Liverpool man ‘overcooks it’ as Arne Slot needs to make way for Xabi Alonso | OneFootball

Liverpool fans are despairing at this Liverpool team and what Arne Slot is doing to this team of champions.

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Sorry Arne Slot but Xabi Alonso in

You’ll have many of these but some business perspective on a football club.

Come this week Liverpool will be in the knockout stages of CL. They will still be comfortable favourites for top 4 and have a chance in the FA Cup.

The risk of disruption was, before Marseille, too great.

The likelihood of an adverse outcome in changing manger this week is now heavily reduced.

If Liverpool beat Qarag, it’s time to change manager because the manager they want is available and the consequence of change is likely just monetary.

If Liverpool don’t beat Qarag, the voices will be amplified but the outcome is exactly the same.

Am not in the Slot out brigade but I would like to see Alonso introduce his style to this team, and I believe he can without too much further change.

Sure Liverpool have the perfect storm of defensive frailties and need another player but that player should be of the design Alonso wants now.

Let’s have the change because it’s the right time to seize the opportunity. It’s not a reflection on Slot so much but rather missing Alonso now would be a significant opportunity missed for the club hierarchy.

Thanks Arne but the stars have aligned for Alonso. Chris Glasson

…Another dreadful Premier League performance from Liverpool. The ‘unbeaten’ streak was a red herring in that at no time did they ever look truly in control or winning. Except in Europe. They huff and they puff…slowly. Frank’s oil tanker simile perfectly explains Liverpool’s attacking style as on player after another moved forward and then slowly circled around to reset while the opponents have oodles of time to set themselves up to defend.

So Slot sees a win in Marseille using a 4-2-2-2 and decides to play the same system…with Gakpo. The man has no pace, can’t dribble, can’t go on the outside. His one trick is to come inside and shoot. Which works if the other team aren’t prepared for it but Prem teams are. He did well last year (as many in the team did) because Salah was on fire, the system was new, and the overload on the right meant he could glide in on the left often unmarked. And he had Diaz around to press and drag defences around. He was the beneficiary of the rest of the team not from what he could create by himself.

I am sure Ekitike was rested because of the next Champions League game and the need to prevent two more play-off games, but while Bournemouth played smartly, they were there for the taking. As, unfortunately many of the draws in the ‘unbeaten’ run.

Sure, Slot has had to deal with injuries, but then so have other managers. Slot has had to deal with player acquisitions that didn’t fit the old system and work out how to blend them in. But he was the one saying Liverpool needed to change to address the new reality of how opponents played. So I am sure he was okay with the acquisitions.

Liverpool needed to evolve a squad that has aged in place, lost Jota, Diaz and TAA who wanted to leave, all still in their prime, while replacing some of those aging out. But as the mantra goes, defences win you leagues. And even if the winner doesn’t have the lowest goals against record, they are usually one of the best.

For all the railing on Arteta he has evolved the Arsenal squad, which still has several years before they get to the place Liverpool was/is at. Have cleverly use set pieces as a weapon in the war on the low block and generally keep a very tight ship at the back – even with a boat load of injuries.

A change is needed at Liverpool. If Slot can’t see or find the path, will FSG, who are loathe to be in the manager flipping game decide to remove Slot? Given they blew a ton of money last summer – out of their normal mode, perhaps they will. Paul McDevitt

Liverpool are poor man’s Man City

Minty mentioned in the Mailbox today that Liverpool were like Man Utd. I disagree – I think that we are more like a poor man’s Man City. Passing the ball round for the sake of it with little to non end product.

The number of times I screamed at the TV for someone to shoot!

Wirtz was especially to blame. I like him and think he will turn out to be an excellent player, but for god’s sake, he does overcook it! Has Slot told the team that Szoboszlai is the only one allowed to take shots?

The other thing I was angry about was the re-introduction of the long throws. It took nearly all of added time for Bournemouth to take two throw ins. There should be some kind of time limit on these.

Also, when I grew up playing football, you had to take throw ins off the pitch. Hill’s foot was clearly on the line forl the throw-ins he took., which is considered part of the pitch.

