Liverpool and Labour in same boat but maybe Slot and Starmer should stay?

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·14 maggio 2026

Liverpool and Labour in same boat but maybe Slot and Starmer should stay?

Liverpool rushing to sack Arne Slot feels very Chelsea and very Tory; maybe waiting is a better answer.

We have some glorious mails – it’s been a good week – but send more on the title race to theeditor@football365.com

OneFootball Video

Will Liverpool stick or twist when it comes to managers?

In the mailbox there were some insane anti-Slot ideas and some valid points. For example, Slot is somehow causing Salah to play like sh*t, when Salah came out and said Slot had set the team up last year to allow Salah to have such a great season. But they also had Trent (who was always leaving for Madrid) and Diaz pressing and keeping opponents busy on the other wing.

It’s no coincidence the team looks off the pace under Slot as his main strategy was to get the team over the winter period where past Klopp (and many other non-City teams) have come a cropper. Using Gravenberch to receive the ball and break the line, cycling and keeping possession, pressing only for short periods, etc. Reduce injuries, maintain stamina using a small core group of players. It took the league ‘by storm’ for the first half of the season, but most teams had worked out how to negate the Slot strategy and while they had enough to get the league across the line, their end of season form was pretty dreadful. In fact, the opening games of the current season were a surprise – but then quickly reverted to the same end of last season form. Slot really has only had one good half season.

But Alonso. Showed he couldn’t handle a team of big stars? Perhaps. But won the league – undefeated – by playing a completely different style to any past Liverpool side. While Hughes brought in some of his ex-players (who would know his style) it’s uncertain if the squad would fit his style. But a bigger question would be whether fans would look it either. Fans who are baying for his arrival. It’s not the hard pressing, all action, get you out of your seat style we moved with Klopp and even saw a bit under Brendan.

Ideally it would be Luis Enrique. He’s really got PSG buzzing. Lovely play. Lots of action. But unlikely they could prise him away.

Funnily enough, I was listening to a politics podcast and Alister Campbell was saying the Labour Party might want to think harder about getting rid of Starmer – at least right now. Why does anyone think any of the possible replacements will fare better. Look at the last batch of Tory party leaders. And I think the same point goes for swapping out managers. United and Chelsea have been through a few – as have Spurs. ‘Nuff said. Paul McDevitt PS. (so p***ed at Pep rotating out my 3 fantasy City players. Typical Pep. Sigh.)

A message to you, Emery

Please go full strength vs Liverpool on Friday night. A win guarantees Champions League football, provides a big confidence boost, and takes away a bit of the pressure of winning the Europa League. It obviously puts minutes in the legs, but the game being moved to Friday helps with that. Also, this Liverpool team really aren’t that great right now. Make the City game meaningless. If Bournemouth take points off them, it might even be meaningless for them too.

I don’t think going full strength and losing effects the squad too much. Rotate and win? Fine I guess, but those who were rested may be a bit rusty. Rotate and lose, and the pressure to win the Europa League ramps up ten-fold. Trying to win the first trophy in 30 years is already pressure enough.

Anyway, cheers fella, and best of luck! I trust ya.

Ta, Gary AVFC, Oxford (Hoping for a lovely 7 days or so culminating in Emery’s ‘Villa’ hat-trick).

Arsen-Al Nassr

Having watched the absolutely bat***t denouement of the Al-Nassr v Al-Hilal match, how does one ask the Premier League Conspiracy Department to arrange a repeat in the 98th minute of Palace v Arsenal? Surely there would be no more hilarious way of ending this season than Gabriel smashing into David Raya with no opposition players in sight, and causing him to fumble the ball into the back of the net. Dave H (Bucks) PS. I’m not greedy, but bonus points if this could be following a corner awarded, mistakenly, for Raya holding the ball for 6.77 seconds and the ensuing debate about whether VAR should have intervened.

Arsenal player ratings for the season

After seeing F365 doing their Keep or Sell for the Arsenal squad I thought I’d give my player ratings/review.

Raya – 9 I noticed he went up a level last year and he’s maintained that. He’s been the best GK in league without a doubt this season.

Kepa – 5 He’s fine as a backup but I don’t think he’s been good. I question his mentality a little bit that he would want to sit on our bench at his age. I don’t really trust him.

