good success with their signings in recent years, they've just seemed to have "slot" in easily but something not quite working.

Feels like it might be too much change all at once, the 3 new forward players really dont seem to fit properly and its thrown the midfield out, during Klopp's time and Slots first season, they were always so strong in midfield, effectively having 3 workhorses in there which kept the ball in the attacking third but Wirtz in particular has definitely tipped the balance and its seems to leave too much ground for the 2 CMs to cover. It might not be a Wirtz thing either given he started sub, it might be a tactical shift by Slot, the Caicedo goal they just seemed so open in CM.

I also dont understand the Isak signing, especially with how Ekitike started the season, it was always going to be hard to get them both in the side. It feels as though they need to change shape due to the signings but they cant as Salah (a bit like Bruno for us) will always play so they have to play with wide forwards. Without Salah they could play 2 forwards and a 10, with the 3 in CM (a bit of Champ Man formation!) but at least it would give more bodies in CM which is what they've had a lot of success with.

The tricky part for him is managing all the big names, they've always a fairly settled side in recent years, but trying to rotate players who have cost north of £100m is not easy.
 
Real Madras said:
They’re playing in a similar way to Klopps heavy metal football. Last season, Slot really steadied the ship for them. Everyone was talking about how his football was a lot calmer and pretty much everyone thought, yep this guy knows what he’s doing. He wins the league. But little did we know, the recruitment department probably kept tabs on all of Klopp’s type of players and signed them. Frimpong, Kerkez, Wirtz, Isak, Ekitike. These are heavy metal type players. It’s too chaotic and I hope they continue to lose games. This is a real crisis for them. Salah is no more.
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Reckon there’s more chance of Salah topping the scoring charts than being no more. His influence has been disrupted by all the changes and new arrivals at the moment. Not a good horse to back against - he knows the league like the back of his hand.
 
Fortitude said:
Reckon there’s more chance of Salah topping the scoring charts than being no more. His influence has been disrupted by all the changes and new arrivals at the moment. Not a good horse to back against - he knows the league like the back of his hand.
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It is clear when watching that he is not as rapid as he once was and this was always a key asset of his.

As for the overall thread topic, I wonder if he will last the season. Things are coming into the spotlight only now but the fact is that not much haa really changed in the last weeks in terms of their performances - they have been mediocre to poor throughout.
 
Real Madras said:
They’re playing in a similar way to Klopps heavy metal football. Last season, Slot really steadied the ship for them. Everyone was talking about how his football was a lot calmer and pretty much everyone thought, yep this guy knows what he’s doing. He wins the league. But little did we know, the recruitment department probably kept tabs on all of Klopp’s type of players and signed them. Frimpong, Kerkez, Wirtz, Isak, Ekitike. These are heavy metal type players. It’s too chaotic and I hope they continue to lose games. This is a real crisis for them. Salah is no more.
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Dont agree. Think it has caused them to lose intensity if anything especially given the loss of Diaz who was absolutely relentless
 
Real Madras said:
They’re playing in a similar way to Klopps heavy metal football. Last season, Slot really steadied the ship for them. Everyone was talking about how his football was a lot calmer and pretty much everyone thought, yep this guy knows what he’s doing. He wins the league. But little did we know, the recruitment department probably kept tabs on all of Klopp’s type of players and signed them. Frimpong, Kerkez, Wirtz, Isak, Ekitike. These are heavy metal type players. It’s too chaotic and I hope they continue to lose games. This is a real crisis for them. Salah is no more.
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Disagree.

They have been playing at lower intensity this season under Slot too. Beside Isak, the other signings would prefer a less chaotic style of play. Slot tried to be adventurous with like after taking Konate off today to trade blow for blow with Chelsea. However, he kept the defensive line lower than what Klopp would have done. This gave space for Chelsea to maneuver for transition. Klopp heavy metal would try to pin Chelsea back in their own half with insane high line. Liverpool players are much tamer now. They can’t press like the peak of Klopp previous Liverpool. Selling Diaz and Nunez (his energy and style of play fits the profile of Klopp style), and the deceased Jota really makes Liverpool depart away from Klopp’s heavy metal style.
 
