22 Feb 2026 23:09:17
Can you tell me how on earth some posters in here have a better idea of what should be done with this team than our actual coach who earns £120k+ a week?
Like, I'd honestly trust some of the posters in here to put out a better starting 11 or make better substitutions than Slot right now.
It's not rocket science.
1. Start Gomez at RB or even Robbo on his non-preferred side who'd dona better job because.
2. Szobo MUST start in midfield if we don't have Wirtz energy. We CANNOT start the game with Grav, Jones and Macca as the midfield 3 against a 4321 formation that has the energy of Anderson and Gibbs-White!
3. Swap Gakpo for Rio at half time (I'd go Rio from the start but we know that's not happening with Slot there).
4. Swap Salah for Chiesa around min 60 since there's little to no improvement from Mo.
I know we don't have many senior players on the bench so Slot may not want to make early subs but he hasn't made early subs at all even before all these injuries.
Like how stubborn can this guy be?
It's a massive problem when Slot will play the same players over and over again despite the terrible form many of them are in. these players know (whether consciously or subconsciously) that they have no competition because Slot will simply keep picking them.
I cannot wait to see the back of Slot, Hughes and Edwards.
I can't believe I'm going to say this, because I've never been a big fan, but Konate is one of our best players right now. another good performance from him.
23 Feb 2026 00:25:24
In fairness, he did swap Dom and Curtis. The last minute change with Flo didn't help. Rio may start getting some more minutes, and he's exactly the profile we need, but he is a child. Say what you want about Slot, but Hughes left us short on the wings. I don't see how people can keep winging about Gakpo playing when we clearly have almost no alternatives. It's a window fix. Slot has taken off Gakpo plenty of times, and called him out against Sunderland for not being able to beat his man.
People talk on here as if we have Kvaradona and Vini on the bench. Gomez can't start many games. He's coming back from yet another injury, and he is cover for 3 positions, so we need to mind him. At least until Frimpong returns. Slot is not stubborn imo. I just don't see it. I think he's tried to mix and match as much as possible this season. This is a window fix.
23 Feb 2026 01:23:12
The problem, as I see it, Gregarious, is that every single poster or Ed who wants to give opinions about team selection, team shape, substitutions is doing so from a position of ignorance. That's not a criticism, opinions are like bums, we all have one. Not one poster or Ed on this site has a fraction of the experience that Arne Slot has. They don't have any of the information from the medical team, analysis team, coaching staff, psychology staff that Arne Slot has. They don't get to speak directly to, or have team meetings with, the players on a regular basis. They don't know the players personally, their triggers, their families, their goals, their preferences, their problems. So you see, the thing is, we can all sit here saying what Slot is doing wrong.
We can all say what we would do better, and it makes sense to us and to others when we say it, but we don't have the first clue. We don't know why Slot is making the decisions he's making, so anything we say, any opinions we have are irrelevant and certainly would not be guaranteed to make things better. In fact, it's much more likely they would make things worse. If it was that easy we'd all be doing it, wouldn't we? But that's football, we love the game and we love our club, so we will all keep forming opinions and we will all keep saying what Slot should do instead of what he's actually doing, but we should never forget that he is much better at this than we will ever be.
{Ed025's Note - so you are saying people should not have opinions BP?, this is what the site is all about mate, or do you only want to hear people praising the manager and saying what a great job he is doing?..
23 Feb 2026 06:46:10
What we do know is how bad the team has been playing, even in our "revival." The constant, slow, laborious style of play and how badly the majority of players have performed, literally dropping off a cliff. This much we can see with our own eyes, and I would love to hear from any poster who can say they have enjoyed what they've watched, excluding the odd game.
So Beckers Pecker is correct that we don't have a clue about what goes on in the background, but we might have a clue about what we actually see, and that lies at Slot's feet. He is the coach after all, and the buck will always stop with the coach.
{Ed025's Note - absolutely Irish..
23 Feb 2026 06:56:34
I always have it at the back of my mind that we don't actually know the players on a day to day basis. I think back to when we, me included, were clamouring for Gomez at RB. He came in as a sub, I think, and played well. He then stayed a couple games, promptly picked up an injury, and missed a few weeks.
So, really, we are just playing with names on paper. Slot and the others see the people, and are the ones managing all the different dynamics. If it was all a video game then I'm sure we'd all be managers too.
23 Feb 2026 07:47:40
Gomez, I think, has been playing with a chronic knee condition where he has had injections to help him manage. I think Slot said as much not so long ago, so it is what it is with Gomez. I guess his game time will have to be managed in that respect.
23 Feb 2026 08:29:23
What a load of nonsense. Slot sets the team up; he had a full week to work on stuff last week, and he gives the players two days off and pisses off back to Holland. Look at the difference between United now and before the manager change, light and day. Our players are off it, fitness-wise. The only reason we won yesterday is because they played Thursday night away in Turkey. They looked a different side in the second half, tired and a few yards slower.
We did not play much better; they just made it easier. Slot should have gone after the PSV game, but Hughes and Edwards bottled making a decision, and we have just limped in from there. If a decision had been made, then there is a good chance we would be in the title race now, because the league is so bad we would not have to be very good.
23 Feb 2026 08:34:21
VB - Slot may have more experience than us all but come on, even Stevie Wonder can see Salah and Gakpo offer nothing. I ask you, if Salah wasn't such a club legend would he be an automatic starter? He's nowhere near the player he once was. Gakpo is a one trick pony and that trick was found out months ago
23 Feb 2026 08:52:10
Did you read my post Ed25? My point was that everyone will and should have an opinion but that's all it is, an opinion.
And in everyone's opinion (mine included), their opinion is the right opinion but let's be real here we only know a tiny fraction of what we would need to know to actually make those decisions. Who knows, if we knew what Slot knows we might make the same decisions as him.
Of course we should all have opinions it's part of the game but that doesn't mean they're relevant.
{Ed025's Note - i would suggest that all opinions are relevant BP, now you may not agree with them but that does not make them right or wrong mate just how people see things..
23 Feb 2026 09:17:28
Varry if that is your stance then, Ed25 is correct. He and his other mates/Ed's might as well shut down this forum and we should all move on to other things. Your comment made no sense at all.