It’s time for Slot and Frank to go, Liverpool ‘have no identity’ and Spurs are meant to be ‘happy with 15th’

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·25 January 2026

It’s time for Slot and Frank to go, Liverpool ‘have no identity’ and Spurs are meant to be ‘happy with 15th’

The Mailbox can’t see a way back for Liverpool boss Arne Slot or Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank after their latest poor results in the Premier League.

Plus, Bruno Fernandes is already in the all time XI conversation, too much hype around some Premier League players and the Champions League is awful.

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Liverpool turned into Man Utd over the summer…

I wrote after the win on Wednesday complaining that, despite the win, we didn’t look good. I feel today vindicated after that.

This is not a Bournemouth in form; they had 1 win in their last 12 before today and had just sold their star player a few weeks ago. But today the stats gurus will know we lost on xG and the people with eyes could see what I was still seeing on Wednesday.

Catastrophic individual errors are definitely to blame; we have now conceded the first shot on target in 7 games this season (I’m pretty sure this is right but someone correct me if I’m off). Last season we saved 88% of all shots faced, this season it’s 60%. Today Van Dijk fluffs a clearance and it leads to a goal, Kerkez lets his man get so inside him that it’s basically sodomy and that leads to another. Long throw leads to a goal in 90+ minutes…honestly who are these people wearing the Liverbird.

Simple questions deserve to be answered; if Slot was telling the players to kick it out so Endo could come on why did the players ignore the instruction? Maybe they ignore his most simple instructions because they see that every week he plays Gakpo so they figure he is clearly an idiot. How does it make sense to move Szoboslai to right back every week when we are losing games when that’s literally not led to a single point gained?

It was sort of funny how we turned into Man Utd this summer; spent massive money on players we didn’t need whilst ignoring the glaring issues in defence. I remember their lot spent years imagining a bright future once Shaw was fit. We have the same thing now wondering if Gomez and Bradley can play the starring roles in our defence. We should really just complete the arc by firing Slot and hiring Stevie until the summer in the name of vibes. To be fair the vibes literally couldn’t be worse so I’m joking but I’m also totally up for this at this point. Any new manager would surely provide a bounce at this stage and that might be enough to hold fourth spot.

I saw that Hughes and Edwards both see their contracts at Liverpool expiring in 18 months. After years of both being seen as Gods among men in football their stock literally couldn’t be lower right now. The entire lot of them; players, manager, coaches and directors should all be embarrassed at the parts they’ve played in taking the best team in the league and making it a joke. Minty, LFC

Hokey Cokey

I’ve never been in to the old in/out positioning on a manager. I tend not to think things are as binary behind the scenes as we think they are. Except for the terminal decline cases where there’s nasty leaks to the press or significant actual failure, e.g. taking a team from 5th to 15th.

But for the first time that I can remember I’m putting my left foot in…

Slot out.

I can think of many mitigations. New signings taking time to settle. Injuries to a few key players. Steve Parish changing his mind.

I can also think of some criticisms, which in themselves aren’t enough to warrant termination.

But here’s my problem. We have no identity. Under Klopp if a player was injured the deputy or the deputy to the deputy would just seamlessly step in because the system was so clearly understood. It was fundamental. That’s why we had so many players break into the first team at young ages, it was ingrained.

I’ve seen moments where tactically Slot has been astute. Switching formations in game. Adjusting starting line ups for a specific team. But strategically I can’t see an overly identity. It’s definitely not “intensity” (a la Lijnders). We’re are to slow, too cautious, too predictable and have been for a long time. Last season’s trophy disguises a second half of the season where performances dipped and competition faded away.

I want to believe in this Slot team (i certainly believe in the players themselves) but I don’t know what it is I’m meant to believe in.

Oh and now it’s 3-2.. so my right leg is in too. TM

Just past half way in the Liverpool – Bournemouth game so might be made a fool of. But I don’t imagine so. For a long time I’ve been in the “give Slot more time” club. There was a lot of change, don’t need to rehash losing TAA, selling Diaz & Nunez, Jota’s tragic passing, injuries to Leoni etc.But when Bournemouth’s first goal went in there was no surprise. It was the expected thing. I don’t particularly have a problem with Liverpool losing or being fourth or lower—I think the Premier League is very competitive with very good clubs and I don’t have an expectation that we’ll win every game. But it would be nice to see some sort of game plan, some kind of passion and attempt to win.

Taking Frimpong off instead of Salah is terrible I think. I don’t understand why he has just been welcomed back and given a full game against Marseille and then a start again. But all that drama aside, he was bland again against Bournemouth. Couldn’t dribble, too slow to get on to through balls. Frimpong has been dynamic.

He’s been playing well at right back and even better further up the field. Taking him off and moving Soboslai to right back is just very confusing.

Anyway, I believe in giving a coach time but I feel that Slot has had a lot of time and we haven’t seen much change. I think a coach deserves time if you can clearly see that they’re trying something and it might take awhile to click. I can’t see what he’s doing or trying.