I don’t think he will be there next season. Poor performances over the whole calendar year basically, and now the momentum has finally run out.

Terrible summer. 500 million and didn’t resolve CB, FB or LW. Over 200 million in one position was daft.
 
ti vu said:
Disagree.

They have been playing at lower intensity this season under Slot too. Beside Isak, the other signings would prefer a less chaotic style of play. Slot tried to be adventurous with like after taking Konate off today to trade blow for blow with Chelsea. However, he kept the defensive line lower than what Klopp would have done. This gave space for Chelsea to maneuver for transition. Klopp heavy metal would try to pin Chelsea back in their own half with insane high line. Liverpool players are much tamer now. They can’t press like the peak of Klopp previous Liverpool. Selling Diaz and Nunez (his energy and style of play fits the profile of Klopp style), and the deceased Jota really makes Liverpool depart away from Klopp’s heavy metal style.
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They need to sign more asthmatics.
 
To me the error is signing Wirtz on midfield that worked so well. Why repair something that is not broken ? If the rational is an upgrade or adding creativity they should go for a backup player much cheaper like 30 to 40mil. the other signings make sense in terms of personnel.. Trent left brought a right back.. Robertson not younger anymore brought a left back...diaz and nunez left and jota passed away so they brought Eketike and Isaac. so they only needed a replacement for Diaz which they di somehow did not. Also the center back if they had a chance to sign Gehi they should have -who was not too expensive. ( you may argue that last year they had Gomez and Quansah/ now Leoni ), so most of the players if you see it were actually replacements. Maybe Liverpool fans can explain more .
 
Slot asked tonight on the match of the day why they lost to Palace and Chelsea.

"we only scored once and they scored twice" his answer.
 
always_hoping said:
Slot asked tonight on the match of the day why they lost to Palace and Chelsea.

"we only scored once and they scored twice" his answer.
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They've been ropey at the back all season.

Quite simply, if you can shut them out you're well within a chance of taking victory as opposed to a draw.
 
M Bison said:
The tricky part for him is managing all the big names, they've always a fairly settled side in recent years, but trying to rotate players who have cost north of £100m is not easy.
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Some of those player will be on 300/400k a week too which makes it harder to bench them
 
Maluco said:
I don’t think he will be there next season. Poor performances over the whole calendar year basically, and now the momentum has finally run out.

Terrible summer. 500 million and didn’t resolve CB, FB or LW. Over 200 million in one position was daft.
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feck me it's only 3 games they've lost. He's not in an Amorim form. Also he won the League with them so he'll have credit for sure
 
Maluco said:
I don’t think he will be there next season. Poor performances over the whole calendar year basically, and now the momentum has finally run out.

Terrible summer. 500 million and didn’t resolve CB, FB or LW. Over 200 million in one position was daft.
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If this were to get worse and we ended up 5th with no CL or trophy to show, questions would be asked for sure.

We’ve lost three games all by the odd goal though. We’re miles away from sack talk. He has a league title in the bank and has shown himself to be a very good manager so far. We’ve failed to score once in 45 league games with Slot as manager.

He needs to pick a best XI and stick with it though. Too much changing of players in important positions and messing around with the formation.
 
Klopper76 said:
If this were to get worse and we ended up 5th with no CL or trophy to show, questions would be asked for sure.

We’ve lost three games all by the odd goal though. We’re miles away from sack talk. He has a league title in the bank and has shown himself to be a very good manager so far. We’ve failed to score once in 45 league games with Slot as manager.

He needs to pick a best XI and stick with it though. Too much changing of players in important positions and messing around with the formation.
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Do you think the best XI should be without Salah? If so, it would be very difficult decision for Slot to make.
 
Feels like Liverpool won by default last year as the only decent, consistent team. Arsenal are seemingly decent and consistent this year, is it their highly underwhelming year? Chelsea are perhaps the wild card but I don't think they're going to put it together consistently enough with Maresca in charge. Interesting season again but also again not great quality at the top for me.
 
