Liverpool banter 9

16 Mar 2026 08:46:15
Ed01 surely you can help me understand this at it baffles me. How is Chiesa never good enough to start games or good enough when we are winning games by two goals but all of a sudden he is good enough when we are chasing games, I don't get the rationale behind it.

{Ed001's Note - it is called panic. It is not about him not being good enough, it is that he does not play Slot's mind-numbing style. Chiesa wants to work hard, press and play the ball forward, the complete antithesis of a Slot player. He wants players to amble around slowly and pass it sideways and backwards.}

16 Mar 2026 09:29:04
Good question. It is incredible, really! I have always thought about that.

16 Mar 2026 09:46:54
Hit the rusty nail on the head there ED001. Klopp would have loved Chiesa.

16 Mar 2026 11:09:15
Ed01, it's what Slot does with Chiesa. He doesn't want to know whoi he is until he needs him to save his bacon. So get this: To Slot, Chiesa is not good enuff to start and get minutes YET he is good enuff to save his bacon when the arse falls out of his team? yeah, exactly.

@Kpee, fully agree. Klopp would have had Chiesa playing well above his ability because he is the exact type of player (and person, IMO) Klopp loves.

Fede would have run thru granite walls for him, IMO.

16 Mar 2026 12:40:21
Slot is to blame for many things, and he's about to get the sack. However, with regards to Chiesa, he isn't good enough. End of. He's got a brilliant song, but we need to get rid of him in the summer.

16 Mar 2026 14:27:32
Rome, that is not my point. There were players who we thought weren't good enough under Klopp, yet he was able to motivate them and manage them well enough to get more than a tune out of them. Think of Origi, who many wanted gone, and Klopp kept him and got more than a tune out of him.

You are aware that sometimes, a manager has to work with the players he has, not necessarily with the players he rates. Or is this foreign to you, cos it's Chiesa?

The fact is that had Chiesa been under him, Chiesa would have done way better than he is doing now under Slot, cos he would have given him the platform to succeed.



Also, it's not like Chiesa is some scrub we got off the street either. He was at Juve for years doing bits before a knee injury slowed him down.

That is the point, cos we know Slot couldn't be arsed about any of these things, cos his man management skills are non-existent.

16 Mar 2026 14:50:40
OliRed, I've been watching football far longer than you and I actually take the time and trouble to watch us and not just catch the occasional YouTube clip.

It's my opinion that Chiesa isn't up to it, which is why Slot doesn't start him. Or should I say "prolly" doesn't start him.

16 Mar 2026 07:04:26
Probably best to say to Arne - thanks for no. 20 and you'll forever be appreciated. He's homesick and letting standards drop when extra training should be on the cards. I. My 45 years as a fan and 15 years here, I've never seen such passivity.

Free the man - It's clear Slot is a salt piel, as the South Africans say - one leg in England, the other in his homeland, and his "lad" in the salty sea!

16 Mar 2026 07:20:34
I don't think he ever left Ibiza, to tell you the truth.

16 Mar 2026 08:58:53
Sout piel refers to Englishman and is a pretty derogatory term. I always explained to Afrikaans guys using it to insult me that it's actually a compliment.

16 Mar 2026 11:11:52
@Pickfordsaurus, if Slot misses his fam and is affecting his daily and pro. life in England, then the best thing to do would have been to admit it and honourably resign, and we would have understood his decision and predicament, as in the end, family comes first.

16 Mar 2026 06:48:52
Seano I agree 100%. As much as this lies at Slots doorstep there are many others also accountable, players and staff, and what is becoming more apparant game on game is that there is no legs in that team; they do not work anywhere near hard enough without the ball.
Personally I think some big names will exit in the summer - not just Salah.

16 Mar 2026 07:33:05
When you are playing your best player at right back, it says it all. Too many players are playing out of position, and as soon as he puts Jones on we look even worse. He completely slows us down, side passing, back passing, gets caught on the ball, and McAlister, his legs have gone.

Slot just stands there, hands in pockets, clearly hasn't a clue what he's doing. Not a chance we will get Champions League with him still in charge.

16 Mar 2026 08:01:34
I think you are being a bit unfair on Jones. McAlister is clearly the biggest liability in the team. He can't run, can't hold on to the ball, and dives as if he's been shot by a sniper. Jones is getting 10 minutes here and there. He is not the issue with the team. The management, tactics, and everything is off at the moment. It's just toxic to watch.

