Liverpool banter 6

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.

05 Dec 2025 15:43:05
I think gakpo needs to trust his left foot a bit more, the amount of times he could of got to the byline (in many games I might add) and cut it across is shocking! One trick pony at the moment. On another note please don't offer konate a contract.

05 Dec 2025 16:18:04
Gakpo is cooking guys, one of these days he's going to go left, and all their defenders will go right. It's going to happen. :)

{Ed025's Note - i say that when i book a plane ticket TRK.. :)

05 Dec 2025 16:49:16
If Gakpo is cooking we're all getting salmonella.

05 Dec 2025 16:25:00
Robben did it for years. You know what he’s going to do, but you can’t stop it

Gakpo, you know what he’s going to do 😂 so you just stop him coz he’s slow and needs 12 touches.

05 Dec 2025 17:39:29
Did gakpo not go the outside and cross with his left for our 1st goal against West ham?

05 Dec 2025 18:55:43
Spot on Digger 10! left footed Gakpo cross for Isaks only PL goal thus far.

05 Dec 2025 20:42:15
Rebel, I would argue Gakpo doesn't have one trick. Blinkers on, head down, shoot, miss, fall down.

05 Dec 2025 22:02:24
Gakpo has a left foot and uses it tons esp. since he arrived. The issue seems now that he doesn't use it as much as he was cos the LB is overlapping on the outside when he cuts in. Prolly to make sure we don't lose the ball cos that seems to be the priority these days.

So the question should be: Why is he not using his left foot to dink balls over like he was doing in the past?

Is this by instruction?

05 Dec 2025 13:41:18
Chiesa has played 139 minutes in the league this season and got the winner against Bournemouth, equaliser against Palace, assisted the equaliser against United, and saved us with goal line clearance against Sunderland.
Happiest man on the field when Wirtz' equaliser.
I just don't get why he's not playing more? Just play him.

05 Dec 2025 16:08:07
Join the club my friend.

05 Dec 2025 16:12:13
Finally, someone asked Slot why Chiesa isn’t getting more game time, and this was his response:

"Every player has the possibility to start, but we have many options to start in his position. He is indeed having an impact coming off the bench. "

On a previous occasion, when asked about the "lack of competition" for Gakpo’s spot, Slot said:

"You can look at it in a way that if someone plays a lot, it gives them consistency and confidence. When I speak to players who don’t play a lot, they say they need minutes for confidence. I don’t think Cody suffers from a lack of competition. Players can play in his position. "

Then he mentions: "I haven’t tried Ekitike on the left because of Isak's injury record, and Rio’s minutes are being managed because he’s only 17."
And Chiesa? Well, according to Slot, he’s doing well coming off the bench for the 5-10 minutes he gets here and there.

So, there’s a lot of competition for Gakpo's spot, but apparently, no competition for Gakpo's place.

Slot is literally talking out of both sides of his mouth here. There’s blatant hypocrisy.

At this point, it’s clear as day: Slot’s got an agenda against Chiesa.

05 Dec 2025 17:06:46
It couldn’t do much harm at the minute to start him, I mean it couldn’t get much worse. The worst that happens is that he’s crap (like most others) and he gets hooked at 60 minutes 🤷‍♂️.

05 Dec 2025 17:47:56
Surely the real question is where does Chiesa live?

05 Dec 2025 17:48:51
A manager who doesn't reward merit and good performances is not needed at Liverpool as simple as that.

05 Dec 2025 17:57:23
If I was cheisa and I didn't start tomorrow evening I'd left my boots head out the door and straight home.

05 Dec 2025 17:59:28
He lives in his house in Liverpool 8 days a week.

Google it.

05 Dec 2025 18:45:49
Guess you know it's true.

05 Dec 2025 19:15:00
Chiesa should be playing but I’d play him in salah’s position. Salah offers absolutely nothing, can’t cross a ball, can’t tackle, can’t score, can’t dribble…. his time is done and I hope if we get a decent offer for him in January from the Arabs, take it and jog him on.

We can use that money on someone else. I mean at the moment, other than a couple of players that included Chiesa, none of the current team are playing good but salah has been 💩 all season so far.

05 Dec 2025 19:46:25
Chaos, you’re talking absolute dog 💩 if Salah is the centre of our woes what does that say about the rest of the team too. They’ve all been garbage so we may as well sell the lot. Salah didn’t even start the other night and we were woeful then.

05 Dec 2025 20:00:41
Salah can't score? 😂.

05 Dec 2025 20:46:41
Chao, Salah not been the same but who has bar Szobozlai. Very disrespectful to a club legend and the man that won us the title last season.

Frode, does anybody not talk rubbish to u? 🤣🤣

We The Reds, suggesting Slot is talking out of both sides of his mouth is generous; I'd call it a different body part. I just can't with this man. A deflected goal from a clean sheet being the latest trip he's on. Maybe he forgets we also scored a deflected goal.

05 Dec 2025 22:10:37
""Every player has the possibility to start".

Well we know that is patently false and has been royally debunked by the way he treats Chiesa, Endo and Gomez (till recently) .

"So, there’s a lot of competition for Gakpo's spot, but apparently, no competition for Gakpo's place. "

Yep, you got it. Man's waffling cos he is under pressure and clearly is talking with both sides of his mouth and his arse.

Sounds like the way BR used to talk when the pressure started getting to him back in the day.

