08 Oct 2025 07:39:02
{Ed's Note - 007 has posted a new article entitled, Was Heitinga / Slot The Secret?
08 Oct 2025 08:43:26
My apologies I thought all and sundry knew the reason why Federico was being completely snubbed, it does not require a google search just ask yourselves the simple question :
Who is the highest paid player at the club, and HAS to be because of this the first name on the team sheet every game, he gets the same money every week regardless of performance. What signal does that send out if you drop the man on the highest wages.
My apologies also again why has the so called PRESS not working 100% :
Just ask yourselves who is the number one trigger for the press, and therefore how can he do it when playing out of position for nearly half the games so far, in fact it was his dummy that won the game at NUFC because he was in the opponents box not his own.
If you still don't know Jurgen signed him to be his number one presser, ask yourself again who is also most influential in the press and his been moved back out of a position he has made himself world class at times during the games this season, again ye can't press when ye in ye own half not the opponents half of the field.
Square Pegs in Round Holes, you don't strengthen a position, by weakening other more important areas of the team.
Ekitike our top goal scorer on the bench for the Chelsea game, and our most inflential substitute this season Federico not even used, after getting us back in the game at palace are again bewildering selections.
08 Oct 2025 10:22:05
My worry is that there's a lot of talk about waiting for us to "click" and I'm really not sure that's the main problem. Sure, it will help a bit, but for me it's the total lack of balance in the team and the squad.
I think it was Shankly who once said "football is like a piano. You need 8 men to carry it and 3 who can play it. " As much as I'm not sure on that ratio in today's game, the point still stands. If you want to play with a number 10, 3 forwards and 2 attacking FBs, you absolutely 100% have to have 2 holding midfielders who are highly mobile with a fantastic engine - and even then it's stretching it. We are playing MacAllister who simply cant' do that job, at all.
This is the problem we have - we have totally the wrong profile players for the way we are looking to play. Surely the more sensible option would be to get one of the full backs to be more of the "defensive" type if you know one of your midfielders is going to be higher up the pitch (Wirtz)?
I really hope I'm wrong, but it looks like we have signed brilliant players that don't fit the system. To use Shankly's analogy, we need one or two more players who can carry the piano. Just my 10p worth!
08 Oct 2025 10:27:08
Chiesa plays on the left and his only competition is Gakpo who happens to be a Dutch and that’s your answer why he doesn’t get a look in. Salah has no relevance to Chiesa. In fact we don’t have a genuine RW bar Salah.
Isak doesn’t feature in our strongest first eleven.
08 Oct 2025 10:36:32
I think it's so so early to make any assumptions on new players/ coaches etc.
We re in an adjustment period.
It hasn't been seemless but just because it hasn't been seemless in transition does not mean it's not going to work out. Or it's time to panic. Or say this was better than that.
I need to see much much more before coming to an opinion on this or that.
But it's not a flying start. That I admit.
08 Oct 2025 10:51:16
@Wirtz 007, that made me laugh - Slot picks players based on nationality ??.
08 Oct 2025 11:11:34
TBB
You are absolutely spot on. It’s a basic problem, lack of dedicated personals in key positions. We are not going to miraculously improve with McAlister and Gravenberch in the middle playing two offensive full backs and one dedicated playmaker.
Unfortunately Robbo and few others have shifted the narrative to “we are yet to click” “lack of chemistry” “lack of biology” etc etc.
08 Oct 2025 11:54:09
I know Chiesa can play on the left but why do people say he is a left winger and can replace Gakpo? Is it because he is right footed and would normally cut in? Or just because he played there one season with Juventus?
I ask this because I always remember him on the right, and even the great 002 told us in his time that he would have a Salah replacement in case he left the club.
08 Oct 2025 12:47:35
This is what we are dealing with WDW. People who honestly believe that Slot picks a player just because of his nationality.
These armchair tactical geniuses who obviously know better than a guy who’s dedicated his life to coaching at the highest level and has won titles in 2 countries.
Slot isn’t perfect. No manager has ever been perfect but he’s not an idiot. He knows his onions and he’s picking a team based on a multitude of factors not just because Wirtz 007 is throwing his toys out of the pram because we lost a couple of games.
Wirtz mate I have nothing against you and I even share your frustration but you need to grow up a bit. Players and teams have bad spells. Shankly went 7 years without a trophy yet he’s known as the best manager of all time (to most Liverpool fans anyway) .
You say we won’t ’click’ with Grav and Macca in the middle and Wirtz as the playmaker. How can you be so sure? Do you really think Slot and his team have just said ah sod it let’s chuck them in there and see what happens?
They will need coaching on the system, whatever it is and they will analyse the mistakes and train hard to eradicate them. That’s how it works. Players and teams are constantly changing, evolving into hopefully whatever the manager’s vision is.
You are a by product of an age where people believe that players have a defined set of attributes that can’t be changed. That players are like they are on FIFA. It’s not the case. The coach will have a plan when he sends the team out and the players will have to learn to execute it. The plan will change and evolve with time and experience and as other teams try to counter it but it’s not as simple as you think it is.
Sometimes you have to go through a little pain to reach the pot of gold. We did it with Klopp in his first 2 seasons. I remember the narrative of ‘he can’t set up a defence’ but once everyone got used to the system we were the tightest defence in the league.
