Arne Slot

[SB]

Roughly zero I'd say.

The haters are still gunna hate

[Deano]

Slot retains the backing of FSG, who have no plans to follow the lead of rivals Manchester United and Chelsea by making a managerial change mid-campaign.

However, if he’s going to stop haemorrhaging support among the fanbase he needs to find momentum, and fast. There appeared to be no obvious replacement for those demanding change. That’s no longer the case following Xabi Alonso’s exit from Real Madrid.

Alonso, who has a close bond with Liverpool dating back to his playing days on Merseyside between 2004 and 2009, would have been a strong candidate to succeed Jurgen Klopp in 2024 if he hadn’t vowed to stay at Bayer Leverkusen for another year. Slot then emerged as an emphatic first choice for FSG CEO of football Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes in their data-led search.

From James Pearce

S much on Richard Huhges as is Slot IMO

[Doc_Piptorious]

Slot retains the backing of FSG, who have no plans to follow the lead of rivals Manchester United and Chelsea by making a managerial change mid-campaign.

However, if he’s going to stop haemorrhaging support among the fanbase he needs to find momentum, and fast. There appeared to be no obvious replacement for those demanding change. That’s no longer the case following Xabi Alonso’s exit from Real Madrid.

Alonso, who has a close bond with Liverpool dating back to his playing days on Merseyside between 2004 and 2009, would have been a strong candidate to succeed Jurgen Klopp in 2024 if he hadn’t vowed to stay at Bayer Leverkusen for another year. Slot then emerged as an emphatic first choice for FSG CEO of football Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes in their data-led search.

From James Pearce

Think, despite what Pearce is suggesting about Alonso, that there is still no obvious replacement out there right now if the trigger were to be pulled in January.


If our squad was not added to in January, and based on how Alonso set up his teams at Leverkusen and how he tried to do at Real, does anyone think we really have the players, again right now, for him to play that gets a lot of better results than Slot between now and the end of the season?

I'm not so sure on that.

Xabi had stacked options at the back at Leverkusen and lots of pace across the back line and with his back ups there.

He also had depth in the middle and up front.

Now we do have some better individuals than what he had in his Leverkusen team and two of the best players from that very team, but think Alinso would look at our current squad and say the exact same thing many here are saying and that is he would need a CB, a CM and an attacker this window and in the summer he would need another CB and possibly another CM (depending on whether MacAllister stays).

Another thing that made a big difference for Alonso at Leverkusen was the amount of raw pace he had running through the team. We simply do not have that. Plus even with that pace in the team Alonso did play a slow possession based game a lot of the time.

So if he came here and played that slower possession based style that he used at both Leverkusen and Real but with our squad that has less pace spread around it, then what exactly would he be bringing, in the short term, that Slot is not doing now?

Personally think we need a different style of manager is Slot goes in the summer. Unless of course we upgrade a few positions and bring in much needed pace and physicality to them on top of having the ball palying ability we always need.

[peterbread]

It looks like Alonso is going to have a break and wait for the end of the season before taking another job. Makes sense to wait so he has a full preseason to build his team.

Is Alonso fixed on that system or is he a bit more flexible. Didn’t he use three at the back at Leverkusen due to the squad he had?

The league is in a very different place now as well. The top level has dropped from the peak Liverpool and City period but the middle has improved so it’s all a lot closer.

So many teams are very well organised defensively making it much harder to open teams up than it was previously.

We need a coach who knows how to counter this and get the best out of the attacking talent we have and to find the right type of players to make sure we can beat all teams and approaches. A bit more flexibility would be ideal.

[Myo]

Could it not be argued that if he is successful in setting up his teams to keep his job, that Liverpool FC would benefit?


There will be no doubt minimum expectations when it comes to keeping his job, if he hits at least those come the end of the season then he may well have earned another season to show this season was a (big) blip.


Just to play devil's advocate a little....say we finish this season somewhere between 4th and 2nd that may be enough to give him a shot to do beter next season. Would argue each position above 4th improves that chance.


Or if we finish between 4th and 2nd plus we win a trophy. Then he becomes a manager that has won a major bit of silverware in each of his seasons with us plus kept us in the CL.


I think there is no doubt that good arguements could be made to replace him, but at the same time I think, despite some performances on the pitch, that very thin lines are still at play between a poor season and an acceptable to decent one.