06 Dec 2025 11:58:59
Try to consider that no1 keeper been in and out of the team understudy comes in new to club does not know how everyone plays in front of him VVD Konate never have the same full backs no understanding.

Midfield maca had injury problems and can not catch up his fitness Grave has just gone of the boil sboz carried the team .
Mo has been hit very badly with the loss of the late great Diogo.

Isak has struggled which i did expect i have seen it so many times before over the years but i do think there are signs he is adjusting .

Gapko does score goals but my word he is so easy to read he is a one trick pony.

Hugo is very talented and needs a good run in the team but will he get that.

Chiesa we can not ask anymore of the man he wears the shirt with pride gives everything when he gets his 5 mins

Slot had good first season but been a disaster
this season tactics and system is pathetic so easy to read and play against might work in Dutch football but not in prem .
I can only see him being moved on he has had enough time to change everything but has not and he will pay the penalty and very soon.
YNWA.

05 Dec 2025 12:04:00
Hearing salah has benched slot for tomorrows game.

05 Dec 2025 12:27:31
Thats a fair old weight to Bench, but then we all know Mo is Hench.

05 Dec 2025 12:38:55
if i read that correctly then i 'm really happy.

05 Dec 2025 20:00:45
Hench and on the bench.

06 Dec 2025 04:56:03
Mo has been stinking the place out recently so i’d suggest Hench is the Stench on the Bench.

05 Dec 2025 12:03:05
I got to see us in Anfield for the first time since 2005 (Crouchy scored his first against Wigan that day) so this is probably the reason I really enjoyed the game despite the performance.

I was very impressed with the stadium revamp. And as always the Liverpool people made us feel very welcome so thank you for that. Any time I fly into Liverpool I always feel like I'm home even though I live in Ireland.

As for the game itself, what I took away from it is the team are so frozen from the fear of losing that they aren't able to play with their normal freedom.
For me it explains why there is no creativity, pace is really really slow, passes are short, too long or given away. The players are overthinking everything they do. They are so afraid of making a mistake that they are making mistakes.

Starting with Leeds on saturday if we can string a few results together confidence will grow which in turn will lift this fear that is paralysing the squad at the moment.

We are playing at 50% of our best, only 14 games in and just 2 points off 4th. We could win the feckin thing yet (always the optimist lol) .

So that is my topence worth be it right or wrong.

Enjoy the Christmas everyone.
YNWA.

05 Dec 2025 12:38:12
You too mate.

05 Dec 2025 12:50:45
You too Verdo glad you enjoyed it 😊.

05 Dec 2025 11:53:45
There’s an umbilical cord between Ireland and Liverpool and I have always felt welcome on my work travels in the Emerald Isle.

{Ed025's Note - i love the place BT..

05 Dec 2025 13:21:08
Glad you enjoyed it mate.

05 Dec 2025 14:10:54
What's not to love lad's 😁.

05 Dec 2025 14:36:21
Verdo, happy you got to go to Anfield. Please, how are we supposed to string some results together when we play such a wretched system? We don't press, don't move teams around, don't move the ball quickly, take no risks etc.

Alos when you have oppo. managers/ players mocking us for being soft and easy to play agains, what does that tell you?

Mate, I hope you are right about however, I do not see any of that happening anytime soon. We may win a game here and there like WH but other teams don't sleep and have a way of playing us and it works. Others will do the same and if we don't have a solution nor change, PSV and Forrest and all other debacles will keep happening.

Oh and had it not been for "Fede", we would have been embarrassed yet again just like Blackpool did us when Roy was here and we all know how that felt.

Happy Holidays to you and yours, mate!

05 Dec 2025 16:14:28
Wait until they see the highlights on Clanbrassil Street Barry! 🥳💥.

05 Dec 2025 16:52:59
Very true SG. Where exactly are you mate?

05 Dec 2025 18:19:28
I'm in the Sunny South East now Barry. I lived in El Paso for years though! In the good places and the not so good ones! Loved every day of it. I'm assuming you're in the wee county yourself. obviously! 🥳.

05 Dec 2025 19:36:04
I am indeed brother between El Paso and Drogheda. Dundalk would be home local club.

05 Dec 2025 22:12:33
@Shankly, visited Dallas back in the day, man. Lovely city.

What's El Paso like, my friend?

05 Dec 2025 23:50:47
Sorry to disappoint Oli but it's a different El Paso! . a very, very different one indeed! . Our El Paso is actually in reality Dundalk. A large town in County Louth. It's very near the NI border and during the troubles it was a very hot, hot bed, hence the title! Different times. Regardless, for me it was full of great people, great memories!

06 Dec 2025 10:57:58
Still is SG. Full of genuine working class people with a great community spirit. Well mostly 😉.

05 Dec 2025 11:50:17
Highlights from Slot's interview:

- Top 4 the aim this season

- On team's performance vs West Ham and Sunderland:
"A step forward. if not for the deflection (Sunderland's goal), we would have kept 2 clean sheets. "

- On Generating More Chances for Isak:
"He's not the only No. 9 that suffers in some games from not getting as many chances. It's more important for them to touch the ball at the right time than to touch it so many times. "

- On Chiesa:
"Every player has a possibility to start, but we have many options (Cody and Gakpo) in his position. "

- On Leeds:
"I looked at Leeds-Chelsea. So, I know what to expect. It will be long-balls, low-blocks. just like we have faced in all of the games, maybe with the exception of two. ".

