Liverpool season described as ‘the Flo and Mo sh*tshow’ in Salah post-mortem | OneFootball

Mo Salah will not find a whole lot of sympathy for his big old tantrum, which has given Arne Slot to punish him as he sees fit.

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Salah has proved the grief narrative (and me) wrong

It’s important to be accountable when you make mistakes (take note Mo) and Salah has just laid my mistake bare – I am incorrect that the main factor behind Pool players’ decline was grief over Jota.

I thought Salah, who by all accounts won the league for us single handedly last season, was one of the most affected, along with Robbo, and therefore he was incapable of performing. With him being basically all of our goals last season, and with the rest of the squad affected to the extent that new players cannot integrate, we are garbage. But now I see that Salah isn’t grieving anything apart from the tiny bench splinter in his impossible pert posterior.

So, I apologise to the Mailbox and its esteemed MC, contributors and readers – I will try to do better in future. Maybe (probably) I just wanted it to be as simple as that, rather than the reality of the many-faceted cluster-bukkake exploding all over the place at the moment.

In terms of what was said, and what happens next, I think Mo hasn’t done himself any favours, and I think we will see if Slot has what it takes to succeed in the long term. Mo only talks when he thinks it serves him, but normally he does so from a position of strength, like when he scores in a victory and then tells the press that he’s “more out than in” i.e. how can this club possibly not keep their best player and match-winner, for example. This season though, his numbers don’t justify selection, we defend better without him, and results have improved (1 win in 3 still, but no defeats. Dizzy heights).

I get fans of other clubs loving this open warfare, I really do – it’s manna from heaven. As I’ve said before, fill your boots lads. In terms of the whole YNWA is a PR stunt thing though – come on, I’m no historian but wasn’t that an organic offering from the Kop, i.e. the opposite of the This Means More rubbish? But again I can see how it’s pretty funny to see from the outside, and painful from the inside – but that doesn’t justify hating on Salah. Like Trent, he won us everything, and deserves gratitude and respect for his commitment and achievements while it lasted, even if he is no longer on the Christmas card list.

Being the fan of understatement that I am; Slot hasn’t done well this season – I can’t think of a decision he has got correct, and while I don’t blame him for buying all the attackers when all we needed was Guehi (that’s on Hughes and Edwards) I do blame him for persisting with Konate and Kerkez (the latter is improving tbf), playing Szoboszlai out of position, and allowing Wirtz to do whatever he wants while producing precisely nothing. Taking away Mo’s freedom and giving it to Flo (the Flo and Mo sh*tshow, if you will) has stopped us scoring and culminated in Salah’s ill-advised histrionics.

Slot doesn’t have to worry about Mo any more though – after his outburst Slot has free reign to impose his will and ego on the team, assuming he has either – not sure we’re really seen them yet? If Gomez can stay fit enough to replace Konate (seriously wtf) every week, and Wirtz and Isak can step out of Mo’s shadow, then there’s a chance we might get top four. Alternatively, Slot is the bald fraud boiled too long in the pan and his cracked egg head will be referenced in years to come in terms of what not to do to a Title-winning side. Gofezo (Genuinely no idea where it goes from here – it would be exciting if it wasn’t almost certain to keep getting worse)

Why should Salah have divine right to start?

The most concerning thing that Salah said was that he’d done enough to not have to fight for his place, so should essentially start regardless. Niall from Annapolis couldn’t be more wrong – no player (or manager) is bigger than the team. It doesn’t matter if Slot should go (and let’s be honest he doesn’t seem to have the answers), you can’t feel that way, let alone say it.

It’s clear that the players we signed this summer were to have us set up for a post-Salah team, but implementing that system while Salah’s still there clearly hasn’t worked, so either we have to play for the future or play to the strengths of a 33 year old (even though he is a top 3-5 PL player of all time) who is leaving at the end of next season. That’s not throwing anyone under a bus, that’s the reality of professional sport. He’s still brilliant and can add a huge amount to the team, but shouldn’t automatically start every game, because no one should.