White – 6 At his best he was absolutely brilliant. Better than Timber going forward and was still good defensively. He got a lot of stick this season for his performances but it’s very hard unless you’re getting consistent minutes. He got that and started doing well and unfortunately broke down again. We played him to the ground over the last few years. Loved watching him in his prime. Hopefully he can fix those issues over the summer as he’s a good player who can cover CB and RB. If he wants to leave then fair enough but I don’t believe in giving up on a player that early.

Timber – 8.5. Similar to last season. Always brilliant when he plays. Like White, he puts his body on the line. Injured for 2 months now and I can’t imagine he will play in the CL final. Was a our POTY candidate til he got hurt.

Mosquera – 7. Solid debut season. He’s not a right back but has had to play there due to injuries. Reminds me of a younger but more technical Gabriel. Aggressive and very intelligent for a 21 year old. Recently got into the Spain squad too.

Saliba – 8 You don’t hear him hyped as much as he did in his first two seasons and I think that’s because Gabriel has been the better of the pair over the last 2 years. He’s still elite even though he does make the odd mistake. Coming into his prime years now and his new contract he signed suggests he will spend some of those with Arsenal.

Gabriel – 9. Unbelievable. His blocks, aerial ability, leadership, organisation. Everything is brilliant, well maybe except his constant diving which has annoyed me for years.

Hincapie – 8 Not exactly sure where F365 have got the idea that he didn’t start well. Once Calafiori got injured and he came into the team he looked solid. He’s been an unreal replacement for Kiwior.

Calafiori – 7.5 His performances have been good and defensively he’s been a lot better than last season. I’m sick of his injuries though. He has one more season to put it right.

MLS – 6.5 He gets boosted up because of his recent displays on midfield. I knew he wasn’t up to the task at left back but his performances really dipped. His attributes remind me of Mousa Dembele.

Zubimendi – 7 Started the season off well. Has fallen off a cliff recently.

Rice – 8.5 I was a bit astonished he got into the TOTS last year after ghosting until March. He’s been a lot more consistent this year and has to do a lot of different roles in this team. It doesn’t help that he has to play every single minute.

Odegaard – 5. Second year in a row now where he’s been poor. His touch and weight of pass always looks off. I have no idea what’s happened. He did change the game against West Ham and Newcastle to earn crucial points but next season is make or break.

Merino – 6 Was doing well until this apparently rare injury he’s suffered. Will probably miss the World Cup.

Nwaneri – 4. I don’t understand why he didn’t play more. Marseille loan has been a disaster cause Beye is a twat.

Dowman – 8. Can’t ask for much more. Only turned 16 in January and has contributed.

Eze – 7. He’s been very hot or cold. I’d like to see him and Rice swap sides. Eze suits those pockets on the left a lot more.

Havertz – 5 He’s been injured for most of the season so it’s hard to rate. This will have to be his final year unless he takes a massive wage cut because we absolutely can’t justify giving him the same wages or even more. He’s not a midfielder so I wish this experiment would stop. Despite bulking up loads in the summer he still dives constantly. He’s one of those players who makes us play better though. His finishing will never be good but as long as he helps others score I can live with it.

Martinelli – 5 I’m being a bit generous here but he did score a lot of important CL goals and the last minute goal vs City. I don’t understand how he’s turned into such a bad player. He’s 24 and dribbles with his head down. He isn’t capable of cutting inside to dribble. He suits CL football a lot more than the league. I do have a soft spot for him as he seems like a good lad, works hard and has been here since he was 18 but this was his last chance and he hasn’t taken it.

Trossard – 7 Was on good form from September til December and then just produced nothing til West Ham. His numbers are fine but I wouldn’t be opposed to selling. He frustrates me a lot with how long he holds on to the ball for especially on the edge of our own box. Has always popped up with big goals though and has a good connection with whoever we play LB.

Saka – 6. Actually had a good first half of the season without the numbers to show for it. That Achilles injury is a huge worry. He needs a long rest but he won’t get that. Easily our best attacker and it’s glaring the difference in quality between him and others, which you can see when he’s constantly double marked. His decision making has been poor this season which is odd because that was his biggest strength previously.

Madueke – 4. Very direct. Terrible end product. I don’t really see him suddenly improving.

Jesus – 4. Got a few goals. Didn’t expect anything from him this season. Still has another year left on his massive contract. Hopefully he will leave. Loved him at City and his first 6 months at Arsenal. You could just launch the ball up at him and he would bully defenders.