05 Dec 2025 12:28:16
I bought into the whole “positional play evolution, ” the “calmer approach, ” the “trust the process” nonsense. But at this point? It’s not a process — it’s paralysis.

Arne Slot has turned us from a high-octane, transition-killing machine into a slow, predictable, sterile-possession lab experiment. Everything feels overcoached and under-executed. No verticality. No bite. No identity that actually hurts opponents.

The pressing? It’s like Klopp’s blueprint got photocopied 20 times and now the lines are all blurry. The build-up? Fullbacks inverting into zones they don’t even look comfortable in. The attack? Endless U-shaped passing with zero threat between the lines.

I don’t care how “modern” it’s supposed to be — if your system turns elite players into confused traffic cones, maybe the system isn’t it.

I’m not saying he’s a bad coach. I’m saying he’s the wrong coach for us. Wrong tempo, wrong structure, wrong everything.

At this point, the football is flat, the identity is gone, and the results look like a team waiting for instructions that never come.

05 Dec 2025 13:30:53
So Chiesa has to battle Cody AND Gakpo for his position?

05 Dec 2025 14:15:52
The Elliott response was cold. He’s still a player for the club and contributed a lot during his time here, so that answer wasn’t the best.

It seems that when Slot decides he doesn’t like a player, that’s the end of it. This has been seen with Chiesa, Endo, Gomez, Nunez, and Harvey. Meanwhile, Klopp has managed to get good performances out of all of them, even when they weren’t always in the best form.

05 Dec 2025 14:21:37
I do love a good melodrama, particularly leading up to Christmas time. You just know that there’ll be a miracle or two and we’ll all live happily ever after.

We haven’t played as badly as this since Harold Macmillan was Prime Minister, yet we are still above Newcastle, Tottenham and, surprise, surprise, the People’s Team and we are level on points with Amorim’s army. We are two points off a top 4 spot and we have yet to see Arsenal have their annual wobble and Arteta to start second guessing himself.

05 Dec 2025 14:40:07
""A step forward. if not for the deflection (Sunderland's goal), we would have kept 2 clean sheets. ""

And we would not have won that game, Arne.


"- On Chiesa:
"Every player has a possibility to start, but we have many options (Cody and Gakpo) in his position. "


Notice he never says Chiesa's name. This is not the first nor second time he has done this when Chiesa's name/ contribution is brought up.

Also as you stated, the only options we have at left wide forward is Cody and Gakpo cos no one else seems to ever get a look-in depsite the actual options being available

Pathetic.

05 Dec 2025 15:37:10
So Gomez, Nunez, Endo and Harvey havnt played because Arne doesn't LIKE them? Holy Jaysus, what next. They didn't or don't play because they are not good enough to get in the team, a fact 99% of Lfc fans would agree with.

Chiesa not playing these last few weeks can have something to moan about but that's about it. Why particularly should Slot be worried about a player whos not even in the squad this year when his job is on the line?

05 Dec 2025 16:10:19
Florin. Endo should have been playing a few games in the last 8 games either as a starter or sub. the midfield is all over the place n at least he gets stuck in n he knows his role.

05 Dec 2025 16:13:42
With you Florian.

05 Dec 2025 19:38:26
Endo is not as good a player as Grav, Macca (even when on wretched form by his standards) or Szob in Slots eyes and most other peoples too. So why when your job is on the line would you play someone you don't rate? The Japan coach also prefers other players to Endo, he mustnt like wataru either.

05 Dec 2025 20:06:08
I don't think I'd be picking Chiesa, Endo, Gomez, Elliott and Nunez if I could help it.

05 Dec 2025 20:51:57
I wouldn’t pick Nunez if you pointed a gun at me, well I probably would I suppose but I wouldn’t be happy about it.

Chiesa is a really interesting player. When he first got here, common opinion, certainly on this forum, was that he was a damaged, injury riddled, has been who should be nowhere near the first team. 18 months later, and despite him never having started and completed a full game, and despite the coaching staff having worked with him for a year and a half and still not picking him the same forum now have him promoted into the ‘dogs b0ll0x’ category. Strange.

05 Dec 2025 22:20:40
"They didn't or don't play because they are not good enough to get in the team, a fact 99% of Lfc fans would agree with. "


Florian, this is not always true. Slot has shown he will not play guys he does not trust regardless of how well or pathetic his "tried and trusted" are playing. To me, that is poor man management.

Jose at Inter Milan said the best coaching he had to do back then, was to coach keep the players who don't play involved as he would play them but sparingly cos they were going for a treble in 2010. Klopp for the most part used to do that as well.

This is how you plit the dressing room and create sacred cows. Slot has agendas vs certain players like Chiesa he doesn't want nor didn't sign. That much is clear hence sometimes, ability has nothing to do with it esp. if the so called "sacred cows" have been bricking it for weeks.

05 Dec 2025 22:21:49
I wouldn't pick Nunez if it was him pointing the gun at me.

05 Dec 2025 11:22:47
Bradley is back fit. It wouldn't surprise me if Slot put him in goal going by the season so far.

05 Dec 2025 12:09:07
Brilliant Endo 😂.

05 Dec 2025 12:14:26
I understand your desire to be humourous about the current situation, but I prefer to read and follow the posters and EDs that speak from a knowledgeable base and put forward constructive opinions and criticism be it positive or negative. That's why I love reading them here. I ignore drivel. I can find that anywhere.

