Arne Slot has ‘earned the right’ to fix Liverpool even with Alonso looming… | OneFootball

There’s a staunch defence of Arne Slot at Liverpool before a summer of managerial change across the Premier League.

We have tried to largely move on from Arsenal and VAR. Send your mails to theeditor@football365.com

Premier League anti-climax?

I can’t be bothered to actually work through the permutations, but I have a horrible feeling there is going to be very little to play for on the final day. Maybe just where Bournemouth and Brighton finish. Maybe. Everything else settled by Tuesday 19th.

After a genuinely fascinating season too. Shame. Gary AVFC, Oxford (Sort of glad I missed the West Ham/Arsenal game playing cricket)

The manager merry-go-round is setting off soon

This summer, the World Cup will probably steal some column inches away from all the transfer speculation but for me, I think the more intriguing story of the summer will be the impending Managerial Merry-Go-Round about to take place in the EPL.

Depending upon where the trophies (and fines!) land, we could potentially see new managers at, off the top of my head, City, United, Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Palace, Liverpool, Palace, Bournemouth, Newcastle, and possibly more. That’s close to half the teams, not including some possible changes in the promoted and relegated teams. This may well be unprecedented. Speculating about this potential Musical Chairs would require something way beyond a crystal ball but, I’ll have a lash…

City – Pep seems to have that “short-timers” look doesn’t he, and if he wins another League title, that may be it for him. There has been speculation about Maresca but were Enrique to win the Champions League again, his style of play seems most similar.

Arsenal – I think even the most die-hard Gooner would concede that if Arteta does not win a trophy, he will be gone. Fabregas would be nailed on.

Liverpool – Securing Champions League football next season would be an achievement for most teams but Slot seems almost certain to be for the chop, especially as there is a Alonso-sized image looming in the rear mirror.

Chelsea – Lampard… again? Surely not. They need a Coach who would gain immediate respect. Deschamps seems to fit the bill.

Newcastle – Howe seems to have run his course, hasn’t he, especially as they look like missing out on CL football. Iraola has that energy that would re-invigorate the North East.

Spurs – De Zerbi to perform the “seven sisters miracle.”

Bournemouth – Glasner a square peg into a square hole?

MUFC – A lot of stars would need to be aligned, and a huge wad of cash available for Enrique to be tempted, especially with other offers. Will MUFC miss out again like they did for Pep? Assuming Enrique is not available, are there better options than Carrick? Surely not Poch! But, should Simeone become available…

Screw the Trump World Cup I almost can’t wait for August already! Adidasmufc

(So many other candidates Low, Nagelsman, Allegri, etc. still on the table)

In defence of Arne Slot

I’ve reached my limit with the binary vitriol currently being hurled at Arne Slot. We seem to live in a world where you’re either a tactical genius or a complete fraud, with no room for the nuance of a transition.

To the fans calling for his head: you don’t renovate your house while living in it and then complain that you’re getting wet when it rains. Slot won the league in his first season, and his name was being sung from the rafters, yet one ‘freakish’ year of injuries and player turnover later, and the pitchforks are out. The obsession with Xabi Alonso is a classic case of the grass being greener, conveniently forgetting he was paid to leave Madrid within months of starting, with a side much more capable than ours, and including one of our own.

Slot didn’t become a bad manager overnight. He is acutely aware of the squad’s limitations. If anything, he’s currently paying the price for the fans’ own sentimentality. Last summer I think I wrote in (I cant remember) to say to let Salah and Virgil go, but the fanbase clamoured for them to stay. We’ve seen how that’s worked out, so be careful what you wish for.

Look at the landscape – Arsenal have spent a billion over five years to finally look competitive (with a fair bit of VAR assistance), while Manchester City operate in a financial stratosphere that defies logic and years of legal wrangling.

This isn’t a one-year project. Slot deserves one more season to finish the job he started before we pass final judgment. This year has been a perfect storm of injuries, aging icons, and genuine player tragedy. He has earned the right to fix it.

Turning to ticketing, it’s time for some uncomfortable honesty. If you can’t afford your season ticket, let it go. There are hundreds of thousands of fans across the country who would gladly pay over £1k for that seat without reselling it to cover costs.

