10 Mar 2026 22:47:05
The good thing about Slot is, he is making it easier and easier to move him on. It makes the suit's decision easier so there is no reason why they cannot move him on.
SO DO IT!
10 Mar 2026 23:08:51
Outa curiosity, Albey, how many of these players would you feel confident building a team around? Realistically, expecting them to best Arsenal and City?
10 Mar 2026 23:21:10
All of them.
Literally anyone else would be licking their managerial chops to get this squad. Slot has them playing out of position, with tactics that don't suit the players we have, and asking them to play so slowly we're easy to defend.
I'm so surprised you're out here making excuses. I really thought the Slotcult would go into hiding until we had drawn a couple so you could talk about our unbeaten run again.
10 Mar 2026 23:27:15
I think we have got a good set of players, in fairness, FM. If Ali can return to his past form, it's a no brainer. Otherwise, he is still better than an average keeper. In defence, with a good partner and enough rest, VVD should still be able to play. Kerkez is promising. Leoni/Jacquet have huge potential by all accounts. Bradley/Frimpong are, again, good players if utilised correctly. In midfield, Szob, Grav, and Wirtz should ideally be long term starters. Isak and Ekitike are great.
According to me, we should really be focusing on a player who is physical with a good passing range in midfield (someone like the pre-injury Rodri, but I guess such a player walks into any team), and an explosive winger (peak Mane would be a godsend for this team).
Maybe I am placing too much faith in Leoni and Jacquet, especially after their injuries, but we have spent 90m on them, and with proper guidance from VVD, I have no doubt they can learn and grow to become the players we want them to be.
10 Mar 2026 23:35:15
Man for man, Florian, we have a better starting 11 than Arsenal and City. Different strengths, but for me, better players.
They are just coached better than us, especially Arsenal. You never see Arsenal leaving the space we allow teams. They have a defensive unit of 7 players who all work together and stay close to each other. They hold a high line and press aggressively from the front, then if you beat the press they foul you.
They can do this because they are close to each other, so are hard to play through. Raya is also good at sweeping up the ball over the top if Gabriel and Saliba fail to foul the attacker on the halfway line.
It's not pretty, but they are organised and everyone knows their job.
If you watch us, we are far from organised; we just react to what's going on around us, which allows teams to pull us out of position, leaving space everywhere. There's no connection between the lines, or even any partnerships down the flanks.
That's down to poor coaching. I think Slot thinks we have better players, so we can just open the pitch out and outplay teams, but without structure even the very best players will struggle.
10 Mar 2026 23:40:52
Florian, reading your posts there’s a lot I agree with, but to say we can’t compete with City or Arsenal is nonsense. While probably not good enough to go for a title push this season, and being a season in “transition”, we should be comfortably in a position to qualify for CL, and should have had enough about us to have had a tilt at the League Cup / FA Cup & CL. Bluntly, we can & should be good enough to compete at the top, but the fact we aren’t competing in any way, shape or form is down to how Slot has set the team & squad up in every facet.
imo he’s failed miserably this season in nearly all elements of the coaching & management of this squad. An absolute polar opposite of what he excelled in last season.
That means a couple of things - his ego doesn’t match his ability & his ability has been badly over hyped.
I said on here after the Wolves defeat that this decline now isn’t going to be easy to rectify, and we could be in danger of starting an era of being a European yo-yo club - one season in the CL, a couple in the Europa League & so on.
The board are as culpable as Slot - missing out on good quality January targets which would have given us a real shot in the arm is going to cost us just as much as the players inability to run out & put a bloody good shift in due to an inability of the coaching staff to inspire these players.
10 Mar 2026 23:46:01
Ok, so who's out of Wirtz, Dom and Grav's place does the physical with a good passing range MF take? The good partner for VVD, would you agree we haven't had that this year? And the explosive winger, again would you agree we haven't had that this year? And before people say Arne's slow build up kills wingers being able to do anything, I witnessed a 17 year old kid being perfectly able to cause havoc and pull a defense around like we haven't all season last Friday night.
