Liverpool Discussion posts 2

05 Mar 2026 19:47:03
Slot was complaining about how boring the EPL has become yet his team plays the most boring football.

Man can you just take a moment to look in the mirror? Well I guess he has but doesn't see anything wrong with the way we play.

I was watching the Brighton v Arsenal game and couldn't believe how quickly Brighton looked to get the ball forward. It was quite an entertaining game.

I miss the days I enjoyed watching Liverpool play. I really hope we can get back to those times soon.

05 Mar 2026 01:09:02
I'll give credit to Slot for calling out time wasting the last couple of seasons, probably more so this season. Then last week he comes out and says the football being played this season in the PL is, "not a joy to watch", and his "football heart doesn't like" the emphasis on set-pieces this season. I must say I've come to really dislike those two hyphenated words.

Tonight Hurzeler, before and after the game, slammed Arsenal and their tactics. They had 40% possession after taking an early lead, which is unbelievable for a team that likes to dominate the ball. Last week Trossard down 3 times, tonight the keeper.

I disagree w Hurzeler when he says it's hard for the refs. It is to some extent but they blow the whistle as soon as someone falls down. To me, the refs are the biggest problem as they are the ones allowing the cheating, time-wasting, "gamesmanship, " etc. The players are just taking advantage of the totally incompetent referees.

Arsenal won't care if they go on to win the league, of course. But, I get the sense that something will be done by PGMOL if things continue as they are. I'd upgrade diving to a straight red, and I'd include minimal contact in that, as well as players purposely initiatiating contact then falling down. We might have a few games that finish w 14-15 players on the pitch initially, but they'd soon get the message.

05 Mar 2026 03:16:58
I think the issue is higher up than the refs. If it stopped with the refs, we would see a bit of variety in decision making; we would see the odd ref being strict by comparison, carding lads regularly for driving, play-acting, and time-wasting.

We're not really seeing that. It's universally poor, which suggests to me that the issue lies in the instructions being sent down from the higher-ups.

05 Mar 2026 04:40:50
Yep, the refs are def under marching orders. But, the levels of inconsistency in their decision making demonstrates how woefully incompetent they are too. PGMOL has to carry the can ultimately for the awful standards of officiating.

05 Mar 2026 10:04:37
There are definitely inconsistencies, but Arsenal have actually made a game plan of exploiting it.

For example, Gabriel throwing himself to the ground under minimal contact gets Spurs' goal disallowed. VVD staying on his feet after the same kind of shove on Tuesday, and we concede a goal.

I've said before, we generally don't take advantage of the poor refereeing enough. There's always instances, of course, but in general the majority of our players try to stay on their feet. It's a good thing, but a bad thing too, as other teams are getting an advantage that we are not.

With Arsenal, it doesn't matter which player gets touched. They are hitting the deck every time. You couldn't say which player is worst for doing it, because they all do it equally, even the likes of Lewis-Skelly, who's fresh out of the academy, so it's obviously a tactic that's trained into them. I watched 10 minutes of their game last night. Trossard dived twice, Havertz dived in the box under minimal contact, and Gabriel fell over after Welbeck brushed his shoulder.

The only decision they didn't get was the pen for Havertz, but he should've been booked and wasn't, so he'll keep trying because there's no consequence.

It was noticeable that when Moyse took over at Everton, the first thing they did was start going to ground easily, which then gave them a foothold in the game and set pieces to exploit, and their results improved. It works.

I've also said referees don't understand the game. For someone who's played the game, you know when someone is fouled and when they're cheating. The refs just don't see it.

Now, the problem is that it's become an integral part of the game, so everyone will claim for free kicks under little or no contact because they've seen other teams get the decisions regularly. It would take a huge shift in the referees' mentality and ability to turn it around.

05 Mar 2026 12:19:46
Slot is a fine one for talking about "football not being enjoyable to watch," given the results this season under his watch.

05 Mar 2026 14:28:10
Bang on, Varry. The best one is where a player knows he's gone down a blind alley. They just stop, stand over the ball, and stick their arse out until the opposition player brushes them off, then they go to ground. Free kick given every time. The refs have to realise what's going on, yet they keep blowing their whistle.