We don’t have state-funded oil money. If we want to compete for elite talent, the revenue has to come from everywhere. The latest ‘fan-led’ campaign feel less like protecting the community and more like protecting the subsidised privileges of a few, while the rest of us are forced to pay £250 for a single game through hospitality. FSG don’t take a penny out of the club; every cent stays in your club.

Stop speaking for “all fans” when you’re only speaking for an entitled minority. Give the manager time, give the club the means to compete, and let’s stop living in the past. Nick

Where are the Liverpool strikers?

I get that Liverpool are trying to share the goalscoring burden among different players, with midfielders contributing a bit, and some of the forwards have been injured this season. But where have the good strikers gone?

Currently, Ekitiké is the highest scorer with 11 league goals. For context, that’s fewer than Junior Kroupi at Bournemouth and at a scoring rate per 90 mins equivalent to Danny Welbeck. There’s no other Liverpool player in the top 25!

We mustn’t forget that there were poor strikers at LFC in the past: Djibril Cissé (13 league goals in 49 appearances), Diouf (3 Premier League goals in 55 appearances), and Balotelli (1 Premier League goal in 16 appearances).

But there were so many years, whether it was Torres and Gerrard, Suarez and Sturridge, or Salah, Firmino and Mané, when you watched just expecting more goals rather than hoping not to lose a 1-0 lead. Those partnerships, under three different managers, were far more entertaining than the current lot.

A suspect defence won’t win you titles but fans can live with it if the goals are flying in the other end as well. What is woeful at the moment is that none of this squad look likely to score. It might happen, but it’s completely unexpected if it does.

Hopefully whoever replaces Slot doesn’t make the mistake of bringing in another player with a huge price tag and huge pressure. You would hope that he can set up a team to get the most out of two or three forwards, and more than one of them can get into double figures. Paul (Zian Flemming would be a nice addition)

Well done Marcus Rashford

Just a quickie to say congratulations to Rashford and his league title winner’s medal.

He accepted being a squad player and the injury hit Raphinha allowed him to make a decent impact culminating in a peach of a goal. I hope he gets his Catalan contract to crown his services to help poor children in England.

And to the 16 Conclusions team for efficient and effervescent dissecting of that London derby .

Just a good England team in the World Cup knock out rounds to make it a top season of footie. Peter (Leeds could save the Irons tonight), Andalucia

Premier League sliding into Serie A territory

I agree with Ben that the Premier League could be heading in the same direction as the Serie A, but I would say that has more to do with the endemic diving, cheating and feigning injury instead of the general weakness of the refereeing.

I watched West Ham – Arsenal on Sunday and it seemed as if every single player was instructed to feign injury after every lost tackle or challenge. In the first 20 minutes, there must have been six such incidents and surprisingly the referee ignored most of them. The ignored player has to then continue play-acting or get up, because otherwise his cheating has meant that it’s 11 v 10 in the opponent’s favour. Nine times out of ten, the player gets up, pretends he’s suffering and then gets on with the game. In good English ‘it does my head in’ and makes me want to switch off. I’m fairly certain, I’m not alone. G Thomas, Breda

Okay, a little bit on Arsenal and VAR

It’s never about one game or one incident and the team that wins it deserves it. It’s the iron rule, even when my lot are likely to be on the wrong side of it.

It’s also a foul but the referee could have decided that there was so much going on from both sides that what happens, happens. Maybe the referee should have acknowledged the foul but then examined a selection of offences meriting a penalty before Pablo and Raya came together. But maybe it’s just a foul.

The issue isn’t that incident in isolation. It’s Arsenal fans expecting the goal to be given if it was at the other end. Those of us who remember Ederson literally being pushed to the ground but that being AOK will think wistfully of that moment as they watch Joe Root caress another boundary this summer.

This is a developing City team. 80 to 85 points was about as good as it was going to get this season – maybe a couple more if Rodri had returned to full fitness earlier. The only question was whether another team could get more. Next season, City should be aiming for something in the 90s.

Arsenal aren’t there yet but the finishing line is in sight. They need to hold their nerve and City need to win their games. If they get there, I will doff my hat and look forward to the cricket. Mark Meadowcroft

PS: I look forward to hearing from the halfwits who still think Sheikh Mansour is bribing VAR. They do exist and we could all do with a laugh.