TwoSheds said:
Feels like Liverpool won by default last year as the only decent, consistent team. Arsenal are seemingly decent and consistent this year, is it their highly underwhelming year? Chelsea are perhaps the wild card but I don't think they're going to put it together consistently enough with Maresca in charge. Interesting season again but also again not great quality at the top for me.
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I don't think much of Chelsea at all in terms of the title. I'm not convinced they are even better than us.
 
Klopper76 said:
If this were to get worse and we ended up 5th with no CL or trophy to show, questions would be asked for sure.

We’ve lost three games all by the odd goal though. We’re miles away from sack talk. He has a league title in the bank and has shown himself to be a very good manager so far. We’ve failed to score once in 45 league games with Slot as manager.

He needs to pick a best XI and stick with it though. Too much changing of players in important positions and messing around with the formation.
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Is this a natural consequence of too many players of a similar stature and level? I mean Salah or van Dijk on form are undroppable players but regarding the rest many of them are interchangeable.

It's on one hand great to have a squad with depth but it also creates a bit of a selection headache if you have two or three players who are equally good vying for a single spot.

In FIFA terms two players that are 85 and 84 rated instead of an 86 and an 82 which creates easier selection (but also a bigger drop off if injuries hit).
 
Remember the geese said:
I don't think much of Chelsea at all in terms of the title. I'm not convinced they are even better than us.
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They definitely are better than us. They beat PSG in a cup final recently where we lost to Ange Postecoglou. They've not started the season very well but they have a lot of quality in their squad.
 
They look slow. I get they've tried to change the system; they can't play "heavy metal" anymore and thats fine. But it ll take some time to find a system they know. They look slow and hesitant, Van Dijk doesnt look comfortable with it which is telling. I dont know if they had a bad preseason, or if it was the new players coming in, the emotional toll of Jota's death, trying to install a new system, but they just look hesitant and some of them like they've aged 5 years overnight. They still have immense individual quality though - and for what its worth you can see glimpses of genius in Wirtz now starting even if his confidence remains low. Isak starting to get up to speed too.
 
TwoSheds said:
They definitely are better than us. They beat PSG in a cup final recently where we lost to Ange Postecoglou. They've not started the season very well but they have a lot of quality in their squad.
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Don't see it at all. They have two or three players who interest me. Caicedo and Palmer, mainly. Estevao looks a good kid. Otherwise, I prefer what we have.
 
Slot is bald and a fraud.
Only won last year because referees were Liverpool fans.
Now being found out because they can’t keep faking it.
 
Klopper76 said:
If this were to get worse and we ended up 5th with no CL or trophy to show, questions would be asked for sure.

We’ve lost three games all by the odd goal though. We’re miles away from sack talk. He has a league title in the bank and has shown himself to be a very good manager so far. We’ve failed to score once in 45 league games with Slot as manager.

He needs to pick a best XI and stick with it though. Too much changing of players in important positions and messing around with the formation.
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Depends on when you look at things. Your end to last season wasn't good, despite winning the league.

For instance, your last 9 games only had you securing 14 points. That averaged across a season is 56 points. Against PSG, you're defensive fralities got exposed and how that ended as a penalty shoot out is anyone's guess. Carabao final you were also flat.

Then you had the start to this season where you either blew 2-0 leads or needed late, late winners to get the points (sometimes both.) I said that wasn't sustainable, and it has proved it wasn't.

I have said since the end of last season that Slot looks a bit out of ideas as a manager with regard to not leaving you wide open to the counter attack and this had been going on a while, but the league win (procession) masked it. That you still have so many points in this league season is a bit of a mystery compared to how you've played.

For me, Slot is actually vulnerable as I do not think he knows how to adapt
 
IMO, one of Slot's biggest issues is that without Trent the right side of his team is broken in buildup. None of Konate, Gomez, Bradley, or Frimpong are particularly good passers. Salah is a winger who generally stays high, not a guy that comes back to the ball a lot to receive under pressure, hold, and recirculate to help you play through. Their only really top level passer in the backline without Trent is VVD, who remains imperious in this regard. But opponents can weight their press to that side and make Liverpool try to go the right instead.