What I can't understand is how the board are not seeing this and not doing something about it. When you run a business and things are so clearly not working, you change things. Fairly simple. I'm not from the area, but I think the fans in the stadium really need to start making a point to show all our dissatisfaction with the situation.

16 Mar 2026 08:11:27
Ekitike looked like he didn't want to be on that pitch yesterday when he came on, and neither did Jones.

That's not just calling the pair out, mind. Vvd and Gomez were awful.

Robbo looked like his boots were on the wrong feet.

Mac actually pressed a lot, but don't think he completed a tackle.

Gakpo was like a revolving door up front.

Grav and Frimpong were competing for Hide and Seek Champion 2026.



Wirtz looked like he was having a kick about with his mates and it was a p##s take.

Szobo was in 5th gear running back to defend at Rb and then first gear in possession.

Salah must have thought the goal was in the Anfield Upper Stand.

Honestly, it was the strangest performance and effort I've seen at Anfield.

16 Mar 2026 08:21:56
Hellohello, there were boos at the end and, as JK23 posted, there were empty seats. Those 2 things combined should be enough for the decision makers to know where the fans' feelings lie.

On the plus side, at least it's easier for supporters to get a ticket at the moment!

{Ed025's Note - but would you want one Rome?.. :)

16 Mar 2026 08:26:34
Don't think Mac's legs have gone, just think it's a lack of effort or training.

16 Mar 2026 08:49:20
I believe Mr Slot himself said a few weeks back that the team was now gaining fitness or something along these lines.

16 Mar 2026 08:49:57
The board know how to run a football club but not a football team.

Do you really think they care about supporters? The only things they care about are £ notes/$ bills and profit margins.

16 Mar 2026 08:48:08
Morning Ed025. I'm there Wednesday, mate. Couldn't make yesterday.

Things are dire, mate. JK''s given an individual appraisal of those that were on the pitch yesterday. He didn't mention Alisson; I will, he needs a haircut!

If we get knocked out on Wednesday I think Slot needs to go. However, I've repeatedly said, some of the players need to take responsibility for their performances. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think whoever comes in will have a magic wand to get a tune out of some of them.

{Ed025's Note - hi Rome, the team looks bereft of any ideas mate and are a shadow of the team they have been in the past, i still think you will go through in midweek though as Gala are not all that either, it will be interesting to see how the team does against Everton and United because they will be all about passion and putting your body on the line...but they cant win of course, because if they do prevail it will be what have you been doing for the rest of the season, and if you dont there will be hell to pay i imagine..

16 Mar 2026 09:07:38
We don't have enough defenders in the squad. The story all season is teams let us have the ball and have a go with 10 minutes to go. We had 3 defenders on that pitch all game, and the 3 of them are way past their best. All our subs were offensive players; only the kid Trey knows how to put a tackle in.


We are winning the game, and he doesn't make one defensive substitution, and he takes off our 2 quickest forwards, knowing that they are going to start playing long and pushing everyone up. It's like going to a gun fight with no bullets to fire.

16 Mar 2026 09:31:40
That sums it up, JK. The whole team reeks of players who know the coach is already gone.

16 Mar 2026 11:13:42
@felmil, GH, cos that suited his rhetoric in that specific moment. Typical stuff from this guy.

16 Mar 2026 11:54:45
World cup year none of our players want to get injured sboz not in world cup that is why he is putting it in on the pitch. YNWA

16 Mar 2026 04:27:42
I think the volume of late goals we have conceded speaks volumes about the mentality of the squad, the fitness of the squad, and the overall feeling around the club. Fitness-wise they’re blowing long before 90 minutes, mentally they lack the belief to grind out the results and/or finish games off. Confidence is rock bottom, complacency is sky high, and this continual cycle is compounding into even more abject performances, and even more slip-ups.

Incompetence is rife at all levels, from the boardroom to the training ground, and wholesale changes are required. Edwards and Hughes are miles out of their depth, as is Slot, as are a number of players.

I’m not sure how big a swing of the ax they’ll make at the end of the season, but in order to really put the club in its best possible position they’ll need to make significant changes far and wide. Abysmal viewing for fans at present.

16 Mar 2026 05:38:10
100% Seano, but will it happen? That is the question, mate.

16 Mar 2026 11:14:40
Been saying it, Seano. The team is not physically fit, hence mentally unfit, hence can't finish games and keep leads. Ain't rocket science.