The counter to defend his comments is that players who are playing worse than him are playing every game, but we don’t have anyone who can play at CB regularly instead of Konate (who clearly needs a break out of the team to get his head right) and Salah’s played more minutes (and fewer G/A) than the likes of Gakpo even when sitting on the bench for 3 games.

Finally, on the YNWA stuff, it feels very simple to me. As long as you’re committed to the club and fans, the club and fans are always going to back you. If you put yourself apart from that, by engineering your departure while claiming you want to stay and captain the club (and admitting that you were not trying against our arch rivals) or by saying you’re too important to have to earn your place, you’re no longer part of that, so why should you get unconditional support? Tom, Andover

A strange mailbox this morning where, in a general summing up, lots of non LFC supporting contributors disagree with Salah’s actions and words. Won’t name all but RHT/TS calls him a “wee prick”, there are also the usual “I’ll make something up/say something stupid” contributors like Niall who says Salah has given LFC more than they deserve, what? Doing his very well paid job to an exceptionally high standard is “more than you deserve”. plus the ridiculous “sometimes a player is bigger than the team”, showing a complete lack of understanding of a team game and rendering any of Niall’s comments as obsolete.Dion disagrees with Salah’s behaviour but rightly calls out Darren.

But a lot of these contributors then condemn LFC fans for YNWA and use this as a stick to beat them with. Col Brown asks “have I misunderstood the words?”, the answer Col is yes! The words talk about holding your head up high, not being afraid of the dark, dreams being tossed and blown, a golden sky, having hope in your heart and if you do these, you’ll never walk alone. Salah and others previously haven’t done this, at the first sign of adversity he’s broke rank, called the Manager and the Club into question, claimed to deserve his place in the team due to past performance and said he doesn’t know what to expect on his return from AFCON.

YNWA, stick with us, be a part of something collective and we’ll have your back and be there to support you overcome adversity (he got a fantastic reception when warming up), everyone knows his obsession with personal records but whilst his ability is a huge factor, these can’t be achieved without the support of a squad of very good players. I love Mo Salah but if I was in the dressing room my reaction this morning would be “WTF Mo?”.

LFC and their fans have been called out numerous times for their handling of the Luis Suarez/Evra situation, Suarez was clearly in the wrong but received the full support and didn’t walk alone, you can’t criticise us when we do this but then criticise when we don’t.

A certain commenter will mention Gerrard and Karius. neither received a negative reaction when wearing a red shirt and any “abuse” was from the cowardly world of twitter which doesn’t count, the reaction in the pub/club may well have been different but this never transferred to the pitch. I recall when someone one on the Kop had a go at Kevin Keegan following his “I’m leaving” statement, the guy was quickly told to pipe down and silenced. Keegan received a hero’s welcome when he returned with Hamburg and them some very high level “abuse” (ribbing) when they were 6-0 down. Howard Jones

In response to YNWA Darren regarding Mo Salah, who states “For all this club has done for you, taking you from mediocrity in Italy, to giving you the freedom to become a world class player, you’ve been given everything”.

That’s really all any footballer needs to become a world class player. It’s kind of surprising that everyone in Liverpool’s squad isn’t a world class player or have they just given this freedom to Mo Salah. Why hasn’t a club like Burnley, which has a limited budget and cannot afford to buy world class players done this. I hope Scott Parker reads this so they can just make their own world class players by giving them a bit of freedom. Watch them tear Fulham to shreds this weekend.

In regards to Arsenal, who I’ve watched play on TV several times this season, their performances never match what is being written about them. Sometimes I watch them and read the reports on them and it’s like I’ve watched a different game.

The media is clearly setting them up for a fall by constantly implying that the league is theirs to lose and they’re the best team in Europe. They’re clearly not. They’re highly functional but ordinary. Someone on here mentioned a few weeks ago that Arsenal always finished second because there was always a better team than them in the league.