So basically, if we get the things we haven't had this season, we can be a better team than this season, is that right?
{Ed001's Note - you clearly see what you want to see, Rio was awful on Friday, flashy stepovers before giving the ball away is not pulling a defence around.}
10 Mar 2026 23:48:42
Also thekoparmy, I can't see Alli returning to his past form. I love him, best LFC goalie I have ever seen, but to me it just seems his heart isn't in it anymore.
11 Mar 2026 00:01:21
Varry, I agree with a lot of what you say, but we've a better starting eleven than Arsenal and City? Really? Especially Arsenal. This season we would get 2 or 3 in a combined 11 at best. City in a poor season have more players who are genuinely top class than us.
That's not to say I don't think some of these players can be better, but a lot of them have let the club and the fans down this season.
11 Mar 2026 00:05:29
Bristol, you say we should be able to qualify for CL and have a go at cups. We'll get CL and are still in two cups.
10 Mar 2026 23:16:45
Hang on a minute Florian the Scientologist you give Slot credit last season and this season, we give the players credit last season but suddenly you think they're the problem this season then have the audacity to challenge fans when they see Slot as the problem.
11 Mar 2026 00:53:50
In our squad we have:
- Arguably the best gk the club has ever had (imo) and a very capable international giant shot stopper as backup.
- Arguably the best cb the club has ever had, and by all metrics is still a world class performer, flanked by a cb wanted by the biggest club in the world.
- 2 of the best performing attacking fullbacks in Europe from last season.
- A midfield consisting of a World Cup winner wanted by the biggest club in the world, a top young talent that won Young Player of the Year at cdm and an international captain with the best shot on him that we have had since Gerrard and Coutinho.
- Last season's most highly sought-after young midfield talent in the world.
- The best player in the league, and fourth best in the world as voted for, from last year, and arguably one of the best players to ever wear a red shirt that ripped up teams all day long to the tune of 57 goal involvements.
- An international winger that contributed a further 25 goal involvements.
- Arguably the best all-round striker in the league and an incredible young talent alongside him.
These, I would say, are the main players, not to mention the pack of young talent, internationals, league winners and champions around them.
These players did not just turn rubbish overnight. Something has changed, whether it's tactics, motivation, positioning, coaching or just plain good old 'notbotheredritis'. The manager is responsible. If you can't get a tune out of the undeniable talent in that squad, then you shouldn't be managing the squad. It's literally that simple.
11 Mar 2026 01:44:38
I agree with Varry. When everyone is fit, we have the best first 11 in the league. Unfortunately, our squad is far inferior to Arsenal, City and even Chelsea. It's not a title winning squad, but with the players we have we should be playing much better football than we are.
11 Mar 2026 01:49:38
That wasn't the question, Florian. Based on this season, we'd struggle to get one player in Arsenal or City's team, but if you looked at the starting 11s at the start of the season, we have better players in most positions.
Our players have just been coached poorly. In fact, it's difficult to see if they've been coached at all.
That's the most frustrating part. We should be up there, but instead we are just all over the place.
As you know, I don't criticise Slot where it's not warranted, and I even defend him at times, but he's the head coach and the team are poorly coached, so the buck stops with him.
11 Mar 2026 03:03:14
I think we have a bunch of great players, and some of these great players have been awful this season. But I would not take away the fact that they were good, and they can be great again. I would put the blame on the manager, yes.
11 Mar 2026 03:58:37
@Westwood, In no universe that Alan Hansen still exists is Virgil the best CB we've ever had.
11 Mar 2026 03:32:08
Also just have to say "Florian the Scientologist" is my vote for phrase of the year..maybe the decade.
11 Mar 2026 06:23:36
That's why I said arguably. It's all subjective and I didn't see Hansen play.
11 Mar 2026 06:01:57
Varry this is a general observation of how he airs his views on this platform. It's becoming tiresome now. Only a Scientologist deals in this disbelief and frankly stupidity.