Gyokeres – 7.5 I’m quite happy with his performances this season. We really do not play to his strengths at all. I remember saying in the summer that if we don’t change our style of play then there’s no point in signing him. We haven’t but he’s still managed to get 21 goals and is one of the highest scorers in the PL. For 55m that’s definitely a good deal but I think there’s a narrative he was expensive for some reason. Dion Byrne

Good grief this winds me up. Regardless of the club: Don’t launch next season’s kit in the current season. Definitely don’t get the players to wear it for the last game(s) of the season (that happened last year). And especially this year, because:

1. It insults all those who have paid a lot of money for this season’s kit, you’ve made it outdated before it’s time. Surely fans want some time to bask in wearing their 25/26 kits if there’s been success? Or even if there hasn’t. And, dare I say it, the players wearing the wrong one when possibly scoring a very very important goal or lifting something valuable?

2. It would be stupid to buy it on release due to the fact extra badges could well be added if trophies are won. Anyone who does is actually kinda admitting they don’t think it’ll change. Or do the club think they will take out a bank loan to buy two?!

I’ll be seething if I see someone wear one before all the results are in. Club commercial department gone absolutely crazy. You could say tempting fate too. Hopefully more people end up buying the 25/26 for the right reasons. TyA, Essex (maybe just a little uptight as it’s still not all said and done)

Weird Mail of the Day

The trophy has to go to Eric, Los Angeles CA for the strangest mail I’ve ever read on this site. But congrats on all the clunge, I think? Sam (ps. was he on that Netflix Louis Theroux documentary recently?)

The 2006 FA Cup final remembered

I felt inspired to write this after reading Michael Lee’s article on the 2006 FA Cup Final (a good read).

However, I am writing from the other side’s perspective and as someone who was there on the day.

Three weeks prior to that day as the sangria drinking Luis Garcia buried Liverpool’s second against Chelsea, I was lying in a north London hospital on a morphine drip after having broken my leg playing football earlier that day. As a result, I had the shuffle around on crutches in Cardiff which was far from ideal.

In the run-up to the big day there were lots of stories going around about there being a flood of fake tickets in the market, particularly for the Liverpool end. I mention this as there was a slight incident before the game that led to me having a security guard sat alongside me for most of the first half rather than one of my mates.

The tickets we had were behind the goal, 2nd tier in the Liverpool end. Sat 4 seats to my right was Kevin Sheedy (a big red) and a couple of his mates. Just before kick-off, 2 scals shuffle past me on my row and engage with Kevin’s group … “..’ere mate .. yer in me seat la”.

Now I’m not someone who condones violence in any way shape or form but what happened next was one of the most physically impressive acts in that regard that I’ve seen close up. I think Billy Connolly once told a story about being punched and said rather than just being knocked over, when you get hit by one of the greats you just collapse in on yourself like an accordion.

That’s what happened when one of Kevin’s mates connected with ‘scal A’ … he folded in on himself around my feet.

After a little ruckus things calmed down and security felt ‘that I needed to be protected’.

…and then the game starts.

The thing that stays with me about the match is that West Ham had 3 players who were really outstanding on the day (Gabbidon/Reo Coker/Ashton) … Liverpool had one (guess who).

The force of nature that was Liverpool’s number 8 dragged us level before Konchesky channelled his inner Ronaldinho and put us behind again (… another game I happened to be at).

…and then THAT goal.

I agree with what Michael penned in his article that although Liverpool had the territorial pressure towards the end, they were looking somewhat devoid of ideas how to break down the Irons. Turns out that a 35 yard volleyed thunderb*stard of a strike was all that was needed …who’d have thunk it !

I don’t immediately recall too much of extra time, but I felt weirdly confident going into the pens as Reina came to the club with a good rep in that regard and he duly produced.

A great day … one of a few that I was lucky enough to have at the Millenium stadium, which remains the best non-Anfield ground that I’ve seen a football match at – big capacity combined with great viewing positions and atmosphere … amazing memories topped by seeing Owen rob Arsenal in 2001 when a top class Paddy pass put him through on goal…there was some after-party after that one ! … and when we had sobered up a little we got ready for the road trip to Essen for the Alaves UEFA final … but the story of that trip will need to be saved for another day !