05 Dec 2025 12:40:14
Your probably better off skipping the Banter section then Shankly.

05 Dec 2025 12:45:38
So we can't have a laugh on here now. 🤔oh, hang on. let's just move this black shroud away from my face.

05 Dec 2025 12:52:06
Oh no SG are you having a bad one?

{Ed025's Note - sometimes you need a break from all the gloom and doom Barry, a bit of humour lightens it up a bit imo mate..

05 Dec 2025 11:55:56
Shankly was always cracking gags, good and bad, so maybe rename yourself? Sourness? Fabio Bore-me?

05 Dec 2025 13:24:20
I think Slot is glossing over things we could have easily lost to Sunderland. I’m in the Slot
Our camp and have been for a while now. Rubbish football and mid table mediocrity.

05 Dec 2025 13:55:24
Nah. Titty-lip Camara.

05 Dec 2025 14:13:09
Sure it's the Banter page Ed025! Isn't that what it's all about mate 👍.

{Ed025's Note - for me it is Barry, we want it to be an enjoyable experience mate and if that involves the odd joke or aside i cant see nothing wrong with it myself..

05 Dec 2025 14:27:03
To describe the original joke as ‘brilliant’ is a tad too much in my opinion. I’m reminded of Alexei Sayle and his joke about being an alternative comedian.

Still any attempt at humour these days is really welcome.

{Ed025's Note - some on here wouldn,t smile if the seen a chair walk WDW.. :)

05 Dec 2025 14:49:15
Thanks Barr, but I'm good! . just having an aul' whine lads. I'm off for a Snickers now though so I'll be better soon! 🤚🤚💥💥🚀🚀🥳🥳🤣🤣😘😘😘 Love to all!

{Ed025's Note - cut the Snickers out SG and try doing a Marathon.. :)

05 Dec 2025 15:38:05
I'd smile at a decent joke.

{Ed025's Note - watch this space..

05 Dec 2025 16:10:32
I stand by what I said Brilliant Endo 👏.

05 Dec 2025 16:13:09
Shankleys ghost . bet your invites to parties are lost in the post, lighten up.

05 Dec 2025 16:55:31
In fairness to SG he's always about the banter lad's I think he's just having an off day which is allowed.

05 Dec 2025 22:22:39
Ed25,are you messing? I would run for the hills if I ever saw a chair walk. Or pick a sprint. Just saying.

{Ed025's Note - how about if you seen a slot walk Oli?.. :)

05 Dec 2025 11:12:06
Can we ask FSG to:

1) never buy a striker from Newcastle ever again

2) only buy players from Southampton.

05 Dec 2025 11:51:18
I know this is said in Jest but, Isak isn't the problem and he definitley isn't a Carroll. If we continue with this slow, dreary build up play and provide him no service. Then the opposition could play with no keeper and we still wouldn't score. Although I do agree that he could and perhaps should be doing a little more to impose himself and make something happen.

I was a huge advocate of the 4-3-1-2 but I have shifted to the 4-2-3-1. Get Szobo and Grav providing the engine, Wirtz behind Isak or Eki and let two actual wingers provide some service/ space for the striker.

I know Gakpo got a lot of stick on Wednesday, he isn't a bad player, he was just playing in this system that needed width and is a player that prefers to cut in. All it does is condence the space and make it easier to defend. Slot seemed to realise that but changed the system instead of the personnel.

Sorry gone off on a tangent sligtly but to sumarise, Isak isn't behing helped by the dross we are dishing up right now.

05 Dec 2025 11:53:22
Clyne, Lambert, Ings and Lovern weren't exactly World beaters.

05 Dec 2025 12:02:17
We've had a few stinkers from Southampton too - Lallana, Lambert, Lovren, Clyne to name a few.

05 Dec 2025 12:03:26
Lovren good
Van dijk good
Clyne shi*te
Lallana meh
Mane good
Lambert sh*te.

05 Dec 2025 12:14:00
Like Ricky Lambert?

05 Dec 2025 12:16:20
Like Ricky Lambert?

05 Dec 2025 12:19:59
Ricky Lambertĺ.

05 Dec 2025 12:25:41
Isak would be fine if we took less than 4000 passes to get the ball to him.

05 Dec 2025 12:33:11
How was Lallana a stinker? He was one of Klopp's favorite players his first two seasons, and put in some great performances in a red shirt under him. Lovren was never a top class center half but certainly for the most part he was a very decent one, won us the game against Dortmund too.

Clyne too was never a great player by any stretch of the imagination but he was also never a rubbish one, he did his job in a fairly unremarkable but dependable fashion. I think I would rather have him in the side than Glen Johnson.

05 Dec 2025 13:05:51
Lallana spent one third of his Liverpool career on the treatment table, a third pointlessly pirouetting and the other third in Klopp's embrace. Was bang average at best for Liverpool.

Lovren made some incredibly costly errors for us - that City game which could have seen us be invincibles, champions, champions league winners and centurians but for two mistakes.

Clyne was busy doing balloons.

05 Dec 2025 14:18:23
And that was at a time when we had bunk beds in the treatment room as we had so many players in there.