11 Mar 2026 06:58:28
I would be more than happy to see the majority of this team next season with a few additions. The CB (which we've already signed), a midfielder who can sit in with Grav when required, and someone to replace Salah, but honestly that's it. There is a great mix of youth and experience in our team already. We haven't gone bad overnight, Florian.
11 Mar 2026 07:57:22
You only have the best 11 when the manager in charge of them gets the best out of them. Names on paper are just exactly that. Names.
11 Mar 2026 08:01:02
Varry, I disagree with regards to us having a better starting XI than Arsenal and City. Let's take Arsenal: how many of our strongest starting XI would get in their side? Alisson does not replace Raya. Not one of our fullbacks, when fit, replaces one of theirs. CBs. If Virgil gets his arse in gear, he may replace Saliba. Szoboszlai gets in ahead of Zubamendi.
None of our other midfielders get a look in. Forwards: do Gakpo or Salah get in their side? Not a chance. When Isak is back fit, he'd get a game. Ekitike and Wirtz may push for a place when they are on song.
I could do a similar exercise against City, and it would be similar.
To summarise, our starting XI isn't better than either City's or Arsenal.
{Ed001's Note - you are forgetting that you are talking about them under Slot, so no, no one will get in because he is making such a crap job of managing them. And Virgil plays left, Saliba right, Virgil is up against Gabriel not Saliba.}
11 Mar 2026 08:41:30
I wasn't being specific regards to VVD, Ed. Either way, I don't think he gets in ahead of either of their CBs. Not the 2026 vintage.
Without repeating what I've said, Salah, Gakpo, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Bradley, Kerkez, Konate, Alisson, don't get in the Arsenal side.
We will have to agree to disagree again, Ed!
11 Mar 2026 09:10:19
There goes Florian again, trying to blame 25 individuals instead of the obvious common denominator. Did you not learn fractions in school, mate? 25 to 1 are not good odds, pal.
11 Mar 2026 09:16:27
For me, Chewy, barring a miracle, Slot will be gone in the summer. However, like I've said above and on countless other times, the players are responsible as well. That's my opinion and I'm standing by it.
11 Mar 2026 09:25:07
Indeed, @Chewysuarez7 and @Frode. That's why I always tell people here to let Florian "cook".
11 Mar 2026 09:39:02
Rome,
I'll ask the same question again. What has made these players so bad in a matter of months?
11 Mar 2026 09:45:58
As Ed says you are looking at this incarnation of those players Rome and as I said earlier, at the moment we'd struggle to get one player in Arsenal's team.
Take yourself back to the start of the season before a ball was kicked and the only player you could've argued would be a dead cert upgrade on our starting 11 would be Saliba in for Konate.
Full backs Bradley or Frimpong vs Timber or White. Kerkez was the best LB in the league last season.
Szob is a better all round player than Rice, Grav a better 6 than Zubi, Wirtz better than Odegaard or Eze.
Up front is a no brainer. Salah, Gakpo, Isak and Ekitike. Arsenal are nowhere near that level with any of their forwards.
As I said I'm basing this on the history of the players before this season and we have a better starting 11 than Arsenal based on that.
I agree though if you look at the 2 sets of players based on their performance this season they have been better in every position which is why they are top and we are 6th but with proper coaching and a proper team structure we have more talented players.
I've said on numerous threads recently poor coaching and team structure will make even the very best players look average.
11 Mar 2026 11:04:05
Varry, I'm agreeing with you quite a lot lately, mate, but I'd have Rice in my team every time over Szob - no question.
Rice is the best midfielder in the country right now and probably was near that last season as well.
11 Mar 2026 11:05:43
Irish, that's the 64,000 quid question, mate. In the case of Salah and VVD, I believe age has caught up with them, certainly in the case of Salah. I also believe that injuries are curtailing Alisson, certainly when it comes to his kicking, which has been woeful this season.
Gakpo has become a one trick pony. How much of that is down to Gakpo or Slot, I'm not sure.
I could go on, mate. I'm not a Slot apologist; he will have to go. However, I caveat that by saying I have concerns that whoever comes in has got a job on his hands. There is no magic wand.