Our style of play

[peterbread]

Maybe time for Endo to get some time. He’s what you’d want out there when it’s a battle and scraping for second balls and sitting a bit deeper for more protection. I seem to remember in his first season he was deceptively good in the air and helping out the CB’s.

[Harv]

Starting to think Slot just got incredibly lucky riding Klopp's coattails.

Ugly, pedestrian football. Idiotic tactics. A complete inability to change his system even though it clearly isn't ****ing working and has been found out. Whinging.

He won't be around much longer me thinks. Cant see him turning this around. A ) He doesn't seem to know what to do and B) He's dutch, so his ego won't let him

[Norbs]

Starting to think Slot just got incredibly lucky riding Klopp's coattails.

Ugly, pedestrian football. Idiotic tactics. A complete inability to change his system even though it clearly isn't ****ing working and has been found out. Whinging.

He won't be around much longer me thinks. Cant see him turning this around. A ) He doesn't seem to know what to do and B) He's dutch, so his ego won't let him

Join the club, better get your tin hat on though

Last season was also Klopp. His players, his tactics and his momentum. Silly bollocks is given the war chest that Klopp would've turned us in to an unbeatable force and is going to put us under huge financial strain if we fail to get back in to the CL. Hes a fraud

[Slinky Skills]

Bit harsh mate lol

He is under massive pressure now though if we lose midweek.

I do think and it's clichéd I know, but the players really need the home support now more than ever and Arne absolutely deserves the chance to turn it around.

I think start with the basics of staying solid and working hard and things will come good again.

[kingfunk]

Apart from the throw ins I’m not buying this whole long ball spiel I think other teams are more hungry all over the field, they’ve got bigger, more physical, younger and more athletic players who are just toying with our players when it comes to duals.

[Charly]

The basics of the shape between the midfield and defence is missing. I feel like we need a proper DM who is happy to sit back and protect the back like like Grav was doing last.year.

At the moment it feels like the midfield goes missing and there is noone positioned correctly to win the second balls.

Klopp said his game wasnt particularly smart and he wasnt great tactically, which I call bull**** on. Our press was supersmart and we were contesting the league most years and reached multiple European finals on the back of it.

The press and shape was still in operation last year, albeit with less intensity, but Slot seems to have completely dropped it this year, and our players look confused... the opposition less so.

Its easy to question a manager based upon performances, and how a team is playing. We have all seen great managers lose the plot.

The problem we have now is the basics are all wrong. We got very lucky in those opening games, but we failed to build any momentum from it and our luck ran out.

Slot genuinely looks clueless. If plan a fails, he doesnt tinker, he throws it out of the window and then goes back to exactly the same the next game. We dont seem to be correcting for problems in our league games.

It would also help if he could "rest" Salah for a few games,as it feels like we are playing 10 v 12 at times.

If we dont start turning it around soon, we may risk our CL spot, and our finances now probably depend on that. FSG seem to have been pretty sensible with how they have played things in the past. They may have statistical models that explain why things are not quite working... but it feels to me like we are clueless as to what a premier league game entails.

I dont know how much Slot has control of the transfers, but a new DM and CB should have been much higher as a priority than spending 200m on 2 strikers when there was only one position available. Especially as Slot doesnt trust Endo at all. We stuttered last season when Gravs legs went.

I want to believe we can turn this around, but we have some tough games coming up. Weaker teams are bullying us physically and have pretty much figured us out. We need to get our.shape right during this time, on top of the pressure to reverse this awful run.

[danperkins]

I think it's pretty clear that the midfield and defence is the problem, our fullbacks have been pretty horrendous, CB's are making mistakes & the midfield are giving them no protection. I wonder would we benefit short term bringing Endo in & changing up both fullbacks. Gomez in for Bradley & Robbo in for Kerkez. Gomez won't give you much going forward but Bradley isn't doing that anyways & at least Gomez has pace and physicality which we desperately lack. Been saying for a awhile, i'm not sure on Bradley, he's ok imo. Kerkez, I just don't see it, imo he has been just completely headless, runs around like a mad man & does genuinely remind me of Alberto Moreno in that respect. As poor as Robbo has been, as it stands we haven't upgraded in Kerkez. We are still scoring goals and creating chances so that's not the immediate worry but we need to make ourselves harder to beat, it's dire straits at this stage and we need to stop the rot.

[Harv]

I think we are just incredibly unfit compared to other sides.

They all took it easy at the end of last season. Partied hard, intending to maybe come back early and get to work, except those plans were scuppered when Jota died. Instead they came back having to get their heads around what had happened to a friend and teammate. The first few weeks of preseason were spent dealing with a tragedy instead of getting fit or working on tactics etc.

It would explain why we're second to most balls, most players looking gassed after 10mins and the general lack of precision in our passing and movement.

[danperkins]

We do look slow and lethargic in comparison to other sides alright & are definitely getting out worked and bullied. We are all twisting ourselves in knots trying to think of who to bring in and what way to play etc but when we look at the squad right now, is it a squad that can win you the title? Imo it isn't, not because the individual talent isn't there but because the balance isn't there. With all that money spent it's crazy to think we actually might need another CB & another winger (Clearly doesn't fancy Chiesa). Both fullbacks struggle physically & Kerkez looks like we just brought him up from the youth team. Frimpong looks very light weight but hard to gauge him as he's constantly injured, I'm not really sure why we bought him to be honest. We are so narrow up and down both flanks aswell. I can't believe I'm even talking about bring Gomez in at right full and Robbo back at left full but we are in a downward spiral right now and Slot has to come up with something that works.