05 Dec 2025 15:17:31
Lovren made mistakes, doesn't make him a mistake of a purchase, he played a lot of games for us and generally did decently well, loved the club too. Lallana the same. Not sure what we expect, for every transfer to be a hall of famer? I would certainly never class them as being mistakes or stinkers.

05 Dec 2025 21:08:18
@PB, very valid comments. Lallana and Lovren were never world class but they were good enough to do a good job for us.

Instant personal gratification is prevalent these days and anything that doesn’t meet perfection at all times should seemingly be removed immediately, with the subjective opinion of the observer about what constitutes perfection being the yardstick.

The trouble comes with the observer not being able to articulate their view of perfection and how it can / should be achieved and oftentimes assuming that their opinion is fact.

If you apply the ‘data, information, knowledge and wisdom’ matrix most times attempts at conversation / communication fail because there is a tendency for people to try and start at the ‘knowledge’ step with no underpinning data and information to support knowledge, and hence what is put forward is people’s opinion masquerading as knowledge.

Anyway, who cares. I can’t wait for the Leeds match and us giving them a lesson.

05 Dec 2025 22:26:53
FlyPelicanFly, I wouldn't include Lallana and esp. Lovren in that category. Sure, Lovren had issues and flaws to his game BUT as soon as Klopp came esp. with VVD signing, it liberated him and allowed him to play his game and play a lot better than he was prior.

Remember, he made a WC final with Croati, rated as the top 2 performing CB's in the comp., all while being MOTM in the CL final we lost in Kiev in the same year 2018. Good CB. Not great and that's fine. We all can't be great.

Lallana? Very good player but I think he lacked the engine to play in a Klopp system over time. Still a good player.

05 Dec 2025 09:51:51
POV from an LFC Fan Forum - discuss.

PR around Edwards and Hughes is insane.

Edwards' job pre Klopp: spot signings for LFC's ridiculed committee – and it was disastrous.

Klopp arrives, Edwards builds his massive reputation, leaves 2022.

Klopp gone, Edwards returns with Hughes (zero credentials) .

They then deliver potentially the worst transfer window in Premier League history.

Why is Edwards so highly rated by some because without Klopp he looks a shambles?

TBH he wasn't even main person identifying players under Klopp – Ian Graham was.

05 Dec 2025 10:08:27
I don’t think that’s fair. They’ve brought in players we all said at the end of summer are the perfect signings for us and we were singing them praises.
Slot hasn’t tactically got it right and the players haven’t had the chance to shine.

If they are played in a similar fashion to how they are used to then suddenly Edwards and hughes have done a fantastic job again.

05 Dec 2025 10:15:14
But everyone (practically) said it was the best transfer window ever?

05 Dec 2025 10:17:07
We were all praising Edwards and Hughes 3 months ago. Long on the brightside, Brightside.

05 Dec 2025 10:23:14
I’m pretty sure we were all buzzing about the transfer window (for good reason) . Isak, Ekitike, Wirtz, Kerkez and Frimpong are all top tier players. If Slot can’t get a system to work that is nothing to do with Edwards and Hughes. The personnel is crying out for a 4-4-2 diamond with Ekitike and Isak up top ahead of Wirtz, Kerkez and Bradley/ Frimpong offering the width and Gravenberch tucking in as a 3rd CB. You could even do a flat 4-4-2 with Wirtz LM and Chiesa RM.

However Slot seems obsessed with letting Grav charge forward and unwilling to drop Gakpo. He also has a stubborn refusal to pick players in form like Chiesa or Ekitike.

Slot’s job as head coach is to make a system work with the players he is given. If he can’t do that, he needs to go and we’ll find someone who can.

05 Dec 2025 10:27:16
Im of the thinking that a diefferent manager, along with 3/ 4 of the right kind of players (ie prem ready) and we will be competing once again.

Slot's vision for the game is just not suited to this league, and his ego is getting in the way of putting it right.

05 Dec 2025 10:28:37
*look on.

05 Dec 2025 10:46:29
The worst transfer window in premier league history? Surely you jest.

05 Dec 2025 10:52:44
I was happy with the signings but I wasn’t pleased with the signing of Frimpong, and felt that rb would be a weakness…. I wasn’t expecting this awful form and dreadful performances. This is reminiscent to the hodgson days, but other than Gerrard his team was playing at its level, this team is full of top talent and they are as dull as dishwater.

They really are uninspiring to watch and I don’t understand it. What’s worse is slot doesn’t seem to recognise the issues or know how to fix them.

05 Dec 2025 10:54:49
fact is few of their calls were questionable.

1. Marma signing and loaning - don't know why? He is very poor with his distribution to say the least.
2. Chiesa - We all like him but over two seasons has he even started two times in the league.
3. Biggest of them all - Isak, why? (after getting Ekitike) and they way they went about it left a bad taste.
4. Kerkez - one season wonder? still has time in his hands to improve.
5. Wirtz -- hopeful he will come good after some silky displays. the key with his signing is FSG made money available and Wirtz declined Bayern Munich to come to us. credit not to Edwards/ Hughes. the player wanted to come and we splashed bucket loads of money.


If they can unearth real upcoming talent, then they will get due recognition.

05 Dec 2025 11:09:28
At what point does it become the managers fault? How many managers in the league would have been happy with getting the players signed in the summer?