Plus there is another factor that has to be in play if the nuclear option of changing manager is in consideration. Who exactly is available right now?


The biggest name would be Alonso, but if slow build ups are a problem under Slot then I suggest folk look at how Alonso set Real up at times and how he set Leverkusen up a lot.

Even a quality interim manager, and we would need a quality one and not some stop gap figurehead, would be difficult to get imo. The one guy I can think of is the obvious name in Klopp, but that would require him wanting it, his current emplyers being willing to let him go and of course how much it might cost to buy out his contract.

Plus another factor with the bring Klopp back until the summer scenario is that we would need to have a quality manager pretty much nailed on now to join come June.

I also think that a lot of this season is not 100% on Slot.

Jota we have all discussed a lot and that has to still be a factor. But the performances of certain players is also a thing, players we do not have like for like replacements for at present so they are less likely to be dropped.

We also have been highly unlucky with injuries and slow to react this window to those injuries. Don't think with our transfer set up that we can put a lack of players inbound on Slot.

Maybe we have tried for summer targets and been told they will not move until the summer, but I won't be blaming Slot for that side of things. However I do think if we had reinforced early this month that an injection of some quality might well be making a difference now and possibly turning draws into wins a little more often.

I also think there is an element at play that involves us as a fanbase too. I reckon we are getting a bit of a spoiled brat syndrome at times. We get served **** sandwiches, we don't get entertained enough and we want changes and wins NOW.

We are a bit over half way through what we are calling an awful season (a season 16 other clubs in the league would be saying yes please to) and we are at times losing our heads as a fanbase.

Yes there are a lot of things we should be questioning as fans, yes it is easy to see flaws in the team and management, but we are also the ones that need to be giving support to the team, the manager and the club.

We can say it is on the club to entertain us, but what happened to You'll Never Walk Alone? What happened to sticking together through the bad times?

If it is only about being entertained, then fire up Netflix or Prime Video and fill your boots. Supporting a team does not come with any guarantee of being entertained or wins, just the hope of those things along with feeling part of a larger community.


For me it is pretty simple what needs to happen. We bring in at least one quality player this window (a CB ) or if two players the second is a pacy attacker. Then give Slot the rest of the season to hit or beat the minimum targets for this season. If he succeeds then we build on that in the summer, if he does not, well a new manager has a squad with that new cB and attacker already settled in.

Very sound and measured Jaco, cannot disagree

[The_weatherman]

It looks like Alonso is going to have a break and wait for the end of the season before taking another job. Makes sense to wait so he has a full preseason to build his team.

Is Alonso fixed on that system or is he a bit more flexible. Didn’t he use three at the back at Leverkusen due to the squad he had?

The league is in a very different place now as well. The top level has dropped from the peak Liverpool and City period but the middle has improved so it’s all a lot closer.

So many teams are very well organised defensively making it much harder to open teams up than it was previously.

We need a coach who knows how to counter this and get the best out of the attacking talent we have and to find the right type of players to make sure we can beat all teams and approaches. A bit more flexibility would be ideal.

This is true, and we weren't the only side to drop points last weekend. Unfortunately I think Arsenal found the best way to beat a low block, it's through set pieces. If you can master that side and garner 10 corners a game, you might stand a better chance against 10 internationals defending the box. Alas, we appear not to have been coached in attacking nor defending set pieces and we have a limp mentality as well, which IMO comes from the manager first.

Then there is the squad which was ripped up last summer and not finished, we desperately need a CB and number 6, we can't wait around forever. We also need a fast winger, it's so obvious what we need it's ridiculous. But we've managed to put ourselves in a hopeless position HG wise so we need to target players like Wharton, Cresswell etc. which makes missing out on Semenyo and Guehi all the more galling.

Hughes and Edwards have hamstrung Slot, but he also deserves all the criticism for how he uses the squad (Gakpo undroppable, using Kerkez wrong f.x.) and his man-management.

[baitman]

Talking of set pieces, I see little macallister marking 6ft 4" opposition defenders on corners, its comedy gold. We really need to sign players who have a bit more ballast.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Talking of set pieces, I see little macallister marking 6ft 4" opposition defenders on corners, its comedy gold. We really need to sign players who have a bit more ballast.

To be fair it was Gravenberch taking up that position prior to that, so MacAllister as the sub for Gravenberch had to take up the same positions on set pieces.