It would be great to hear from other mailbox readers on their personal accounts of a big game that was meaningful for them. Sparky, LFC

…Nice to read a West Ham article today on F365 that has nothing to do with “the current situation”. Respite for a few minutes…

I’m glad Mr Lee had a good day out, but it sounds like he must have been very very young indeed when he went. He references our “too good to go down” year as the first season that he can remember. That was 2003 and the Cup Final was 2006! The WH fans were awesome that day and I’m very pleased if Mr Lee’s love for this team really took hold after seeing this game as a youngster.

With no offense at all to the lad, perhaps that explains why most of what he said didn’t resonate with me much. Entirely due to my more advanced years I’m sure, but for what it’s worth (and entirely as a self-serving exercise to not think about every-fking-thing-else right now):

– for pre Premier League WH fans like Mr Lee, it is important to remember that we were still knee deep in a yo-yo club situation. We were relegated in 2003. And Liverpool were the effing European Champions. This was very much a David v Goliath situation, not dissimilar to 1980. I mention this only because it would be extremely misleading to watch a replay of that game without having that at the front of your mind. It was all ridiculously heroic.

– pre match West Ham absolutely took over Cardiff. As always our traveling support far outstripped the tickets available but everyone turned up anyway, and all traffic in Cardiff stopped by about 11am. I knew Liverpool “fans” who didn’t go because it was getting too expensive to go to all their finals….

– Cardiff was a great venue and the locals after the game were great, I don’t recall any trouble at all. But, I can’t lie, we were all pretty gutted that it wasn’t at Wembley, given that we don’t get to this position often, to say the least!

– A word about Dean Ashton. My god… what a player. Not much pace, a receding hairline far too early, but he was such a good striker, in the old-school Sheringhan mould (who bizarrely came on for us in this game). He was finally being noticed by England and it’s a (footballing) tragedy that his career was cut so short. Hard to express how much we dislike Shaun Wright-Phillips, who broke Ashton’s ankle in an England training session. It ended his career before it really started. I genuinely believe that he would have represented England for many years.

– did I mention Dean Ashton? His goal against Man City in the quarters is a good example of the type of player he was. (Note the lack of City fans who turned up, extraordinary) Man City 1-2 West Ham (2006 FA Cup)

Ridiculously, after many years of retirement, he came on for Mark Noble’s testimonial in 2016 and did this. Dean Ashtons wonder goal in Mark Noble’s testimonial

I know that it’s very much a friendly, but you can’t script that! Love that he called to be, and was, substituted immediately afterwards.

– back to the final. Yes 2-0 was dreamland. And Ashton’s pure-striker instincts were 100% responsible for both goals.

– 2-2 was not unexpected, we were the minnows. And we were certainly all waiting for the inevitable Pool winner. However, and I cannot believe that Mr Lee didn’t mention this, Konchesky scored a ridiculous cross-shot from right on the touchline 2006 FA Cup Final – Konchesky Goal

I was directly behind Konchesky, on exactly the angle towards goal, and knew immediately that “holy crap, that could be top corner”. Dreamland. We were then surprisingly comfortable. Reo Coker was immense, as Mr Lee correctly says, and we deserved to be in that position.

– re the Gerrard goal, it was one in a million wasn’t it. Amazing. Make no mistake, WH were great that day, and were on balance the better team (which was insane). Liverpool were as much a one man team that day as I’ve seen in my many years of attending games.

– BUT, we were still very good in extra time! I was shocked that Mr Lee didn’t mention the golden chance Harewood had late on when he was playing very injured and couldn’t quite get a touch to a certain goal (think Gazza vs Germany in 1990). As for the shoot out, yeah, we all knew it was over at that point.

– as well as the whole unlikely cup run being an epic experience, it was especially poignant because John Lyall had died 3 weeks prior to the final. An all-time incredible club legend, back in the days when that stuff really really mattered. All of the fan activities/singing in the pubs and streets beforehand and in the stadium were expressly a massive tribute to John throughout. I think/hope we made him proud.

Anyhow, another take on the same day perhaps. Brilliant that we all get/take what we need from this silly game. Right, back to “the horror”. (I would send a clip of Marlin Brando at the end of Apocalypse Now, but I feel too nauseous). Oh, go on then, 100% reflective of my life right now. Mike, WHU