I feel this year is no different, I watched City against Sunderland and I’ve not seen this Arsenal team play like that. Man City are a better team and unless some PSR nonsense blows the wheels off, they will finish top this year.

I think Arsenal’s attack is a who’s who of nearly men. They’re nearly great but not quite. Saka hasn’t progressed in almost 2 years, as he’s stalled a bit. Odegaard has regressed, as has Martinelli. If Madueke does not have a final product by now, he never will. Eze is another nearly man, nearly great but not quite. In addition, Gykoeres’ strengths are completely unsuited to the way Arsenal play and this seems like a bad bit of recruitment from Arsenal.

There are currently two world class players in the league (in my opinion only offensive players can be regarded as world class), Haaland and Salah. Whichever one is bang in form will lift all the players around them and win their team the league. Salah was that in form world class player last season and Haaland will be that guy this season. It’s very hard to win the league without, not only a world class player but a world class player who is in form. Arsenal don’t have one of these and there isn’t that many currently playing in world football.

Arsenal needed to sign a special player who lifts everyone around them. Arsenal should’ve went all out for Kvaratskhelia, as I think he was gettable but they didn’t and bought players of the calibre of Eze, Madueke, Merino and Gyokeres instead. Saka could’ve been that guy but it is not happening for him as of late. He’s not world class but he could be. The team should be set up and built around getting the best out of Saka and even though Timber has been great, that means dropping him for Ben White. They have a much better footballing chemistry and everything should be done to get the best out of Saka.

I think Arsenal’s only chance this year is if they can get Saka fit and firing because he is their special player. Yes, it’s a team sport but often that one player can lift everyone else’s game and that almost always is the difference between finishing top and finishing second. Seamus, Sweden

Some Liverpool perspective

Obviously, quite right to laugh at Liverpool’s woes this season – everyone loves kicking the Big Boys when they’re down, etc. But they are literally 3 points off 4th. They only have to wait 23 days before they can sign players who can actually run and jump and defend.

Etikite looks decent. Isak will get fit. Slot will realise that playing defenders in defence who defend and midfielders in midfield who, err, midfield, is a valid and acceptable form of management. Salah will sulk and then return to the team and score a few goals against a poor side. Liverpool will probably finish in the top 5. Maybe go on a cup run. Actually that’s quite boring isn’t it? Maybe they’ll be relegated and storm to the Champo title with 100 points. Dan, London

Daniel Farke: All is (almost) forgiven

Football, bloody hell.

I called Daniel Farke a whopper, recently, which was not entirely unwarranted. His tactics, formations and team selections as well as his ability to read a game left a lot to be desired, but when the chips were down and facing down a cricket score, he changed it.

And boy did he change it. He’s changed the trajectory of the season – from looking like relegation dead certs and facing a 5 point gap to safety, we’re still in it after playing last season’s top 4 – down and out vs City when a tactical switch and subs change the game and we narrowly miss out on a draw.

We pummelled Chelsea into submission with a big-bastard mode and then after failing to capitalise on Liverpool’s frailty and them seemingly cruising to a win, he switches it to last seasons 4-2-3-1, introduce Aaronson, Gnonto and Tanaka – all three subs score or contribute an assists (well, if winning a penalty counts). There is clearly plenty of fight left in this team, and they don’t much look like downing tools for Farke or the fans yet.

I don’t know where this Farke has been for the last two years; but I like it. Long may it continue. Now – the real games begin. 6-7 points from Sunderland, Palace and Brentford, and I’ll really start believing we’re going to be safe. Mat, Leeds

Up the Villa

Well, that was fun! I don’t have anything fancy to say unfortunately; after the win at Brighton I thought I’d do my snarky gloating and then hibernate before the Winter Is Coming fixtures arrived. But aside from Trossard looking a bit Targaeryen, it’s not here yet. So:

Rogers, Youri, Cashy, Both Emis were all brilliant as usual. But time for Pau Torres to get his Flau-es (sorry); we’re unbeaten in the last 15 home games he’s started, we’ve won the last 7 of those in a row, and Arsenal’s goal on Saturday was only the second we’ve conceded in that time. Emery seems to have backed off a bit on the need for him to be the team’s playmaker, and let him do more defending, and it is paying off handsomely. Spain not calling him up is odd – especially considering how much he looks like Butragueno – but it’s obviously helping, so I’m aqui for it.