[danperkins]

He is setting up teams to keep his job, not for the benefit of Liverpool FC or its players

It does seem that way, reckon he knows he's gone in the summer. His goal imo is to hang onto 4th & I'm pretty sure he'll be gone in the summer... we're not good enough to win anything else & 4th is achievable if we just find some semblance of a plan... as everyone around us apart from Arsenal are pretty **** too.

Weird thing is that if he does leave in the summer and we somehow have secured 4th place, a league title & champs league place in back to back seasons will be seen as a big success. That's not to say I think he should be LFC manager beyond the summer but I thought we'd be in the ****ter immediately after Klopp left & winning the league was a bit of a shock for us all as we thought the transition would be the first season, seems now it's the 2nd season.

[Doc_Piptorious]

It does seem that way, reckon he knows he's gone in the summer. His goal imo is to hang onto 4th & I'm pretty sure he'll be gone in the summer... we're not good enough to win anything else & 4th is achievable if we just find some semblance of a plan... as everyone around us apart from Arsenal are pretty **** too.

Weird thing is that if he does leave in the summer and we somehow have secured 4th place, a league title & champs league place in back to back seasons will be seen as a big success. That's not to say I think he should be LFC manager beyond the summer but I thought we'd be in the ****ter immediately after Klopp left & winning the league was a bit of a shock for us all as we thought the transition would be the first season, seems now it's the 2nd season.

Think that is a great point that often gets lost when we are frustrated with results and/or performances.

We were due a transition under Slot at some point, we for the most part probably expected it when you said and not a season in.

It begs the question, about this season, of whether the slow raw tough to watch stuff is part of a genuine transition (coupled with really bad luck with injuries to both new and key players along with a huge tragedy in the summer) that would have seen a slump regardless (maybe made worse by injuries/tragedy etc) and that will then go in an upward trajectory next season or if it is a genuine malaise that requires a fresh start altogether.


Makes one wonder how we would be loking now if Isak had not gotten all the injuries and been fully fit by October and still in the team and if we had not been hit with constant injuries across our back line.

All ifs and buts of course, but think just having stability in our selection options at the back and a fit clinical finisher up front might have seen us 5 to 8 points better off than we are now. Would still be a downturn on last season but maybe one that was that bit more palatable.

[frank the tank]

In hindsight, they didn't sign enough players last year and too many this year.

And I reckon the next couple of summers will be the same as last year as there will be a good few players that leave.

[frank the tank]

If isak and ekitike can both form a partnership with Wirtz, then next season could be brilliant

But if it is more of the same from isak next season, then we could be screwed again and slot will be out of a job. (Assuming he survives the summer)

[Kenneth]

It does seem that way, reckon he knows he's gone in the summer. His goal imo is to hang onto 4th & I'm pretty sure he'll be gone in the summer... we're not good enough to win anything else & 4th is achievable if we just find some semblance of a plan... as everyone around us apart from Arsenal are pretty **** too.

Weird thing is that if he does leave in the summer and we somehow have secured 4th place, a league title & champs league place in back to back seasons will be seen as a big success. That's not to say I think he should be LFC manager beyond the summer but I thought we'd be in the ****ter immediately after Klopp left & winning the league was a bit of a shock for us all as we thought the transition would be the first season, seems now it's the 2nd season.

I think labelling it as a transitional season would buy a lot of patience if we could see a plan emerging, maybe one limited by investment/personnel, or early confusion in the players that is gradually improving over time. We see poor football, pretty poor results and essentially no real improvement in the football being played. We were very good (title winning at a canter good) and if we are transitioning, it looks like a transition to a way of playing that the fans will not want.

I'll concede that the pressure on Slot does seem disproportionate on paper, he probably deserves way more time to improve things, looking at it objectively. As well as the sense that Klopp's team and klopp's motivation was largely responsible for last year's success, it's also Slot's personality, it's not endearing to anyone, maybe including the players. There is essentially zero emotional investment in him personally succeeding and he doesn't give fans cause to have any. Klopp was a leader of men, Alonso is a club legend who was key in Istanbul, Slot is just some bloke. LFC runs on emotion/romanticism and he's a poor match for that.

[baitman]

Slot just seems soulless, I can't see any connection with the players or fans.
His team talks must e like a health and safety presentation

[Exiled_red]

Could it not be argued that if he is successful in setting up his teams to keep his job, that Liverpool FC would benefit?