16 Mar 2026 03:25:23
Looks, guys, the players have obviously checked out. Half of the team just wants the season to end or something to change. It will be too late by Wednesday. You want to save the season you do the inevitable right now today morning.

Again I want to blame slot, but I can't just turn a blind eye to the players.
It's pretty obvious they have checked out off the club, which means there are zero leaders in that dressing room.

Unfortunately I can't absolve Salah, VVD, Macca and a few others, obvious one (yes you Gakpo), of the blame.
9 games conceding after 90min is a record and it speaks volumes about the mentality and physicality of the players.

16 Mar 2026 06:12:17
I honestly find it hard to blame the manager for that showing. Yes, I think we can completely blame him for the second half and how we didn't try to squeeze the life out of the game and really go for it, but in the first half, we should have been out of sight. Every Spurs player bar Spence and Richarlison looked like they were shellshocked. Somehow the players conspired to make bad decisions on multiple occasions and not put the ball in the back of the net two or three times on top of the free kick we scored.

I don't know what is going on with this team and why we look so inept in the opposing third. I've never said anything bad about Wirtz on here, but I don't know what he thought he was doing yesterday. Come on, lad, we paid 100m+ for you and you're one of the best attacking players in the world. Stop deferring responsibility when you're in a promising position. Take a chance and create an angle to shoot instead of always choosing the smartypants unselfish option.

Yesterday, in the second half, after wasting the first half not taking advantage and stepping on Spurs' throat, the players just looked like none of them wanted to step up and make a difference.

Rio, obviously, was given the responsibility of doing that the whole game long, but there's only so much he can do, and his final ball is still not there yet either.

Gakpo actually had a really good showing on and off the ball in a position he doesn't favour, but that terrible, terrible miss slicing across the ball and sending it into the stands just summed up our day. Mo did some incredible things but scuffed the stuff that usually comes so easily to him. Ekitike looked dead tired and sloppy. People saying Slot should have started him, maybe you can see he needed the rest? Robbo was awful defensively. Wirtz looks timid and lost again. The ball often got to Frimpong too late for him to do much with it. Macca and Grav were more than decent when we dominated the ball, but were suspect again when we were up against it.

That lineup yesterday was absolutely good enough to win the game in the first half, and somehow they didn't.

16 Mar 2026 06:30:18
Yes, Patrik, we've been good enough all season to win games with a great squad and the manager done nothing to remedy that. He's the common denominator.

16 Mar 2026 06:51:38
Frode, my point is that the game plan was good enough for us to win the game in the first half yesterday. It's easy for us to say the coach is useless, and yes, I think he has to take some blame for us coming out in the second half and looking less assertive than we did in the first half. The result is obviously deeply frustrating, and even infuriating, but the players themselves have to take some responsibility.

What I will say about Slot is that, in the second half, having failed to capitalise, we reverted to doing the press baiting at the back thing, and even when we managed to shift their shape a little and get through the front and midfield press, a lot of times we won't play a riskier pass through the defense and end up having to recycle possession or stall. That, in some ways, has to do with the personnel we have in midfield.

We all understand that; we might not have the players to see and make those kinds of passes early. But then, why do we keep doing that when we don't appear to be very good at it in the first place?

In the second half, we just didn't look like we knew what we were supposed to do. Were we trying to control the game, have them come onto us and then counter attack? Were we trying to push for a second? Were we trying to shut up shop? It didn't look like we were doing any of those things; we just looked like we were trying to waste time and hopefully get through 45 minutes unscathed.

I also don't agree with you that we have a 'great squad'. We have a decent squad without real depth in key positions, and certain key players whose form has fallen off a cliff.

16 Mar 2026 07:00:10
Fully agree on Wirtz. Jim Beglin said something similar, in that so often Flo will find himself in a decent position to shoot, and he will always lay the ball off to someone or play an intelligent pass. He needs to develop some greed in his game, some hunger to get more goals.

16 Mar 2026 07:13:00
Sorry, but I have to completely disagree that we should have been out of sight in the first half. We're lucky not to have conceded 2 from a Richarlison header and the Spurs chance at the back post on the stroke of half time.

Probably the worst performance I've seen at Anfield in quite some time.



Slot has lost the dressing room, it's clear to see.

Players should hang their heads in shame, also. The only player who looked like he wanted to try yesterday was young Rio.