Its a real issue because without right sided buildup they can't get the ball to Salah quickly in dangerous positions and getting the ball to Salah quickly in dangerous positions was their #1 source of threat last year. If they build up down the left, they might advance the ball, but what does that really accomplish? Now they just have settled possession in the final third against an organized defense and without their key player to unlocking deep blocks from the past few years (Trent).

IMO, this is why Slot keeps replacing his right sided defenders with midfielders - playing Szoboszlai at RB and using Gravenberch rather than Gomez to spell Konate. He's trying to solve the buildup issue on that side. But its robbing Peter to pay Paul, taking his most energetic midfielder (Szobo) or his best passing midfielder (Gravenberch) out of the middle of the park, and it also means that it shortens the rotation and puts more strain on these key players like Szobo and Gravenberch, who almost never come out of the team. Szoboszlai after today has played 900 minutes across all comps already, which is more than a quarter of what he has averaged over the last few years. Slot is going to run him into the ground at this rate.
 
Klopper76 said:
If this were to get worse and we ended up 5th with no CL or trophy to show, questions would be asked for sure.

We’ve lost three games all by the odd goal though. We’re miles away from sack talk. He has a league title in the bank and has shown himself to be a very good manager so far. We’ve failed to score once in 45 league games with Slot as manager.

He needs to pick a best XI and stick with it though. Too much changing of players in important positions and messing around with the formation.
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I think there are frailties that will be hard to fix now the money is spent. I don’t think his teams have looked cohesive in a very long time now.

It’s obviously not close to sack talk yet, but I can absolutely see him not being there next season.

Performances have been disjointed for a very long time and the main issues with the team weren’t resolved despite a massive spend. That is more pressure in itself.
 
Klopper76 said:
If this were to get worse and we ended up 5th with no CL or trophy to show, questions would be asked for sure.

We’ve lost three games all by the odd goal though. We’re miles away from sack talk. He has a league title in the bank and has shown himself to be a very good manager so far. We’ve failed to score once in 45 league games with Slot as manager.

He needs to pick a best XI and stick with it though. Too much changing of players in important positions and messing around with the formation.
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I really dont undersrand the attitude towards managers (reluctance to change) that so many English clubs seem to have.

Not so long ago, Bayern fired Kahn and Salihamidzic in a season in which they won the title but looked poor.

After spending as much as they have, a season without CL or PL should be seen as a disaster by Liverpool, let alone finishing fifth.

Which other top club would be fine with spending that much and winning nothing after a title winning season?
 
Take Salah out and theyre fecked. So much money spent and their best chances still came from Salah, even if he was crap in that match. Speaks volume really.
 
Its like they got half way through converting to a 352 but didn't get the defenders to actually play the system. Dont think going back is much of an option without Diaz and dont think Wirtz, Isak, Kerkez or Frimpong get into that team. Maybe a 442 diamond squeezes them all in and isn't terrible?
 
He should be counting his lucky stars, not just because of the lucky late wins that still keep them afloat, but also because City look very shaky and Arsenal, though solid, still trying to figure things out in the final third. As Pep said, you can't win the league in the first 10 games, but you can certainly lose it. It doesn't seem it will be the case this season. It's the first time in so many years, though, that Liverpool, and not City, enter the season as favourites. If he doesn't get them performing, questions will eventually be asked. Although, if he doesn't, i believe his replacement (who's performing above expectations) is already being scouted.
 
Winning the league in his first season as gained him a lot more time. But after the money they’ve just spent on there attack he must improve quickly…
 
I think everyone saw this coming, no? Considering the way they where winning matches at the start of the season. Long may this bad form last.
 
Salah certainly doesn’t look like a 400k a week player at the moment.
Would not be surprised if he goes to Saudi at the end of the season.
At least Liverpool have that get out
 
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