Watch Declan Rice, his feet are always on and sometimes over the line.

This is a foul throw, do linos not bother looking for this anymore? Neil, LFC, USA

Stop the sack talk

Although I am all for underdogs like Bournemouth and Burnley bloodying the noses of top six clubs it saddens me a little to see all the journalists rage to get coaches sacked.

I did not watch the midweek successes of Thomas Frank and Arne Slot but coming back to the blistering heat of Premier League games would have concerned both coaches.

I’d personally point the finger at huge wage earners Messers Van Dijk and Mo Salah for not having Liverpool go in winning at half time. On the whole, Thomas Frank needs more time and to be unequivocally backed and Slot needs more from players on massive weekly wages.

Also good news (rumours) for the Gunners in that they are being connected to the signing of Julian Alvarez.

Lots to play for in this gruelling winter part of the season. Why oh why did they extend the Champions League beyond early December. That’s a rhetorical question obviously. Peter, Andulucia

Not sure what Chelsea are trying to do

Thoroughly confused by Chelsea tactics or rather lack of.. We look like collective of individuals with no plan no strategy, can’t identify the set up or what the game plan is.

We were extremely lucky that the missed pass landed at Estevao’s feet.. anyone other than him and Palmer it would have been smothered out.

Ever since Tuchel left we have struggled with our set up.. and while I am not in full disagreement with dismissal of Maresca .. at times we were able to play decent football.

I hope Rosenior finds his feet quickly, we have almost 4-5 World class players and apart from our CB’s and Keeper we have very well built squad. We should be playing classy controlled football which is easy on eye as against to whatever is that they are doing now .. which is recycling passes at center of the pitch and running scared of a team completely decimated.

Can’t seems to find updates on Palmer injury wonder what’s on with him.. why injuries are being hidden.

Finally a long time question in my mind for Chelsea faithfuls.. are we being limited by Stamford bridge narrow pitch which worked amazingly for us during Mourinho time with our defense first approach and stopping all passing lanes. With our new speedsters /playmakers and focus on wings does Bridge suffocate our wingers.. will we benefit from a larger pitch which seems to be the reason why we seem to do better away… thoughts ? B CFC

No. 10 nonsense

So I read Gaptoothfreak’s mail earlier with his list of ‘all time EPL No. 10s’ with interest, which had Bruno Fernandes as No. 1 (handily reinforcing his general point, but with no data to verify it) but he included Steven Gerrard as his No. 3, Patrick Viera as No. 6 and Roy Keane as No. 7.

Does anyone really consider these three players to be No. 10s in the same mould as Fernandes? I for one do not.

And to have Fernandes ‘rated’ above De Bruyne, is again in my opinion not correct at all.

But we all love opinions right? A, LFC, Montreal

The man is back already

How can this Arsenal lose to this Manchester United, led by the interim of the interim? My Gen Z nephew says they “fumbled the bag”. I say they fumbled something far more valuable: basic emotional stability.

Anyway, I got a very predictable reaction when I shared my list of all time Premier League No.10s in a WhatsApp footy group (yes, I’m in one; yes, I also have one for anime; yes, I am a dork) so I thought I’d share the logic here.

Now, if I’m naming an all time 4-2-3-1, Messi is free-roaming behind CR7. That’s not controversial, that’s just common sense dressed up as fantasy.

I picked the aforementioned list because I feel (know?) they’d do a similar job behind my 9 (especially the ones who can track back). Simple as that. Forgive me for believing in positional flexibility, it’s why Donnyell Malen (who can play as a FWR or an AMR) was playing as a 9 against AC Milan and why Pep has turned half of Europe into “hybrid interiors”.

But if we’re sticking to the proper, Barclays-approved definition of a No.10: central playmaker, between the lines, chief chance creator, allergic to tracking back, then the list looks something like this…

1. Bruno Fernandes 2. Dennis Bergkamp 3. Eric Cantona 4. David Silva 5. Mesut Özil 6. Juan Mata 7. Gianfranco Zola