05 Dec 2025 17:41:57
The Slot tactics conundrum continues.
As I said on here before his current tactics bare no comparison to the tactics he used in Holland.
I understand he would need to change a few things but he has abandoned everything he used and worked for him previously.
He had an energetic and mobile team.
4 defenders who could all play at centre half.
2 centre midfielders who were decent on the ball but who were also mobile and physical playing Behind a numerous 10.
He also played two tricky and skillful wingers who were fast, could beat a man from a standing start, on the inside and outside, who would get to the byline and cut the ball back into the area.
These 2 wingers were instructed to give it everything they had and both would regularly substituted between 60 to 70 minutes with fresh legs brought on to see the came out.
His team was quite exciting to watch.
We now have none of this and he seems to have given up all the tactics he built his career on and part of the reason he got the Liverpool job in the first place.
We are now playing at a snails place. We hardly win any first up tackle and certainly next to no second balls. Add to that we a being outmuscled all over the park.
Something has got to change and quickly.
05 Dec 2025 18:18:04
Excellent analysis. I too expected his whole style to revolve around wingers. I suspect that remains his intention, but we seem to be struggling to get the ball to our wingers in space.
Mo’s not entirely untelegraphed regression has left us with a static right hand side, which does mean we are stuck aimlessly passing the ball sideways, waiting for a gap.
I do think Frimpong’s injuries have hurt us hugely: he was one of the most exciting right sided attacking forces in Europe before he joined us, and he would have given us an outlet.
Feels to me like Mo’s final game before Afcon would be an opportunity to give him a big send off before he moves on.
05 Dec 2025 18:30:26
Molby - this is why I wondered about the fullbacks we bought and their suitability to play how Slot plays.
Same as the wingers.
Yesterday Slot said Dom’s long term position is CM but at the moment he is using Dom’s versatility to plug gaps.
It says to me that the squad still needs work to play Slot’s way.
05 Dec 2025 18:49:44
Erik Ten Hag tried as you say the Dutch Tactics and he did have cup success winning the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. English Cup football is totally different to the Premier League as it is "knock out" football, where in the premier you must have good winning consistent performances over a tiring premier league season.
Dutch football is a farmers league standard, top players or top managers will not work in Holland because there is no big money to be earned, Ajax were the last dutch team to win the UCL in 1995, they are also the last dutch team to even be in a UCL final losing in 1996, so last century?
Slot is a duck out of water, never managed a big, big club and never managed top, top players and it is greatly showing he is vastly out of his depth, the new manager ASAP for me must have successful PL experience on his CV.
Of course Henry only likes the sound of the tills jingling with cash, that is only where he is most happy using LFC as his personal cash cow, he is also using our very fierce loyalty to LFC to just basically walk all over that never ending loyalty, knowing full well even if we were playing in the conference league this weekend, Anfield would still have sell outs every home game.
We have a manager with no capable aptitude for the future and an owner also, LFC is currently just going round and round in never ending circles! The Joke of the Premier League?
YNWA 97 and 20.
05 Dec 2025 19:03:47
Or maybe Dicky gave him a lamp when he asked for a table?
05 Dec 2025 19:08:51
Monster Souness, this is why when we signed Kerkez and Frimpong, I was convinced we were going to move to wingbacks and a back 3. Wirtz as a 10, Isak and Ekitike up top.
I think plans were originally made thinking Salah was not going to be here this season.
05 Dec 2025 19:10:46
To be honest, there’s only thing that we should analyse here…. would we be better off without slot. The answer is a resounding yes. How much more time and money do we give this guy to build ‘his’ team before we realise he hasn’t got the minerals manage the team?
05 Dec 2025 19:27:04
Dont know how this man managed to win a Premier League at a canter.
05 Dec 2025 19:45:50
Because he had a fairly sensible game plan and tactics until we lost to PSG and then he ripped it up and threw it away because he became obsessed with them and our players burning out.
05 Dec 2025 19:58:26
007 Henry and fsg don’t run the club absolute stupid take on this.
05 Dec 2025 20:10:05
Molby, as an avatar for our 2nd greatest midfielder, I take your thoughts seriously. Last season was great. This season, I was expecting Van Gaal ‘92-94 football. Finidi George style wingers. Kind of like Klopp had with Mane and Salah.
England ‘66 were wingless wonders, but that was at home.
No matter the generation, you need wingers.
Lack of them killed us under Houllier and Benitez. Tactics can only get you so far, ultimately teams need those wide players to monster a game. Prime example: Robben and Rubery for Bayern. Two flawed players, but you need them to define a game.
05 Dec 2025 20:40:14
@007 “our very fierce loyalty to LFC” eh? That one made me laugh.
05 Dec 2025 21:58:47
Ed1 said that the recruitment was for Slot to play the way he played in Holland.
This is why I can’t understand the recruitment. Molby is absolutely spot on about how feyenord played. And may have been why Slot didn’t want to lose Diaz even tho that was going to be inevitable.
With Gakpo and Mo, especially this version of Mo that can’t dribble anymore, they can’t be the long term wingers suited to how Slot played in Holland.
I think there is a lack of synergy between the playing philosophy and the recruitment strategy and the actual recruitment.
I get the argument that Slot should make it work but imo, it means that analysis of the team’s performance has to keep in mind the contradiction of recruiting players who are not directly suited to how we apparently want Slot to play.
05 Dec 2025 21:59:33
"I understand he would need to change a few things but he has abandoned everything he used and worked for him previously. "
This!
05 Dec 2025 22:38:10
I honestly think if we had signed Guehi he would have tried a back three in some games.
Konate/ Gomez on the right side, Van Dijk in the middle and Guehi on the left.
Gravenberch, Jones, Endo and Mac Allister as the deeper midfielders.
Bradley, Fringpom right wingbacks
Robertson/ Kerkez left wingbacks
Szobozlai right side no 10
Wirtz left side no 10
Ekitike/ Isak Striker
Instead we are desperately sort of centre halves and that is affecting overall performances.
Konate and Van Dijk have no competition and both performances have dropped off dramatically.
05 Dec 2025 22:52:03
Florian. That was last year, this year we are 9th n playing terrible can you explain that little bit.
06 Dec 2025 14:17:11
Great post that Faith. I wonder if things are a bit too over complicated in the structure. Probably tempting to do that when they’re investors based abroad. It’s definitely worked business wise but arguably we could have had a few more trophies if Jurgen had been given more power sooner.
I read a piece on ESPN about Emery at Arsenal, and how he struggled in the post Wenger era. It was partly due to the structure of the club hierarchy, partly his personality and communication, he didn’t fit and gel with some of the players. It was recognised after he left that the squad needed more rebuilding than was appreciated at the time, he got the sack for results but it then took Arteta years to get it fully back on track as there was still a clear out required.
Some similarities to what we’re facing I think. Jurgen left things in a better place than Wenger but there are a few more things that need knocking down before they’re built backup.