No, we’re not in the title race. The title race doesn’t start until March (if it ever starts at all), so in December you can only be out of it, but not in it. When pundits etc ask if a team is in the title race, basically all they’re saying is, are this team near the top of the league?

And after me semi-ironically complaining about the state of TV co-commentators assigned to Villa games recently, I hear Martin Keown actually managed to take impartiality a step further into Fiona Bruce territory on Saturday. Seriously, can we have Lucy Ward back please?

P.S. Salah is a dick. Neil Raines

Really, genuinely pleased that Nik UTV explained that Saka was just being booed because he was good, because that one was baffling me I have to say. Couldn’t really remember any incident or ill-feeling between Saka and Villa, so I’m pleased his ability is the simple reason.

Weirdly heartwarming, and Nik is correct that him going off ‘turns’ the game and made them think they could win. Odegaard playing means that everything (rightly or wrongly, and I have my strong views on that for another time) goes through Saka and I thought he was positive Saturday, and desperately unlucky at times. He’d certainly do better with that late Madueke half-chance at the back post, that’s for damn sure.

Hopefully he can get some revenge on that Villa crowd later this month!! 😉 Joe, AFC, East Sussex

Let’s end on some lovely Palace

I don’t know about anyone else but I had a good Sunday: Crystal Palace, my NFL and NHL teams all won on the same day for the first time since 12 December 2021.

*The emerging theme of the season appears to be “two things can be true at the same time”. In the past week, or just over, there have been a few strong examples:

* Lucas Paqueta, who deserves sympathy for the anxiety he suffered as a result of the allegations against him. However, this should not excuse the way he behaved towards the referee last weekend, which justifiably resulted in his red card.

* Mo Salah, who is entitled to feel hard done by that he’s been scapegoated for Liverpool’s poor form, but whose response also deserves criticism. It won’t help his situation that his first response to being dropped for playing below his (high) standards was to complain instead of dig in and win his place back.

* The football media in general, reporting that “a 29 year old international footballer from a Premier League club, who cannot be named for legal reasons” had been arrested. They can’t ignore such a story, but they knew that if they described the person in that way it would encourage all of the worst people to ignore the anonymity mandate and speculate wildly on the player’s identity.

* Oliver Glasner, whose opinion that his squad lacks depth is one most people agree with. However, it is also fair comment that he is over-reliant on his preferred starting XI and could have used the rest of his squad more than he has.

This last one is the clearly the most interesting to me. The obvious reply to anything Glasner says about how thin his squad is should be “if we sign you some players, will you use them?”

11 players have started 11 or more of Palace’s 15 games this season, five of whom are ever-presents. Glasner had his hand forced for the game against Fulham, as injuries to Daniel Munoz and Ismaila Sarr meant first league starts of the season for Nathaniel Clyne and Eddie Nketiah. Meanwhile, Jefferson Lerma (10, with 4 starts) and Justin Devenny (11, with 1 start) have reached double figures for appearances off the bench, with Will Hughes (5 and 7) the other player to feature in most games.

There is a lot to be said for having a settled starting XI, and it’s clear that this is a huge part of why Palace are thriving this season, but a lack of willingness to give opportunities to squad players is currently one of very few shortcomings in Glasner’s management at the moment. I believe the club could do more to reward his success and keep the upward momentum going, but at the same time, I understand why they wouldn’t want to pay players he isn’t going to use.

Palace still have six games left to play in December and their next three are two Conference League games either side of facing Manchester City. These are clearly games where you’d want your strongest available lineup but they come at a time when key players would benefit from being rested. Whether they come through this on adrenaline or are puffing out their behinds by the time they face Leeds United remains to be seen.