Corner solution

Surely the simplest solution to the mayhem at corner kicks would be to change the law to state that the ball is deemed to be in play when the referee blows his whistle to signal to the corner taker to proceed.

That way, anything that happens in the box following the whistle can be dealt with by a free kick or a penalty depending on the offence.

Defenders and attackers would have to immediately disengage from the pushing & shoving we see constantly as soon as the whistle is blown or face the consequences.

It doesn’t matter if the corner taker then takes another 10 or 20 seconds to actually take the corner kick, if the whistle has been blown the ball is deemed to be in play. Ray Buckley

Man City and Arsenal Conspiracy Corner

I found Dave Tickner’s/Football365’s conclusions regarding the West Ham v Arsenal a good read. One comment I found extremely funny was his off the cuff, light hearted remark about the conspiracy for City to win the league amusing. Why? It puts, I like to think, my well constructed and researched anti City and valid excuses for City snatching the title unfairly from my beloved Arsenal rather than them bottling it to bed!

My explanation/excuse lined up with a bit of genuine suspicion starts with the fact that Michael Oliver was appointed as referee for the Everton v City game. I wasn’t happy with the additional injury time he added on which enabled City to equalise. My problem with Oliver refereeing City games is to do with a conflict of interest in the fact he was paid a decent sum by an entity owned by City to referee a game in the UAE. I had just about chilled from that and then I noticed that amongst the officials for the West Ham v Arsenal game, the referee, Kavanagh was the ref who controversially sent Rice off last season, the assistant was Dan Cook and the person in charge of the VAR was Darren England. Both the latter are in the same group as Oliver as officials handsomely awarded by the entity owned by City for officiating in the UAE. Prior to the game it stenched of corruption full stop!

Well, after the VAR hoo hah, I eat humble pie as if there was a conspiracy towards City winning the title as Mr Tickner insinuated in a tongue in cheek manner that would have been the time to imply it! However, that didn’t happen.

Social media sites are having a field day at the moment by reeling people in with pictures at different angles arguing for and against in true clickbait manner! I’m enjoying just reading it all. It’s crept into the Football365 mailbox and comments too. It makes the hatred for Arsenal even more satisfying. Psychologically why don’t you rival fans realise why us Arsenal fans have become so smug and arrogant without winning anything. You make Arsenal seem like the biggest and most important club in the country with your bitterness towards anything Arsenal attempt to do or might achieve. It’s hilarious!

Anyway, nobody seems to want to talk about the game but very quickly, I remember earlier in the season writing in and singing Trossard’s praises and what an asset he was then. For whatever reason he seemed to lose his mojo but based on the last few games he’s certainly found it again. Also, after Arteta potentially making the worst substitution/tactical rearrangement of his managerial career so far at least he was bold enough to rectify it and by taking Zubimendi off (cruel but kind and necessary (another player I was buzzing about earlier in the season but is now totally out of form and needs, at the moment to be rested)) he introduced a player that has been on the borderline of coming back in Ødegaard who steadied the ship and set up the winner and, taking nothing away from my hero Raya, potentially was the real man of the match. The passion he showed when Trossard scored was the sign of a true captain devoted to his cause!

I could hark on because anyone who still wants to call Arsenal and their games boring might want to have a rethink about that!

Well, Arsenal don’t do anything easily and even though things are healthy with two games to go I’m still not relaxed about things! Chris, Croydon

The Real Arsenal Conspiracy

I can take no credit for this one as the BBC blew this wide open at the weekend. David Raya supposedly has massive hands, some say the biggest in football. But Rob Green, former England “legend” forgot his gloves when travelling to Blackburn when Raya was the third choice keeper for the one time Premier League champions. Upon asking Blackburn if he could borrow some spare gloves, Rob Green was presented with David Raya’s gloves.

Here’s where shit gets weird: Rob Green says David Raya’s gloves were tiny and barely fit him! Raya’s hands look massive at Arsenal.

If I were a City fan I’d be lodging a complaint with the Premier League to have Raya’s hands looked at. Wouldn’t surprise me if Arteta and his team, in a bid for every possible marginal gain, had provided Raya with some prosthetic gloves to make his hands bigger. A bit like Inspector Gadget I suppose.