If we want Wirtz to work which just hasn't happened yet, surely he has to be as close to goal as possible. He's running around all over the place & not working in the spaces where we really need him. I do wonder if playing Endo, who is a dedicated DM, might give Wirtz less donkey work and more time and room to work at what he's is best at.

[kingfunk]

If long balls are the problem, then we should focus on stopping or at least minimising the opposition’s ability to play them. The way to do that is by returning to what we used to do best: heavy metal pressing. Relentless pressure. Press, press, and press again. Pressing should be the foundation of everything we do, forcing the opposition into mistakes, creating turnovers high up the pitch, and setting the tone for our entire game. From there, when we win those second balls, we can play our own football. Out of possession, we need to press like absolute lunatics. That intensity has been missing for quite some time, and maybe that’s where the answer lies, Mr Slot.

[Harv]

If long balls are the problem, then we should focus on stopping or at least minimising the opposition’s ability to play them. The way to do that is by returning to what we used to do best: heavy metal pressing. Relentless pressure. Press, press, and press again. Pressing should be the foundation of everything we do, forcing the opposition into mistakes, creating turnovers high up the pitch, and setting the tone for our entire game. From there, when we win those second balls, we can play our own football. Out of possession, we need to press like absolute lunatics. That intensity has been missing for quite some time, and maybe that’s where the answer lies, Mr Slot.

You need to be super fit to do that though and we don't look anywhere near it. Nor mentally switched on enough to read the game well enough to do it properly either. The amount of times Konate is getting caught daydreaming is a massive concern.

[Harv]

We do look slow and lethargic in comparison to other sides alright & are definitely getting out worked and bullied. We are all twisting ourselves in knots trying to think of who to bring in and what way to play etc but when we look at the squad right now, is it a squad that can win you the title? Imo it isn't, not because the individual talent isn't there but because the balance isn't there. With all that money spent it's crazy to think we actually might need another CB & another winger (Clearly doesn't fancy Chiesa). Both fullbacks struggle physically & Kerkez looks like we just brought him up from the youth team. Frimpong looks very light weight but hard to gauge him as he's constantly injured, I'm not really sure why we bought him to be honest. We are so narrow up and down both flanks aswell. I can't believe I'm even talking about bring Gomez in at right full and Robbo back at left full but we are in a downward spiral right now and Slot has to come up with something that works.

If we want Wirtz to work which just hasn't happened yet, surely he has to be as close to goal as possible. He's running around all over the place & not working in the spaces where we really need him. I do wonder if playing Endo, who is a dedicated DM, might give Wirtz less donkey work and more time and room to work at what he's is best at.

I'd like us to just drop Salah and Gakpo to the bench and try something different

A midfield of Wirtz in the hole, buzzing around the front 2 of Ekitike and Isak. Then Macca and Dom as the main mids with Grav sitting in behind in the role he played last season.

Then let Kerkez/Robbo + Bradley/frimpong create the width like they are used to doing without having to worry about defending so much.

More bodies in midfield stops sides just carving us open so easily and provides cover for the fullbacks and centrebacks

TBH that's surely the formation whoever pulled the trigger on all these signings had in mind when they did so.

The formation we're playing now just isn't working and if Slot cant make it work or adjust he'll be out IMO.

[kingfunk]

You need to be super fit to do that though and we don't look anywhere near it. Nor mentally switched on enough to read the game well enough to do it properly either. The amount of times Konate is getting caught daydreaming is a massive concern.

Konate is a disaster, within a few minutes of us conceding from a throw in, what does he do, instead of hoofing the ball upfield, he kicks it out for another throw in the exact same spot. I sometimes wonder what nursery rhyme is playing inside his head.

[kingfunk]

When it comes to things like transfers, David Lynch is a bit of a blagger, but this is a great video worth watching and it explains really why we are ****ed this season and all the problems we’re having at the moment. Definitely worth the watch.

https://youtu.be/bLe2QUiUAtA?si=jT77hrIhkkcftLPl

[Buzzo]

I think we are just incredibly unfit compared to other sides.

They all took it easy at the end of last season. Partied hard, intending to maybe come back early and get to work, except those plans were scuppered when Jota died. Instead they came back having to get their heads around what had happened to a friend and teammate. The first few weeks of preseason were spent dealing with a tragedy instead of getting fit or working on tactics etc.

It would explain why we're second to most balls, most players looking gassed after 10mins and the general lack of precision in our passing and movement.

Also explains how the initial games were turned into wins almost out of desire to do it for him, but that’s not a sustainable mind set or tactic.

It’s hard for anyone to quantify the affect of Jotas death. Allied to that you’ve got a whole lot of players who wouldn’t have known him turning up into this environment where everyone is coping with grief and mourning. I still think about Jota a lot - imagine what it’s like for them?

There is so much to sort out, I can’t see it being a quick fix at all.

We also miss the player. He was so good in games like the one on Saturday when we are up against it in a hostile atmosphere. He had that level of fight and tenacity and could deliver from the bench or from starting.