16 Mar 2026 08:28:59
Henderson, Milner would have pulled this team up by the bootstraps, and, honestly, I expected Robbo to. VVD is useless as captain; it seems there is no leadership, just excuses.

16 Mar 2026 08:36:41
Watched David lynch on you tube and even he has had enough, said the same things that have been said on here, slots team has been bad since the end of last season and as ed1 has said he gives the players so much time off, I've never heard him this negative and we will probably struggle next year with so much to do.

16 Mar 2026 09:15:24
Patrick, you usually post balanced posts, but you're way off, imo. I don't know what game you watched, but we had zero big chances. Tottenham could have won; they had much more dangerous chances, and even our goal was a lucky goal considering how bad Vicario did.

I want Slot gone now. This is a squad filled with class, and we are looking like lower mid-table at best, mate. I think denial is starting to set in now. :(

16 Mar 2026 09:16:23
All these players have checked out; "players are the problem" was said ad nauseum about Utd's players. On here, they were written off as useless to a man.
Now they are above us in the table, getting results and looking so much better than they did under Amorim and Ten Hag.
So, maybe the coach was the problem?

16 Mar 2026 11:06:39
ArneSlotsBarber, that's halfway true. The truth is that we were always in dangerous positions to create clear chances, but the final ball and decision were bad, or the finish that resulted from the move was awful, just like it has been for most of the season this year. We do all the stuff we need to do to get in and around the box and get into dangerous positions, but then everything breaks down because we are so crap at putting the finishing touches.

A lot has been said about how badly we are coached, but I think that's only half true. We can do good, coordinated stuff to get into promising situations, only for things to collapse because of bad decisions at crucial times, passes going awry, etc.

16 Mar 2026 11:20:41
@Frode, there is nothing we saw yesterday that we have not been seeing for majority of the season. The only diff. is that things are getting a lot worse now than they were before.

The gaslighting can continue till the cows come home in a bid to shield this feckless manager from his responsibility, but we all know who is majority to blame for this.

Cos we all know that had the roles been reversed and we were flying and on our way to going back to back, not a soul would be giving most of the credit to the players.

Oh wait, now where have I seen this last part before? Ah yes, last season.

16 Mar 2026 11:59:48
Mcgoveb Man United play one game a week no Europe no fa cup no league cup let's see what happens next season!!
YNWA

16 Mar 2026 02:33:21
Stat - That was the 9th time this season we conceded a goal after 90min. 3 draws, 6 losses.
15 points.
Palace, City, Leeds, Manu, Chelsea, Fulham, Wolves, Bournemouth and now Spurs.

16 Mar 2026 11:21:45
Cos we are unfit, legs are gone in the last quarter of games, hence can't keep leads, cos we are mentally weak, and our manager plays cowardly football.

Ain't rocket science.

16 Mar 2026 00:13:26
The thing is if we stay in against Gala it's just kicking the can down the road. This manager is as weak as a kitten and our midfield are the same.
This team is done for. I lay the blame mostly at Slot's door.

Just not capable. I've been concerned about this since last March. Only to be mined at on here.

It's time to act. FSG DLOT FIST followed by the other 2 clowns at the end of the season. But Slot right now.

16 Mar 2026 08:38:31
Think fisting someone is a tad excessive

16 Mar 2026 11:22:51
"The thing is if we stay in against Gala, it's just kicking the can down the road."

Ya think? Cos, if we get past Gala, we all know that PSG is gonna put us all out of our misery with the way we are playing.

15 Mar 2026 23:48:18
Absolutely spot on from Roy Keane on the aftershow today about us. You can find it on YouTube.

16 Mar 2026 11:23:26
Keegan, Keane didn't say anything that many of us had not been saying on here.

15 Mar 2026 22:33:42
I accept but hate we are crap. I accept that slot is Ten Hag mk2 f*** clueless. What I can’t accept is players standing on the pitch at full time looking into the sky as if they can’t believe what’s just happened Ala Bruno Fernandez.

You had 90 odd mins to do something. Don’t act upset get off the pitch in embarrassment. As for slot, don’t going swimming lad your not good with depths.

16 Mar 2026 06:31:34
Funny, because Bruno Fernandes looks like prime De Bruyne at the min... Perhaps it was a change in manager?

16 Mar 2026 11:24:56
No, Frode. Bruno just had an epiphany. Nothing to do with Carrick bringing the best out of him, of course.