There will be no doubt minimum expectations when it comes to keeping his job, if he hits at least those come the end of the season then he may well have earned another season to show this season was a (big) blip.


Just to play devil's advocate a little....say we finish this season somewhere between 4th and 2nd that may be enough to give him a shot to do beter next season. Would argue each position above 4th improves that chance.


Or if we finish between 4th and 2nd plus we win a trophy. Then he becomes a manager that has won a major bit of silverware in each of his seasons with us plus kept us in the CL.


I think there is no doubt that good arguements could be made to replace him, but at the same time I think, despite some performances on the pitch, that very thin lines are still at play between a poor season and an acceptable to decent one.


Plus there is another factor that has to be in play if the nuclear option of changing manager is in consideration. Who exactly is available right now?


The biggest name would be Alonso, but if slow build ups are a problem under Slot then I suggest folk look at how Alonso set Real up at times and how he set Leverkusen up a lot.

Even a quality interim manager, and we would need a quality one and not some stop gap figurehead, would be difficult to get imo. The one guy I can think of is the obvious name in Klopp, but that would require him wanting it, his current emplyers being willing to let him go and of course how much it might cost to buy out his contract.

Plus another factor with the bring Klopp back until the summer scenario is that we would need to have a quality manager pretty much nailed on now to join come June.

I also think that a lot of this season is not 100% on Slot.

Jota we have all discussed a lot and that has to still be a factor. But the performances of certain players is also a thing, players we do not have like for like replacements for at present so they are less likely to be dropped.

We also have been highly unlucky with injuries and slow to react this window to those injuries. Don't think with our transfer set up that we can put a lack of players inbound on Slot.

Maybe we have tried for summer targets and been told they will not move until the summer, but I won't be blaming Slot for that side of things. However I do think if we had reinforced early this month that an injection of some quality might well be making a difference now and possibly turning draws into wins a little more often.

I also think there is an element at play that involves us as a fanbase too. I reckon we are getting a bit of a spoiled brat syndrome at times. We get served **** sandwiches, we don't get entertained enough and we want changes and wins NOW.

We are a bit over half way through what we are calling an awful season (a season 16 other clubs in the league would be saying yes please to) and we are at times losing our heads as a fanbase.

Yes there are a lot of things we should be questioning as fans, yes it is easy to see flaws in the team and management, but we are also the ones that need to be giving support to the team, the manager and the club.

We can say it is on the club to entertain us, but what happened to You'll Never Walk Alone? What happened to sticking together through the bad times?

If it is only about being entertained, then fire up Netflix or Prime Video and fill your boots. Supporting a team does not come with any guarantee of being entertained or wins, just the hope of those things along with feeling part of a larger community.


For me it is pretty simple what needs to happen. We bring in at least one quality player this window (a CB ) or if two players the second is a pacy attacker. Then give Slot the rest of the season to hit or beat the minimum targets for this season. If he succeeds then we build on that in the summer, if he does not, well a new manager has a squad with that new cB and attacker already settled in.

I agree with most of this, but the bit in bold in particular I feel comes back not just on the manager but other people in the club, we just don't have the squad depth, look at the bench on Saturday you are looking only MacAllister and Robertson as the outfield players who could have potentially started the game. When you are looking for a goal we only had Chiesa and Ngumoha as attacking options, Chiesa has done ok but was 6th choice last season Ngumoha is 17 and has yet to play more than 20mins of a PL game. Last season we would likely have had Nunez and Jota as well as Chiesa on the bench we would also have had Elliott as well as Endo and probably MacAllister yesterday (last season MacAllister probably starts with Jones on the bench) The squad depth just isn't there and that isn't down to the manager.

Yes people can talk about injuries but we only have 3 (Bradley, Leoni and Isak) Salah was away at AFCON too but we had known about that ahead of time and should have been planning for it. One of the strengths of Slot last season was the changes that he made from the bench but to me it doesn't look like he has the tools to do that at the moment. Yes you can make arguments that the side that he put out should be able to beat Burnley/Leeds/Sunderland etc. But to a certain extent I feel the manager's hands are tied in terms of options, and that isn't going to change if we get a new manager. I really feel we need more options, and that's not just about reacting to injuries it's long term squad building. My fear is that we have so few options players are going to get knackered and pick up more injuries, our options of who can pick get further diminished and our chances of top 4 are gone. We are only a couple of injuries or suspensions away from being screwed