Just have a bit of patience mate and stop being a big baby.
PS. Is Wirtz 007 Harry by any chance? It would explain a lot.
08 Oct 2025 12:50:29
I think we lost half of the games Chiesa started last season.
He only started one League game- which we lost and he was substituted- when we won the title by ten points.
Salah started every game, scored twenty nine goals and had eighteen assists.
08 Oct 2025 13:11:29
Slots made some wrong choices it seems but I trust him he'll go back to basics and figure it out he is a very good manager.
Just add Ekitke had 1 training session prior to chelsea he pulled up in the Gala game, Fede was nursing a knock aswell but probs should of come on.
the team will be fine its a couple bad results that's it personally I just want to see Frimpong and Kerkez overlapping with speed and getting balls in.
Giorgi
Frimpong Gomez VVD Kerkez
Dom Grav
Wirtz
Salah Isak Gakpo
with Eketiki rotating in and out with Isak or Gakpo every game or he starts and the others do the same. Fede coming in Jones and Mac coming in aswell but I do believe we need Dom back in Midfield to give us energy Mac is off it at the moment and shouldn't be in the team for now.
08 Oct 2025 13:16:29
Yes robbos, Wirtz007 is Harry. No other poster would come up with a nickname ridiculing our player and team like that but him.
08 Oct 2025 13:24:04
You say we won’t ’click’ with Grav and Macca in the middle and Wirtz as the playmaker. How can you be so sure? Do you really think Slot and his team have just said ah sod it let’s chuck them in there and see what happens?
Isn’t this what’s happening right now? He is trying very hard to fit in Wirtz into the team, playing him left, right and center without actually knowing how to play him. In Germany he was the chief in that Leverkusen side having far more touches of the ball per game (74) compared to England (48)
They will need coaching on the system, whatever it is and they will analyse the mistakes and train hard to eradicate them. That’s how it works. Players and teams are constantly changing, evolving into hopefully whatever the manager’s vision is.
I am sorry but McAllister isn’t going to become a Kante / Caicedo / Makelele breed by some black Magic and while unless Gravenberch learns to hold his position and not to sprint upwards every now and then teams will cut us through the middle.
You really don’t get why we are conceding goals and why our midfield is overrun don’t you? No you don’t mate.
The poster TBB was spot on with his assessment.
08 Oct 2025 13:37:45
Ekitike wasnt fit to start as he came off against galatasary with a slight issue, Slot explained why he didn't use Chiesa as he felt the team needed more control.
I do agree however that having 2 midfielders in your back 4 is bizarre.
08 Oct 2025 14:08:55
This is why you don't engage robbo, all you get is more drivel.
08 Oct 2025 14:20:34
Mac will improve because Oli is not letting him get away with a damn thing.
08 Oct 2025 14:21:17
We won the league last season with a midfield duo of Grav and Macca with 41 goals conceded, the second least in the league. And this is after our players got their flip flops out for the last four games too. It goes to show that that midfield duo can work in the right set up. But Grav is playing further forward now and Macca is way off form so it doesn't atm.
Anyway, the window is closed now so it doesn't serve any purpose to talk about what players we need that we currently don't have. So, the next best thing would be to drop Macca entirely and play Szob there. Tbh, I think Slot is trying harder to force Szob into the side than Wirtz, hence why he's playing Szob at RB now. I'd go with the lineup Kloppers posted up there. Maybe Ekitike instead of Gakpo or Isak, but I'd choose the same midfield trio of Grav, Szob, and Wirtz.
Just to add too, Wirtz has played some delicious looking passes so far this season and he would have gotten a few assists already if not for poor finishing. So I don't think he is the flop that everyone else seems to think. Had a few of those passes resulted in goals, people would be raving about him instead.
08 Oct 2025 15:45:28
I don't know why both Klopp and Slot play Macca so deep. He's a 10 (I know that's a rare position these days but that's his profile) . He's most effective up the pitch where he can do damage with a final ball or shot.
I know Slot likes all his midfielders to be good on the ball but Macca, even at his best, gets shrugged off the ball and accelerated past. He is simply not a deep lying midfielder to me. Klopp playing him as a 6 never worked and Slot putting him in a two doesn't work either. Or at least it doesn't play to his strengths. It's not like he's playing long diagonals from deep, he always plays it short.
Now that he's unfit/ recovering from injury he's costing us goals. I knew he'd be at the scene of the crime if we conceded when I saw him in the 11. He's too slow and weak to be left alone while grav moves up the pitch.
08 Oct 2025 15:54:59
Agree 100% with TBB's post. Gakpo, Worst, Salah, Frimpong and Kerkez getting pelters but in my mind Macca is the one that isn't fitting in right now. Not that he's a bad player or anything, he's great, but not as a holding midfielder. Play the best players for the system, not just your best players.
Does that mean Szob alongside Grab or maybe even Endo? I dunno, that's Slots problem to sort and I am sure he will.
08 Oct 2025 17:54:00
got to agree with a lot that has been said, but macca and frimpong should not be in the 1st eleven, more like to come on when Bradley gets his yellow card and gets taken off, or when konate gets an injury and also goes off, its happening too often .