Liverpool FC Forum

Alonso left us as a player and rejected us as a manager when Klopp left. Maybe he doesn’t want to live in Liverpool.

And if he does go to Chelsea he’ll probably be available in November    since we are talking about Chelsea’s owners.

kazza » Tue May 12, 2026 11:22 am wrote:Alonso left us as a player and rejected us as a manager when Klopp left. Maybe he doesn’t want to live in Liverpool.

And if he does go to Chelsea he’ll probably be available in November    since we are talking about Chelsea’s owners.

To be fair it's a bit more nuanced than that, on both occasions it took the biggest and most glamorous club in the world to lure him away from us and even then there were caveats, when he left as a player that was only because Rafa tried to replace him with Gareth Barry after they had a huge bust up over the birth of Xabi's first child, the managerial one too, easy to forget now but when Jurgen jibbed it there was feeling in the game that a manager with his head screwed on would let someone else take the job, a feeling that trying to fill Jurgens shoes was pretty much an impossible job.
Saying all that I'm not massively convinced Xabi is the right man for us at this point in time, after over a year of having the pants bored off us i'm not sure Xabi's calm methodical approach and possession based game is what the club needs right now.

Enrique or bust for me. Soon as PSG batter Arsenal lure him away with promises that we can't fulfil, funding we probably can't afford and the security that win the league one season and be down the road the next,
joking aside, he could probably get a tune out of this lot faitrly quickly and unless he's hanging on for the City job, won't have a better chance to add a Prenier League to his resume

Enrique would be an awesome appointment, I like his style of footy, I'd prefer him over Xabi, more experienced. Would be hard to get but if they do win another UCL his basically done it all with PSG, maybe time for another challenge.

UvS xR4GEx » Sun May 10, 2026 5:47 pm wrote:There's a huge disconnect with Arne and the fans. I'm not sure if its because we saw Klopp as one of us or if its just the way Arne is. He answered a question on why the fans were booing after he took Rio off, and he just shrugged it off saying Rio felt something and wanted to come off.. The people talking don't know whats happening off the pitch.

Its like he's always in a fight against the fans who are frustrated.. but the bottom line is we all want the same goal and thats to work together and try and be successful.

Two examples of following an iconic leader are John Major following Margaret Thatcher and Gollum Moyes following Ferguson. Neither had a chance because they lacked the personality to emulate the leaders they replaced and both were sacrificial appointments. Slot doesn't fall into that category because he won the league in his first season so was immediately accepted by the fans. Slot's mistakes came to light this season when he persisted with a new tactical system and lower level of training and match intensity which resulted in losing 19 games so far this season which is unacceptable for a Liverpool manager when the lack of causes are obvious to see. In hindsight, the downturn started in the final third of last season however as we went on to win the league it was obscured by the general goodwill of winning the league.

So Slot won the support of the fans then he lost it through his own actions. In reality did he ever know what's required to win the league?

Had we spent the Isak money on a defender and midfielder we would have done much better. It’s been a perfect storm for Slot this year, some his own doing and some not, I think it’s been a tough year to manage Liverpool with all that happened.

For what it’s worth, I think we will do better next year.

kazza wrote:Had we spent the Isak money on a defender and midfielder we would have done much better. It’s been a perfect storm for Slot this year, some his own doing and some not, I think it’s been a tough year to manage Liverpool with all that happened.

For what it’s worth, I think we will do better next year.

Its hard to know if we would have done better by addressing some weaknesses in the team. I dont think management perceived us to have any tbh as we just won the league. Grav was supposedly our answer to a DM, Leoni for CH, Frimpong and Kerkhez our new full backs. Isak and Etitike as our new front line. The players imo where brought in last year to keep us challenging but no one factored in that Slot doesnt know what to do with them. Now add another 5 players into that mix next season and we have been totally reset from that league winning side. That is at least half a seasons worth of excuses for him. The bottom line here is the football and how predictable and boring its become. Its absolutely dreadful to watch outside of about 4 games this season. Everyone can see it and he half acknowledges it himself but sets us up the same way following game.

I struggle to see things improving if he continues with same management and tactics next season.

Some good points there. Leoni was a blow, he looked the business in that half a game he played. Slot couldn't foresee that happening.

leeroy74 » Thu May 14, 2026 9:33 am wrote:Some good points there. Leoni was a blow, he looked the business in that half a game he played. Slot couldn't foresee that happening.

No way we brought in an 18 year old CB or 21 year old however old he is to be a starter, Leoni was brought in as one for the future, his name only came into the equation when we started conceding goals at an alarming rate. Someone that age and that inexperienced was never going to be the answer.

VVD, Guehi, Konate and Leoni was the intention with Konate leaving at the end of the season. Not paying £30m for Guehi was our downfall. Losing Bradley and not having a replacement RB was also a disaster. Playing Frimpong as a a poor replacement for Harvey Elliot was a simple waste of money. Letting Tyler Moreton and Quansah was naive if not plain stupid. Cody Gakpo, Gravenberch and Macallister deciding not to turn up this season was unpredictable but should have been managed and not let to drag on all season.