05 Dec 2025 11:14:25
Hughes signings so far:-
Slot who won us the league albeit fallen off a cliff now.
Chiesa who we all love and is hard done by the manager.
Mamadasvilli a young highly rated goalkeeper who has done great, although maybe doesn't suit our system.
Pesci Hungary's next big goalkeeper.
Isak the leagues best forward after Haaland, again the system isn't being played to his strengths.
Ekitike the best young french forward who has been great so far.
Wirtz Germany's superstar who we got ahead of Germany's biggest club. Again the system isn't being played to his strengths.
Kerkez who was one of the leagues best lbs last season and played in a system similar to ours.
Frimpong a great value signing albeit maybe to lightweight and not used to the system.
Leoni who is touted as Italy's next big defender and we seen his potential from one game. He also chose us over Italy's biggest clubs.

potential Jan signings of Guehi who has been fantastic for Palace and England and with so many options still wants us. Semenyo who is Bournemouths best player and is exactly who we need.
Linked with Ordonoz Ecuadors great young talented CB, Toth Hungary's next Dom, and many more young talented players.
The players are being brought for the manager but if he's to stubborn to change his system and adapt that isn't his bosses fault.

05 Dec 2025 11:20:25
I think all of our signings will come good.

05 Dec 2025 11:21:33
Most fans were excited after the last window particularly with Wirtz and Isak, and also on Ekitike from those that knew anything about him. They seemed like good buys, and still do although we've overpaid.

We were fed a line that Diaz wanted out, so most were accepting he had to go, and most were ok with Nunez going.

There were differing views on the defensive buys though, with doubts about both Kerkez and Frimpong. Hardly anyone knew about the Palma player. There were also a few doubts about Connors fitness and readiness for being first choice right back, and doubts about centre mid. So it wasn’t seen as perfect, but a good window from an attacking point of view.

In the round most posters thought that the two main contract renewals were needed.

I think the excitement took away any focus on the system and particularly how Wirtz was going to be slotted in, and what that would mean for team balance. Also the excitement about the attackers drowned out the doubters who were worried about the lack of the right defensive reinforcements including Guehi.

05 Dec 2025 11:25:05
As individual players, each one that came in was seen as an upgrade on a player that left, was perfect for the next generation of this team and most other teams wanted or would have liked these players.
Most of us were really excited to add these players to a title winning team/ squad.
The reason they have not done as well as expected is the tactics, formation (s) and chopping and changing of both.
It also shows that a good signing is only great with the right manager.

For me, at the moment, the issue is Slot.

05 Dec 2025 11:37:28
I would say Mickey is neither a clown or the messiah. But, he is exactly the type of person FSG, the owners of the club, want in the football operation due to their obsession of being data driven. He understands their language and puts his trust in clever guys like Will Spearman to help make better decisions for the club.

I will say the club under Mickey's leadership has managed the whole Jota tragedy with class and care. I think the signings of Wirtz, Isak and Leoni are excellent. I question the profiles of the goalkeeper and fullback signings and the lack of preparedness for the Guehi deal to collapse.

I would say that it is difficult to say how much rope Mickey has given to his mate Dicky with the signings given some seem at odds with the way the coach wants to play.

When Mickey was sporting director, the number of signings may have been small, but the strike rate was very high. We rarely signed players who were not a fit for the way we wanted to play.

As Ed said a few times, our expectation was Dicky would be finding rough diamonds/ gems to add to the squad. So far though it's been mostly household names, bar Giovanni Leoni.

And all the current links are with other household names like Semenyo, Guehi, Wharton, Anderson etc. We should be using our scouting networks better than that.

We haven't signed a player from South American in so long. I might be wrong but I think Allan and Pitaluga might be the last ones.

Aside from South America, we are also missing a massive trick by not sourcing players from the French league.

Perhaps we are simply waiting for this second club before attacking those markets?

Who knows what is happening behind the scenes and what is really leading to these shocking performance levels. Most probably a collective underperformance by everyone.

05 Dec 2025 12:16:42
Hard to judge a transfer window after a third of a season 🙄🙄.

05 Dec 2025 12:26:59
Every player signed last summer will do well at Liverpool. Reality is we've hardly seen Isak, Frim nd Leoni because of injury. But a top player every one of them.

{Ed025's Note - nice guessing there FM, Isak yes he is proven but the other 2 im not so sure, Frim cant defend for toffee, and we have only seen an hour or so of Leoni mate, as i say you are guessing..

05 Dec 2025 12:47:03
Players get judged after a third of a match @Ron.

05 Dec 2025 13:24:23
But what an hour Ed, sometimes you just look at a kid playing his 1st game and know he's class.

{Ed025's Note - looks as though he has got potential FM and im in no way running the kid down mate, but i will have to see a lot more of him before i start calling him "class"..

05 Dec 2025 13:26:53
On paper an amazing transfer window. On the pitch - the opposite. Slot should be the one getting pelted the most.

05 Dec 2025 13:48:16
Good Lord, worst transfer window ever?

MrB, it became clear towards the end of last season that TAA would not be signing a new contract and Diaz wanted to move. Darwin just wasn’t cutting it, Robbo was declining, the Scouse Greek was never going to be first choice, sadly Diogo passed and it was obvious a new CB and midfielder were needed. None of that is disputable, so incomings, multiple were not only necessary, but essential.