Dead right on the Van Dijk incident the other night too; for me, it wasn't a foul, but if he went down like Gabriel the ref would have blown. I'm all for not playacting, but it's frustrating when trying to play the right way goes against you.

05 Mar 2026 18:01:26
Vik, I get the hypocrisy in his statements for sure. But it's refreshing to see managers like Slot and Hurzeler call out the rubbish we're seeing every match week this season. We need more calling it for what it is.

04 Mar 2026 22:26:19
Fair play to 10 men Newcastle. Even when the powers that be are trying to hand it to United on a plate they still make a meal of it.

05 Mar 2026 01:32:39
I think if Newcastle just played every game with 10 players, they'd be top 4 certs and maybe title contenders. On a more serious note, does anyone want to finish 3rd-5th?

05 Mar 2026 09:39:25
I spoke about Arsenal the other day, and the red cards that they haven't received this season. But for United to have an opposition player sent off, 2 games in a row, is something else.

Especially since both decisions are so unbelievably harsh on the opposition teams.

05 Mar 2026 13:47:57
VAR was introduced to set decisions towards certain teams ie City, Man United, Arsenal and hamper Liverpool just look at how they have treated us; Diaz goal and Macca when kicked in the chest etc. it's clear as day VAR is ran by an agenda and is being used to influence a preference.

06 Mar 2026 18:28:37
Well, ironically, Tony Pulis makes some good comments on the standards of refereeing and the use and impact that VAR has had on the game. The father of set-pieces and time wasting is now decrying their use.

04 Mar 2026 21:45:14
Hi eds,

Quick question of opinion.

Do you suspect significant changes in the squad next year.

If we don't get champions league would you expect a few more gambles.

Reading media and you'd believe we are the poorest club in the world and no champions league means were exploring the free market.

05 Mar 2026 01:47:33
With all the possible outs, I would say wholesale changes are on the cards. Not getting CL would surely have a big effect on who we can bring in. A run to the last 4 would net the club somewhere in the region of 100m. Last 16 about 65m.

04 Mar 2026 21:34:36
Another set of nightmare results midweek for us then. Some of these referring decisions are baffling, but it just seems they seem to decide they favour a certain team before the season starts.

04 Mar 2026 21:16:18
Watching all the games tonight, channel flicking. Have to say every team playing tonight is full on going for it. Now that's football. Makes you wonder even more., what have we been doing all season.

05 Mar 2026 00:43:30
I have to say, watching the Arsenal highlights, I would disagree with you, and so would the media. Dreadful side, only one team trying to win.

For all the criticism on here of Slot, and I've certainly been one to do just that, the league is dreadful, and it must be extremely difficult trying to manage with all the time wasting, blatant cheating, poor refereeing, etc.

I have lost interest massively, and I think next season will be even worse.

04 Mar 2026 21:14:39
If there was ever a manager who made football look like afternoon tea, it's Slot.

He's a calm and controlled which is reflected in the style of play and possession. Very civilised. That's until we lose the ball. Then it turns into players running around like shopping trolleys being blown across a car park in a hurricane.

It goes from yoga to an episode of Casualty.

Is it just me, or would the words, "just a bit faster, lads, " actually help?

04 Mar 2026 19:46:03
Congratulations once again to the broadcasters for more excellent booking.

The Fulham game on the 11th April has been moved to 5.30 so it can be shown on sky sports.

That's grand national day btw.

04 Mar 2026 18:08:09
Slot needs to go. We need to move on. Need a new manager bounce. Keeping him will result in us finishing outside of the top 4/ 5. Changing him now might give us more of a chance.

Might not guarantee it but to leave it as it is will be counter productive. Watching this football is painful. He looks like he's run his ra e and is ready for a new challenge.

04 Mar 2026 21:23:49
Maybe. I doubt it will happen now. The lack of quality is a concern, but the lack of the basics is even worse, and the lack of fight is unimaginable. In truth, we probably should have bitten the bullet months ago.

Now I fear it's too late; they will wait until summer, and they can feel justified separating, whilst we have to manage a season in the Europa League at best.