It's not just been player performance nor tactics, nor lack of fitness, but also management decisions made behind closed doors. It's been a mare of a season.

leeroy74 wrote:Some good points there. Leoni was a blow, he looked the business in that half a game he played. Slot couldn't foresee that happening.

Not blaming Slot at all for Leoni rupturing his ACL. Lad was just unfortunate and while he did look ok against Southampton I doubt he was going to be a starter for us. He can play RB as well so chance is he would have gotten more minutes due to injuries. I really dont think an 18 year old with only a handful of senior games to his career was going to come in and rip it up. Slot has plenty of youth in the squad and seems reluctant to use them as well like Ramsey when we where struggling for a fit RB.

red till i die!! » Thu May 14, 2026 10:58 am wrote:

leeroy74 wrote:Some good points there. Leoni was a blow, he looked the business in that half a game he played. Slot couldn't foresee that happening.

Not blaming Slot at all for Leoni rupturing his ACL. Lad was just unfortunate and while he did look ok against Southampton I doubt he was going to be a starter for us. He can play RB as well so chance is he would have gotten more minutes due to injuries. I really dont think an 18 year old with only a handful of senior games to his career was going to come in and rip it up. Slot has plenty of youth in the squad and seems reluctant to use them as well like Ramsey when we where struggling for a fit RB.

The Leoni injury, the Isak injury, the Ekitike injury, the Bradley injury, Endo (while less impactful) and the Allison injuries have all made a big difference to how we played. Almost all have been season ending and some will spill into next season. They were all “unfortunate incident” injuries that were just down to bad luck which this season we had a lot of. Started off with Jota’s passing, we went on an unbeaten beginning of the season and while some would say it masked the issues it could also be said we found a way to win like champions, then we completely unraveled. Some were saying we’ll get relegated but Slot did steady the ship eventually but by then the team was a shell of the team they could have been and we certainly lost our mojo.

Something I don’t think can by placed on Slot was the poor form of Konate, Salah and VVD. They were our leaders and they didn’t show up this year and some matches they looked Sunday league. Be it age, last year of contract or just a lack of motivation. I think Slot persisted too much with players out of form and didn’t freshen it up when it needed it. Consistently playing Gakpo as on example is a head scratcher because he has been poor most matches, he certainly did not deserve to be an instant starter.

I don’t think we have world class coaches and that needs immediate attention and the team are certainly not running like they did under Klopp. It took too long to change the set plays coach as we were awful at defending and attacking them, and we immediately improved when we did, and this season set plays have been all important in the PL thanks to Arsenal’s raping of the rules which then became the theme. Tactically the concept of control the ball until a clever run splits defenses and then pass it makes sense to me, we didn’t have enough of the clever runs though so it made the play look stale. Not sure if that is the manager’s responsibility or the players. I also think we didn’t press enough because pressing opens opportunities but you need to be fit and we didn’t look like we were, again, down to the lack of world class coaches.

In any case I hope for a better next year.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu May 14, 2026 9:54 am wrote:

leeroy74 » Thu May 14, 2026 9:33 am wrote:Some good points there. Leoni was a blow, he looked the business in that half a game he played. Slot couldn't foresee that happening.

No way we brought in an 18 year old CB or 21 year old however old he is to be a starter, Leoni was brought in as one for the future, his name only came into the equation when we started conceding goals at an alarming rate. Someone that age and that inexperienced was never going to be the answer.

Nope, never said that, he looked solid enough to be considered in the squad and looked like he could be an asset should we have to call on him. He was probably going to a few cup games this season. One for the future, hope he comes back from injury OK and picks it up again where he left off

kazza » Fri May 15, 2026 7:49 am wrote:

red till i die!! » Thu May 14, 2026 10:58 am wrote:

leeroy74 wrote:Some good points there. Leoni was a blow, he looked the business in that half a game he played. Slot couldn't foresee that happening.

Not blaming Slot at all for Leoni rupturing his ACL. Lad was just unfortunate and while he did look ok against Southampton I doubt he was going to be a starter for us. He can play RB as well so chance is he would have gotten more minutes due to injuries. I really dont think an 18 year old with only a handful of senior games to his career was going to come in and rip it up. Slot has plenty of youth in the squad and seems reluctant to use them as well like Ramsey when we where struggling for a fit RB.

The Leoni injury, the Isak injury, the Ekitike injury, the Bradley injury, Endo (while less impactful) and the Allison injuries have all made a big difference to how we played. Almost all have been season ending and some will spill into next season. They were all “unfortunate incident” injuries that were just down to bad luck which this season we had a lot of. Started off with Jota’s passing, we went on an unbeaten beginning of the season and while some would say it masked the issues it could also be said we found a way to win like champions, then we completely unraveled. Some were saying we’ll get relegated but Slot did steady the ship eventually but by then the team was a shell of the team they could have been and we certainly lost our mojo.

