27 Dec 2025 21:02:54
Anyone else feel a big hiding is on our way? We’ve made 2 very poop teams look like world beaters in the second half.
What you think ED001?
{Ed001's Note - certainly looks like we could easily end up on a bad run. There is little in it right now, just like at the start of the season.}
27 Dec 2025 22:05:57
Really difficult viewing. We look so fragile and physically unprepared.
Fixtures are kind to us right now, thankfully.
Don’t mention the set pieces ??.
27 Dec 2025 23:34:51
When teams go at us with pace and aggression we look nervous.
Set pieces mainly defensively but also offensively are awful - worry to me.
28 Dec 2025 00:16:56
Ed1, I honestly wouldn’t wish rewatching that match on anyone. Good luck with the review, you might need a small beer sponsorship to get through it.
{Ed001's Note - I don't drink mate.}
28 Dec 2025 00:43:28
We beat both those poop teams though. Same as we beat Arsenal, Villa, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. I agree the performances are not dominant or particularly exciting but people are reacting like this team is fragile and incapable, or that our current form is a fluke.
We have done well after November’s blip and still have a high ceiling to improve further as new players like Wirtz, Kerkez and Frimpong have come into form.
Im optimistic regardless of our lack of dominance in games.
28 Dec 2025 01:16:39
Who is our set peice coach? Whoever it is must have been on annual leave for the last year because we concede for fun at corners and free kicks.
28 Dec 2025 03:02:54
I think we just need to sort out caving in when it comes to set pieces. If we don't concede in such a soft manner in that game, score a third ourselves, which we were perfectly capable of doing, we would have comfortably seen out that game. It's really not like wolves created anything of real note in open play, one or two occasions where they somehow got the ball through the lines unchallenged and were allowed to create danger, yes, but otherwise we were comfortable. We let in one stupid goal and begin to panic every time.
If we stop collapsing on set pieces and manage to score occasionally from them, we'd win games with much greater ease.
We're fourth but have let in the most set pieces goals in the league besides Bournemouth and have scored the least set piece goals in the league (I think? ) . That stat alone is positively unacceptable. Imagine if we had scored three or four from the huge amount of corners that we have every game and conceded five less (which is a reasonable ask) . That is a massive swing, we'd be right up there with arsenal and city of that were the case.
28 Dec 2025 06:13:07
Absolutely, I don't think anybody can see us beating the top team's in this current form, we're scraping wins just like we did at the start of the season and we all know how that went. However, we are (at times) looking a little better going forward but its always down to individual skill or lacklustre defending from the opposition as opposed to an obvious improvement to, or adaption of the system.
We need to play faster, more direct football. Can't believe fitness, in terms of cardiovascular levels, is a genuine concern at this stage in the season. These are elite athletes, schoolboy teams are match fit by September, what's going on? It was literally the polar opposite for us under Klopp, a uge part of our competitiveness was our ability to maintain a competitive pace for 90 minutes, now we look gassed after 70. Whoever is in charge of conditioning needs to be sacked immediately, same goes for free kicks. I'm not even oing to talk about our defence. I see Arne talking about a low block again. I'm not going to go there either.
If Slot would just adapt the system to best utilise the talent at our disposal as opposed to trying to adapt the players to fit an evidently flawed system, I have no doubt we could be flying. His stubbornness will cost him his job if he chooses to remain ignorant to the issues at had.
28 Dec 2025 07:08:09
Like Real Madrid or Inter Milan or Arsenal or Aston Villa or Athletico Madrid? I suspect we didn’t play well in any of those gangs this season or perhaps I was dreaming?
28 Dec 2025 07:17:57
Still not seeing anything to suggest we have turned a corner. Defence still looks so fragile and whilst our attack is getting back to last year's levels of efficiency, if not entertainment, the defence is just awful.
28 Dec 2025 08:15:55
It is going to be a long 90 minutes for you, Ed1. Well, we were ok in the first half, so perhaps it’s only 45 minutes that will feel like a full 90.