The unfortunate thing is, so many were necessary at once, and that the young CB got injured so early in the season, he looked good in the brief bits I saw of him.

There can be no disputing the quality of some of the new signings, Isak’s drawn out saga I think has played a big part in his slow start, to be honest, I now don’t think he was worth the money or trouble, I wish Eki was bought as our starter and someone else as the backup. But there is no doubt, Isak was recognised as one of the worlds best strikers when at Newcastle and I was delighted when he signed. Wirtz and Eki will be stars for years to come, so to say their signings were disastrous is clownish.

The fullbacks, that’s a different matter, neither has shone, but let’s not forget, Robbo played second fiddle to Moreno I think it was for 6 months, at the time no one was saying he was a world beater, though Moreno was worse than either of the new signings.

Looking back, I think the disastrous part of last summer’s window was not getting a quality CB rather than any of the signings who did come in. I know it wasn’t LFCs fault that CP refused to sell, but had the deal been done early in the summer, CP would have had more time to buy a replacement. It was also just bad luck that the young CB got such a bad injury, nothing LFC could do about that.

It has been awful viewing the last 2 months, I can see why it is very challenging, as a business owner, when I take in new staff there is always a learning/ bedding in period where other staff have to do more to get the newbies up to speed leading to disruption. But that alone can no longer excuse the more glaring issues, lack of fitness, intensity and the decline in senior players like Virg, Mo and Mac. I think those 3 need to be moved on, along with Arne unfortunately. I don’t buy into the Ireola hype, LFC need a manager from the top rung to manage a team full of winners.

05 Dec 2025 22:29:22
How did we get from the Best transfer window ever, to the Worst transfer window ever?

Must be that whole "hindsight 20/ 20" a. k. a "I will flip my opinion due to where the wind is blowing so I can keep up with the trend" nonsense.

05 Dec 2025 09:45:19
Leeds went for Chelsea from the off hoping to get a goal and they did. I expect them Todo it again against us and they are at home. We must not concede in the first half. Commentators noted how Sunderland didn't even worry about their left side as no threat there, so I'd like to see Salah back on the right with Dom and Ryan as the two sitting with Wirtz in the middle.

Chiesa on the left instead of Gakpo. Ekitike up top.

05 Dec 2025 11:17:38
Sunderland didn't defend either flank. They just blocked off the centre knowing that we would cut inside every time. That is what everybody does because we are so predictable.

05 Dec 2025 11:39:46
Honestly, I couldn't care less about the lineup. We will inevitably go out there to try and quieten the crowd by passing it about at the back, get caught in possession by Leeds aggressive and high press and concede early.

It has Brentford away performance written all over it.

05 Dec 2025 11:42:14
He will not drop Gakpo. He is a guaranteed starter.

He was forced to drop Salah, external pressure was too much but he will be back sooner rather than later. Too much player power. Then he is off to AFCON.

Another who is undroppable is MacAllister, he is having a shocking season. A manager with cojones would replace him with Dom and let Wirtz sit in front of Dom and Grav.

Slot is in a situation where he has nothing to lose but his sole intent now is on not conceding, and he is even failing at that.

05 Dec 2025 12:30:07
"It has brentford away performance written all over it", jesus christ the negativity just for the sake of it on here is mental.

05 Dec 2025 12:37:32
I thought Mac Allister played reasonably well against Sunderland.

05 Dec 2025 19:12:36
Florian, I was hopeful of a turnaround until Forest ended it.

PSV then just put the tin lid on it.

Time for change, as much as I like the guy.

05 Dec 2025 22:30:26
Pelican, I gave up after Sunderland.

06 Dec 2025 10:23:01
Is “Playing reasonably well” good enough these days? Or acceptable for LFC?

05 Dec 2025 08:21:43
Lose tomorrow and Slot is gone. Win or draw he stays till January at least. I have never ever wanted my team to lose and never will. But if we did it would have a silver lining. It can't go online this can it? enter Mick McCarthy.

05 Dec 2025 09:52:20
to dress this up as anything but alarming mediocrity is disingenuous.

05 Dec 2025 09:52:57
Listen the football is sh*te
But no need to want to get beat what a blurt.

05 Dec 2025 10:16:17
💯 John.

05 Dec 2025 11:45:11
I want to win every game, even if it means Man United winning the league.

To be honest I want to win at tiddlywinks, useless at it though.

05 Dec 2025 12:18:20
I want to win every game, every set piece, every header, every throw-in and every penalty decision.
Always, no exceptions.

05 Dec 2025 15:11:27
Woah alpha.

05 Dec 2025 22:32:16
I ain't trying to root for us (directly or indirectly) to get beat just so whatever I want happens.

Not in a million years.

If Slot will be sacked, he will be sacked. End of.

05 Dec 2025 08:00:03
How many of us on here can honestly say we have enjoyed slot's playing style since he came in?

Yes it was a winning season last year, but I would argue the players had the stamina in their legs from Klopp last season? Gradually that was trained out of them.

By the time we got to the " business end of the season" we were shot to bits. PSG took us apart in the first leg, but for Allison our season should have been done then!

He started the same players mostly in those 2-3 weeks. The team was dead on its feet. We gave a much better second leg performance in the return leg getting to Pens etc. but in truth we were drained.

We had the league in the bag, but honestly we limped over the line. Performance fell off a cliff.

