10 Dec 2025 10:14:14
There are a lot of contradicting opinions on here today so let me start by just saying that, whatever your opinion of the performance, you cannot argue that last nights result was an excellent result.
For me, it was very much a step in the right direction. The performance was still below what is expected but we went to the San Siro and we beat last year's finalists. Most importantly, I don't think that anybody can really argue about the result. It wasn't a smash-and-grab and we weren't particularly ever under any kind of pressure other than maybe the last 5/ 10 mins of the first half.
I did however struggle to work out how good the performance really was. After the game I came away thinking "we played pretty well tonight" but that got me thinking. Did we play well or has the benchmark sunk so low that 90 mins without either centre back doing something stupid is seen as a good performance?
We've been here before after beating Madrid and hammering Frankfurt so the true test will be against Brighton at the weekend. We have gone 4 unbeaten now (admittedly against 3 teams that we really should be beating comfortably) so have we begun to turn a corner or will it be back to the same old mess this weekend? I hope this is the start of the recovery but I'm not going to get over excited. Equally though I'm not going to go into the Brighton game all doom and gloom. All we can do is sit back, get behind the team and see what happens next.
{Ed025's Note - good idea SK..
10 Dec 2025 10:34:29
For me I feel like slot is doing what everybody wanted him to do- go back to basics and try to keep the other team from creating in open play, which you have to say he pretty much has done, our collapse against Leeds was through a penalty and set pieces, Sunderland weren't cutting us open either.
It's not been exciting pedal to the metal football but anybody expecting that after the problems we've had are in dream land, you are expecting him to tighten things up at the back, stop conceding stupid goals and also work out the attack to blow teams away all while the team is struggling for confidence and we have an off the pitch bombshell to deal with. I don't find the performances particularly awe inspiring but you have to give some kind of credit to the manager for trying to make us harder to score against.
I feel like there have been steps in that direction, the attack has suffered as a result but I prefer to not concede than stick all our players up the pitch and then let in a goal through a ball over the top targeting konate. Everybody complaining that we are slow and aren't free scoring are sort of missing the point.
Yes we can fantasise about setting the team out to press better and play on the front foot, but besides the fact that the press was better against inter, I feel like slot is trying to get points and wins on the board, stop conceding soft goals in transition and losing duels over all the field before figuring out how we can get to playing free flowing beautiful football.
Do I feel like it is beyond him to get there? Personally, I don't, I think anybody who thinks that he is constitutionally inclined to win games by a goal after buying hundreds of millions of pounds of attacking players are simply wrong, I'm sure he wants us dominating games and blowing teams away as much as any of us. I think everything needs to be put in context and that we need to take one step at a time to get back in the right direction after a few stumbles.
Again I have said a hundred times on here that I think slot has made mistakes. He is still an inexperienced coach and has blind spots like any other manager. But until he loses the dressing room and his position becomes untenable I want to be fair and judicious in evaluating what he is trying to do game by game.
Oh, and folks saying he hasn't changed anything or is simply persisting with his ideas judging purely on the basis of the 'speed' of our build up are just offering lazy takes in my opinion. He has changed plenty of things the last four games, he was forced to change plenty last night, it's clear and plain to see.
10 Dec 2025 10:35:52
I know Isak did nothing, but he looked much fitter than before. First time I have seen him put a genuine effort in pressing. Also, seemed to be a bit more involved than usual. Hope that he can build on this.
In terms of actual play, a lot of the times there was no connection between Eki and Isak, but I guess that's to be expected. Bradley was superb when he came on, and when he plays like this he really seems like a top level option. Wirtz also seems to have settled now, and has put in 4 good performances on the trot now. He has started to get a hang of the physicality, and his first touch and dribbling is just a delight to watch.
Jones was excellent too. He has started to make more line-breaking passes. I remember him doing the same against Sunderland just after he came on, and one of those led to our goal. Also, irrespective of how Grav is doing in the rest of the game, his ability to take the ball on the turn is unrivalled. Simply unstoppable when he does that.
The one weak spot offensively yesterday was Robertson for me. I have lost count of how many times he ignored the forward option, and chose to turn back. I was very surprised as this used to be his strength in his peak days. But defensively he was good, and maybe it was an instruction by Slot.
10 Dec 2025 10:45:32
Correct mate. Beating Inter Milan at the San Siro will never ever be a bad result, and never has been.
10 Dec 2025 10:53:40
Wirtz has put on a coupla kilos of muscle. 2.5kg I heard.
10 Dec 2025 10:53:55
We know about Isak’s quality.
We know about Wirtz’s quality.
They just haven’t quite settled yet for a variety of reasons.
Form is temporary, class is permanent.
10 Dec 2025 11:04:28
Agree PB, we were never going from conceding 10 in 3 to playing Brazil 1970 football overnight. We have chopped down the chances teams are creating, cut down the goals from setpieces. We seen this under most of our better managers of the last 25 years by the way.
Under Ged, Rafa and Klopp when we'd have a poor run the recovery would start with scrappy back to basics football getting a couple of results. Confidence built from that and the football then flowed.
10 Dec 2025 11:06:23
Fantastic performance last night. Players working hard in a familiar setup. Jones was outstanding, Robbo was at his best. Isak looked like a wounded flamingo, I hope that his form and legs improve. Other than that. top top show!
10 Dec 2025 12:01:53
And perhaps they never will either Ron.
10 Dec 2025 11:20:59
The setup yesterday worked well but it was very much solidity first which is totally what is needed right now. As confidence returns and the players relax a little that setup could easily become quite attacking just by playing Bradley, Kerkez and Wirtz from the start.
Sturridge was referring back to when he first started playing in a 2 alongside Suarez and likened it to what he saw last night from Isak and Ekitike, saying how they used to find themselves disjointed and spread too far apart but that they just need to play together more to build up the understanding. I took positives from it and I thought that it helped both get involved in the game more.
Will Slot stick with this setup for Brighton or switch back to his preferred 4-3-3?
10 Dec 2025 13:04:46
Wirtz looks like a different player in the CL to the PL currently.
Wirtz needs to start these CL games.
10 Dec 2025 13:37:14
" I came away thinking "we played pretty well tonight" but that got me thinking. Did we play well or has the benchmark sunk so low that 90 mins without either centre back doing something stupid is seen as a good performance? "
This is the exact feeling I have/ had after the game. Is the bar really that low now? A win at the San Siro in the CL is nothing to sneeze at, for sure. However, we have to analyse the performance and for me, the issues are still there and we will continue to struggle in the PL. Just my opinion.