If Alonso is free and interested I’d say let him have a go. Daniel (LFC), Melbourne

Liverpool…

Was VVD at fault for all the goals? Wafting a leg then failing to even attempt to block the cross for the first. Playing the attacker onside for the second when the rest of his line (that he should be leading) were not. And tripping over his own player in failing to prevent the third? If the criticism of Salah and him being dropped was valid, surely the same must now be said of VVD?
How many excuses did Slot have? We were tired, we don’t have enough players (£400 million, cough, cough), we had to travel to Europe, we have injuries, the officials, not enough injury time, etc. etc. Jeez.
Are Liverpool the worst champions ever?
I don’t wish ill of anyone (but I look forward to reading some people’s obituaries – Trump) but Arne Slot looked at one point as if he was going to have a heart attack, put him out of his misery before it’s too late.

The kings are dead and dying. Long may it continue. Colin

Frank surely has to be done at Tottenham

So this season we have scraped late draws against Burnley and Wolves, and lost to Wolves and Forest. We beat Leeds before their formation change, but does anyone think we would beat them now? The only hope we seem to have is that Romero and Van de Ven will bail us out again.

What is Thomas Frank actually bringing to the team here? What is the tactical plan for creating chances? What is the plan for rebuilding the mental strength of the team? Why is anyone dragging this out? Nobody seems to want Thomas Frank in charge any more, except a handful of pundits who seem to think Spurs should be happy with 15th place and Vinai Venkatesham, who apparently hasn’t realised he doesn’t work for Arsenal any more.

In the summer I thought Frank was a decent appointment, but sometimes you just have to admit when you’re wrong. This has been shit from start to finish and ending it will be a mercy. Harry, THFC

Bruno is already in the all time XI conversation

I was scouring football media (as you do) and stumbled on one of those tired hypotheticals: “Would Bruno Fernandes make an all time XI?”

Minutes hadn’t even passed before the predictable Bruno disrespect rolled in the comments section. But why wouldn’t he make that XI? On what serious footballing criteria is he excluded?

He already is the all time Premier League benchmark for modern No.10s. And that’s before you factor in the context: he’s putting up these numbers in this Manchester United team, not a peak City or Liverpool machine.

Bruno isn’t just productive, he’s transformational. Since he arrived, United’s attack has basically been a one man creative industry. Goals, assists, chances created, the whole lot.

He will be the difference against Arsenal. And when it’s all done, he’ll know he was the flashlight through the wilderness.

Just in case you were wondering who those all time EPL No. 10s are:

1. Bruno Fernandes 2. Paul Scholes 3. Steven Gerrard 4. Frank Lampard 5. Kevin De Bruyne 6. Patrick Vieira 7. Roy Keane Gaptoothfreak, Man. Utd., New York (To be honest, Messi being the goated No. 10 kinda benches anyone trying to make an all time XI)

Believing the hype?

I was looking through some Premier League player stats recently and saw something that confirmed what I’ve been thinking about for a while. It has to do with some of the hype I’ve been seeing all season about some players that I just can’t wrap my head around. I’ll focus on 3 players here but it applies to a lot more.

I’ve read and heard many things this season about how Jeremy Doku is a great player. He’s generally considered the second beat City player after Haaland but there are some that’ll say he’s better. Pep has shifted City this season to a tactic that’s more direct and relies on counter attacks, something that should suit Doku more than most on the team. And yet, he has a SINGLE league goal all season. ONE.

I thought, maybe he’s not focused on goals but on assisting others but he’s got 4 assists. He plays with one of the best strikers the league has ever seen and a lot of good players bought for hundreds of millions of pounds and that’s all he’s got. If I widen the net to include other competitions, it’s even worse.

How is an attacker with ONE league goal all season getting this much hype. I can understand it if he’s an 18 year old just having a break out season for Burnley or Wolves but this is a guy playing for City. This isn’t to say he’s not a good player. I’m simply saying I can’t understand the hype.

Another player that fits this is Noni Madueke. I remember the first couple months of the season, seeing many people talk about how great Noni has been. There were a lot of shouts about his being the signing of the season. All of this while he’s yet to register a goal or assist in the league. In fact, Noni has now gone a year without either in the league.

Seeing all of those praises about him made me realise people don’t actually watch Chelsea. All the things he was doing for Arsenal that were praised to the heavens were exactly what he was doing for Chelsea and got no praises for. Noni has mastered the art of looking very good without, you know, actually being good. He will face his full back, beat him, but his cross will always be slightly off. It’s always so close to his teammates so you think it’s just a matter of time until he assists or scores but that time has yet to arrive so far.

Don’t even get me started in Grealish. The most overrated player in the league. I get that he’s a lovely chap and people are happy for him because he’s finally enjoying his football and “free” from Guardiola’s shackles. Shackles that are somehow absent on Doku but I digress. At least in terms of the numbers he’s done better than the first 2. But then, half of his (2) goals was a tackle and half of his assists were simple 5 yard sideways passes that his teammates put in the top corner from 25 yards. There have been multiple calls for him to be brought back into the England fold but thankfully, Tuchel is too smart for that.

In this Everton team, players like James Garner and Dewsbury-Hall have been better but he somehow gets all the praise. The fact that his presence has shunted Iliman Ndiaye (my favourite Everton player. Garner is a close second) to the side is unfortunate. Something that I think Everton will regret long-term.

This isn’t to say any of these players are bad. They’re certainly good players. What I’m trying to say is that the hype just doesn’t meet the reality. Rant over. Abdulazeez (The Premier League this season is legit hard. The gap in quality between the teams is the closest it’s ever been. People say it’s been a bad season but it looks that way because everyone is good) Bristol