As supporters we got wrapped up in the celebrations, it was fantastic. We claimed the style on beginning to celebrating too early. In truth the writing was on the wall!

Since then we lost DJ20 that has devastated the players. That core has undergone to many changes. It must be hard to motivate yourself as a person, after achieving those heights and experiencing so much loss!

Now the club needs a big Klop type presence again. Somebody that can motivate, inspire, with charisma.

That's not Arna Slot IMO. We are all looking for the reason why? A proper leader, inspires motivated drives.

I love Slot for what he delivered to us. But he has all the charisma of a wet dog. I don't think the players are having him, or his coaching staff. YNWA.

05 Dec 2025 09:47:22
It is becoming tiresome for the Kop to see every visitor look so much more energetic and purposeful at the start of games, Liverpool giving the impression they are playing in an ultra-continental style trying to tame the tigerish Premier League.

The frustration intensifies when it seems the players have it within them to move up the gears as the final whistle approaches, so many of their wins this season secured late on.

05 Dec 2025 10:00:37
@chrisymate

I hate to admit it and it's really said to say, but what you've written is 100% spot on
😔.

05 Dec 2025 10:07:07
We didn't limp over the line, we were so far ahead that motivation to get over the line understandably was not as high as it might have been if we had been properly pushed. Still we won it in style against Spurs, and yes we didn't play great afterwards but honestly Slot was trying out different things in the games and treating it sort of like a preseason for the most part. Although we weren't playing 'well' in some of those games, it got me excited for the season to come because you felt like Slot was thinking about the future and the seasons to come the whole time.

This season he looks lost and bewildered a lot of the time, which on one level is understandable because he has pretty much had nothing but success his whole career. To have to deal with so much stuff in the preseason and then have to face all the scrutiny of big money signings, poor form, players dealing with the death of their team mate, must be new to him.

Yes he has serious faults as a manager, not making the best use of the squad, trusting favourites too much, at Feyenoord he also had the same sort of tendencies. He is at fault for the declining fitness of our players, but I think at the same time that our disrupted preseason may have had a lot to do with that. I understand if the club thinks that we need a change but I'm also not entirely sure that it will make a massive difference, at least in the short term.

I will never be somebody who comes on here and continually abuses the manager, though, like some folks on this site. He must be suffering as much as any of the players, and at the end of the day he is the coach of my team, he is trying to do what he thinks is best for my team, he might be failing to produce the results I want but the YNWA credo is not just about results, anyway, it's about the human beings behind the badge. I am not totally against him making way for somebody else, but he has my empathy and sympathy until the end.

And as far as whether I have enjoyed his football since he came here. I don't see why not? He turned Gravenberch into one of the most brilliant, athletic and silky deep-lying midfielders I have seen in years, I don't think I have seen somebody play the 6 like that. He has transformed Szoboszlai into a pressing monster who shows up all over the pitch, there isn't another midfielder around that I can see besides Valverde. He gave Konate another lease of life as a beast winning almost every duel he challenged for and covering almost an entire half of the pitch on his own.

Also even though he is primarily a cautious and somewhat 'reactive' coach who likes to exploit mistakes rather than create them, he has never sent our players out to kick lumps out of players, dive or time waste, you can say that might be naive on his part, but to me he has the right footballing principles.

Do I want my team to press relentlessly, put the opponent to the sword, pin them in their own half? Yes, and I think Slot himself is 1000% aware of our lack of intensity and passivity in the press, but the players, for whatever reason, mental or physical (or both), can't apply themselves the way that they or Slot want for extended patches of time. How we overcome that problem, I don't know, but that's not the point of your post I guess.

05 Dec 2025 10:37:58
Patrick, you are talking about just over half of a season . Since then little of the great things that you mention have been on show.

The tactical devolution of premiership football is also a notable factor, but as you said, Slot is a reactive coach, yet he has not reacted to this, in fact he asked Grav to get forward more.

Defensive stability, pressing and elite fitness levels are required in the premier league - Slot has changed all of those things, and not for the better.

I have no vendetta against Slot, I just don't believe that he is the man to carry us forward for a decade. He does not have the psychological attributes necessary to lead a club of this stature. You only need to listen to him since he's been on this run to see the fragility and inability to carry this.

The Athletic called it - great first season, with diminishing returns thereafter. Slot has only been tested on his home soil, in a weak league and it is difficult to assess how anyone will respond under the weight of responsibility that comes with a job of this magnitude until they are in that position. Slot has not coped with that and is too stubborn to admit his vision for the game here is pure fantasy.

05 Dec 2025 11:19:38
We played some really exciting quick one touch football in pre season when the new players first joined but it looks like Slot has now coached that out of them.

05 Dec 2025 11:46:33
I have enjoyed a few games under Slot. The game at Old Trafford was beautiful to watch. The CL clash with Real Madrid was a really high level, as was the City game that followed that one. I also liked some parts of all of our games against Arsenal.

I think where we are is that we have a coach that doesn't have the personnel to play the way he wants to play and is unlikely to compromise on anything to get us performing in the interim. He wants to play his system perfectly and isn't willing to use "chaos" like Klopp did. Safe to say, Anfield is not what it was on match days as a result.

Add to that he's a pretty transactional character, he doesn't appear to have the personality to halt the decline in performances.

Hard to see a road back for him. He's treading water.