goodrobotusses

Playing very similar football too, which the Barca fans came to hate. Also crumbled with the pressure of being Barca boss. So yeah, get him in. I'll have whatever he's drinking.

Xavi is s***e. Thiago could be a great coach but we have zero evidence he is, so massive punt. Iraola is interesting but I’m not convinced he can win. Any more? Zidane? Did he even do anything at Madrid other than radiate Zidane-ness?

It’s probably the only option available and might not even be an option. Would come with its own issues but he’s basically the only technically and theoretically available lad out there who is good enough for where we want to be. So if FSG give him a call to see if he’d want it and he says no, too soon or even never, what then? Sacking Slot is the easy part.

Who? Of those who're good enough, that is. Not many candidates good enough out there, and even fewer who're actually available. The only one who is is Klopp, and I don't think he'd want it so soon, if ever. Iraola would probably come if we offered it, but I'm about 70% sure he's a Bielsa whose teams will play fun football, win little, and leave a trail of broken players every spring.

If Slot doesn't see out the season, I would want a proper plan for a replacement in place before the club lets him go. If he were sacked now, as some are suggesting, we're at risk of lurching into "Gerrard as caretaker until season's end" territory, which goes one of two ways: a) we don't improve and the season is a disaster either way, or b) he does well enough initially to get the job and then the wheels fall off next season.

Getting our No9 into the game has been an issue under Slot since day one, masked (not unreasonably) by the fact we won the league with the No9 barely touching the ball. Now it's an issue because we're s***e and we've got a lethal £125m striker not getting a touch. Only Diaz and Ekitike have managed to get themselves involved in games from No9 under Slot, and that was only because they would get bored and go hunting for the ball in deep positions.

It is definitely a bit mad that we invested so much in the summer, have struggled to integrate everyone, and now the solution to our bad form and incoherence is more signings. I'm not opposed to bringing in the right players, but I don't think any signing in January will fix our issues this season.

Translation: "Please give us money this January, we don't want him to go on a free."

Sure our squad will be thrilled to hear Gerrard motivating them by banging on about the screws he has in his hip from his playing days. Inspirational.

The Frankfurt game hinted at us experimenting with it, but I don't think there's much evidence of Slot planning a major formation change. We'd have experimented a lot more in pre-season if it were a serious plan. A sudden lasting shift away from 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 mid-season would look more like flailing than anything.

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Has any team played a diamond midfield with success since Ancelotti's Milan? And they were actually better in that first season using a 4-3-2-1 with Kaka and Rui Costa behind Shevchenko or Inzaghi. Berlusconi pressured Ancelotti into playing with two strikers.

If Slot were to leave, the only three that might theoretically improve us and be of the level are Klopp, Enrique and Alonso, and none of them is officially available. Can't be arsed with names like Inzaghi or Conte. I would be curious about Iraola in the same way I was about Slot, but I've seen no evidence he has figured out a style of play that doesn't have everyone's legs falling off by spring. If Iraola were our boss last summer, I don't think it would have been a good idea to sign Isak, for example.

I think that's right. Think how we play first halves is complete no-risk tepidity, with the idea the coaches will use that time to figure out an attacking plan for the second half. Fine if it comes off, but awful when it doesn't.

The passive first halves were a thing last season too. Think it wasn't getting noticed because we tended to still win games. The formula has tended to be: play passively for 45, mostly passing around the back five and struggling to progress the ball; get in at half-time, where Slot points out the gaps in the opposition; go out, play better and win the game. This season we've been doing the same, only usually going in at half-time down and having an as-bad-if-not-worse second half. A big factor is also the loss of TAA, who was the one who could find a bit of space and progress the ball quickly from defence, breaking up the slow build-up monotony. Now, without him, teams just sit on VvD and say to Konate, Bradley, Kerkez etc, "Okay lads, pass through us if you can," which they can't. It has been one of the things that has frustrated me since the beginning – that and the fact our No9 hardly touches the ball – but as long as we were winning, it felt like a petty gripe on my behalf.

That was what I noticed. Think it was the Spurs 6-3 last season. Mac went off for Curtis when we were 5-1 up and our midfield turned into a mess without him on the pitch, allowing Spurs back to 5-3 before Diaz added a sixth.

Think on form all three complement one another, but it's also quite telling that while Szobo and Grav have been playing well all season, the team hasn't. Whereas Mac Allister has finally rediscovered his form in the last two games and suddenly the team has started looking coherent in those games. Dom and Grav capable of more spectacular moments though, with Szobo in particular really kicking on this season.

I think he’s quite good on the ball. Not Van Dijk good, but good.

Think Isak and Wirtz need to earn their places in the team when they get their chances, not come in automatically when someone in their position is already playing well. Wirtz took a big step tonight, will be Isak's turn when he's back. Eki looked goosed before getting subbed, so Isak will get chances. Just needs to take them because Eki has played the better out of the pair so far.

Think, when properly fit, Isak should help with this. Is an issue though.

That's his position now and his job is to win it from Gakpo. I'm sure Slot promised him the No10 and that's nice and everything, but until he can handle the pace of the PL he shouldn't be part of the midfield three. Szobo has made himself indispensable in the No10. We have two quick No9s in the squad who like to pull out to the left and dribble, and two LBs capable of overlapping, so putting Wirtz on the left doesn't have to mean he plays like a winger. He'll also probably find more time on the ball drifting in from the left while he adjusts to the league.

Szobo especially. He and Rogers seem quite similar as players, No10s whose strengths are mostly in their running power. He isn't but it can't just be him, otherwise teams just set up to keep the likes of Konate and Kerkez as the spare men.

I think Robbo is smart and experienced enough to recognise when he should transition from hanging back as a quasi-third CB to being part of the attack. Helps that Robbo can pass the ball too, so is an effective part of progressing the ball up the field. The inability to do that is my biggest worry about Kerkez right now. Playing through him is basically a dead end.

He does, and Diaz tended to be more involved at No9 last season than Darwin or Jota were because he did the same, but you could never have accused Darwin of not being involved in football matches before Slot arrived. It's not a criticism, per se, I just find it weird how our No9 is often a bit of a non-factor even when we have a lot of the ball.

I find it weird how uninvolved our No9 often is in games. Was like that for most of last season too, no matter who played there – hardly any touches. Never watched Feyenoord under Slot but know Gimenez scored loads for them, so don't know if he was just scoring off a handful of touches or if how they played was different.