I want to ask you something, Ed1. I watched City play against Forest yesterday, and one thing that stood out was the consistent movement ahead of Cherki whenever he received the ball. There were always options, runners attacking the space behind the defensive line or players making movements to pull defenders away, creating either a shooting opportunities or a passing angle.
When we play against Wolves, it is very different. When Wirtz gets the ball, there is a lack of coordinated movement around him. Too many players remain still, simply showing for the ball, rather than attacking space or confusing the defensive line. As a result, the opposition can stay compact and defend comfortably.
Wirtz clearly has the vision and technical ability to deliver the final pass, but even a player of his quality becomes limited if there are no options ahead of him. Is this a tactical instruction from Slot, prioritising structure and control, or is it a sign that the players still lack understanding in their off the ball roles?
{Ed001's Note - it is a result of the coaching requiring ball retention, but it is not the actual way Slot wants them to play, it is just that it is a consequence of the set up. The obsession with ball retention makes players play it safe, come short, pass back etc, as they are thinking first about keeping the ball, rather than getting in behind. Reduced confidence, due to our poor performances, makes them play even safer, which doubles down on the problem. Hopefully the confidence will be returning and so more freedom in the play.
However, it must be said, the tactical instructions given in the second half will have set that back a lot. Especially the way they turned a stroll into a difficult match against the worst team I have ever seen in the Premier League.}
28 Dec 2025 08:41:57
Agreed on that last part Ed. We gave Wolves a helping hand in that game in the way we set out for the second half. Wolves weren't interested in attacking us even after going two goals behind. All we had to do was play the exact same way we played for the second half and we should have seen the game out comfortably. Instead we decided to sit back and invite Wolves to attack us even gifting them a goal in the process. Imo that just gave them the belief that they could get something out of the game and we were on the back foot from then on.
Not sure if you noticed too but our counters were appallingly bad as well. Our players didn't seem to know what to do the rare few times we did manage to break through Wolves in the second half. We always seem to stop the counter the moment we cross the halfway line and wait for Wolves to get back and take the ball off us to start their attack again.
{Ed001's Note - far too slow to release the ball on the counter, I noticed that a few times. It is maddening, but again it is ball retention. It becomes an obsession.}
28 Dec 2025 10:11:58
I agree with you, Ed. I saw the Forrest v City game, as well and like the other poste said, the movement in front of him was crazy good. Reinders, Fodin, Haaland and O'Riley all buzzing in and around the final 3rd giving Cherki all types of options esp. with him having freedom to roam. City aren't doing anything ground-breaking here BUT when you compare it to us, it is maddening. We turned Wolves into prime Barcelona shaking in our boots in a game we almost threw away had Bradley not been on the scene.
As for focusing on ball retention, that is what killed us under BR and even in the final season for Klopp. Under BR, it was possession for possession sake which killed us. Under Klopp, we focused too much on keeping the ball that it affected our coversion rate cos the strikers even in good position, always thought of the extra pass rather than the finish. The bad run is coming if we don't fix up fast.
28 Dec 2025 10:44:09
How did Arsenal get on v Wolves. If I remember correctly it took a 96th minute og to beat them.
28 Dec 2025 11:23:45
You really do like a bit of hyperbole, Oli, Wolves in the second half looking like prime Barcelona? Why did almost the entirety of their xG come from the shot from before their goal and the goal then?
That chance that Bradley stopped was pretty much their only clear cut chance the entire half, yes, if it had gone in we would all have been upset, but it's not like they were knocking on the door the entire half or even creating decent chances. We didn't keep the ball well, had a bit of a mare after conceding a dumb goal and retreated into ourselves. If Wolves were prime Barcelona we would have been chasing shadows even with our best efforts to press and they'd be cutting through us with ease drawing us into traps, that simply did not happen.
kemlyn, Arsenal were pinned back in their own half the last portion of the game against Wolves as well, and Arteta was furious in his post match interview with how they panicked at the back and lumped it every chance they got.