Something I don’t think can by placed on Slot was the poor form of Konate, Salah and VVD. They were our leaders and they didn’t show up this year and some matches they looked Sunday league. Be it age, last year of contract or just a lack of motivation. I think Slot persisted too much with players out of form and didn’t freshen it up when it needed it. Consistently playing Gakpo as on example is a head scratcher because he has been poor most matches, he certainly did not deserve to be an instant starter.

I don’t think we have world class coaches and that needs immediate attention and the team are certainly not running like they did under Klopp. It took too long to change the set plays coach as we were awful at defending and attacking them, and we immediately improved when we did, and this season set plays have been all important in the PL thanks to Arsenal’s raping of the rules which then became the theme. Tactically the concept of control the ball until a clever run splits defenses and then pass it makes sense to me, we didn’t have enough of the clever runs though so it made the play look stale. Not sure if that is the manager’s responsibility or the players. I also think we didn’t press enough because pressing opens opportunities but you need to be fit and we didn’t look like we were, again, down to the lack of world class coaches.

In any case I hope for a better next year.

The oldest and true-est adage in football is hard work beats talent if talent doesnt work hard, in other words no matter how good you are you have got, at the very least, to match the opposition in terms of effort, intensity and work rate, if you dont you will lose.   
The stats speak for themselves, we've pretty much been out run by everyone, not only that it took us till christmas to win a tackle in the middle of the park. I dont care what anyone says, for me the lack of fight, the lack of physical conditioning, the lack of intensity and the lack of motivation our players have shown with over the past 12-14 months is a sackable  offence. I'm an old-school socialist instinctively i dont like calling for anyone lose their job but we are not talking one or two months here we are talking well over a year. We were getting hammered in pre season by the likes of AC Milan. We've been terrible.
Because they live 2000 miles away i dont think the yanks realise how worn down everyone is, 12 months of watching underwhelming performances has left everyone bored out of their skulls and apathetic as hell. The thought of another 12 months of this guff is almost too much to bear.

kazza wrote:

red till i die!! » Thu May 14, 2026 10:58 am wrote:

leeroy74 wrote:Some good points there. Leoni was a blow, he looked the business in that half a game he played. Slot couldn't foresee that happening.

Not blaming Slot at all for Leoni rupturing his ACL. Lad was just unfortunate and while he did look ok against Southampton I doubt he was going to be a starter for us. He can play RB as well so chance is he would have gotten more minutes due to injuries. I really dont think an 18 year old with only a handful of senior games to his career was going to come in and rip it up. Slot has plenty of youth in the squad and seems reluctant to use them as well like Ramsey when we where struggling for a fit RB.

The Leoni injury, the Isak injury, the Ekitike injury, the Bradley injury, Endo (while less impactful) and the Allison injuries have all made a big difference to how we played. Almost all have been season ending and some will spill into next season. They were all “unfortunate incident” injuries that were just down to bad luck which this season we had a lot of. Started off with Jota’s passing, we went on an unbeaten beginning of the season and while some would say it masked the issues it could also be said we found a way to win like champions, then we completely unraveled. Some were saying we’ll get relegated but Slot did steady the ship eventually but by then the team was a shell of the team they could have been and we certainly lost our mojo.

Something I don’t think can by placed on Slot was the poor form of Konate, Salah and VVD. They were our leaders and they didn’t show up this year and some matches they looked Sunday league. Be it age, last year of contract or just a lack of motivation. I think Slot persisted too much with players out of form and didn’t freshen it up when it needed it. Consistently playing Gakpo as on example is a head scratcher because he has been poor most matches, he certainly did not deserve to be an instant starter.

I don’t think we have world class coaches and that needs immediate attention and the team are certainly not running like they did under Klopp. It took too long to change the set plays coach as we were awful at defending and attacking them, and we immediately improved when we did, and this season set plays have been all important in the PL thanks to Arsenal’s raping of the rules which then became the theme. Tactically the concept of control the ball until a clever run splits defenses and then pass it makes sense to me, we didn’t have enough of the clever runs though so it made the play look stale. Not sure if that is the manager’s responsibility or the players. I also think we didn’t press enough because pressing opens opportunities but you need to be fit and we didn’t look like we were, again, down to the lack of world class coaches.

In any case I hope for a better next year.

I dont think Leoni would have played much and neither would Endo barring lots of injuries. Ali doesn't really effect our play either as hes a keeper. Mama did alright imo. Isak obviously a big loss as im sure we spent that money to build around him but didnt happen through injuries. Hugo is a loss but he was struggling fitness wise all year. Injuries have impacted us but not as much as Slot likes to make out.

Being honest im not sure who was thinking VVD or Mo would be better this year as we have witnessed them declining over the last 2 years due to age. We have loads underperforming that shouldn't and new players also no where near the level they where at when we bought them. Thats on management and Slot in particular for deploying tactics not suited to them. The fitness levels stop with him also as hes the manager and does nothing about it. Chelsea got outran by every team in the league but came to anfield and outran us. This has been happening all season with zero sign of change.

We will literally be going into next season with a new 11 and things have to change from the off. We have got to be at a fitter team  and play much better. He has to change his tactics or things will get worse. Given the new team their will be ups and downs but if we are still playing the same way then hes gone.