Dan

Well well well. Outstanding.

Dreadful from Salah all this and I cannot believe people are making excuses for him. Half the team have taken pelters all season and not behaved like this. Van Dijk has been fronting it in every interview; he challenged Rooney on his comments and got on with it. Chiesa can't get a look in despite Gakpo stinking the place out and is the model pro. Previous service to the club does not give anyone the right to expect special treatment. It's petulant behaviour from one of our most senior players. Slot is not doing his job well either but the brutal reality for Salah is that we have shown improvements without him in the team. We were getting hammered down our right side week in week out. Bringing Isak on instead of him at the weekend is not an excuse for him to snap like this as some are making out. It may have been a mistake, it may not. Now one of his teammates has to field loads of questions on it in the presser along with the manager before one of the biggest games of the season. It's fkin rubbish from him.

I'd be playing Grav at CB until we sign someone in Jan.

The idea that Salah is doing this for the fans with some kind of cryptic parting gift is laughable. I can only assume people are clinging onto that fantasy because they want Slot out. Salah is the most single minded, driven, egotistical player we've had for decades - which has been backed up with unbelievable output tbf. This is all about him though and it always has been. He's been a d****ead here and not for the first time.

Konate brought it all down. Like he has been for weeks. His teammates must be fkin sick of the sight of him. He's a senior player and has been playing like an eighteen year old for months. He's a fkin disgrace. The collapse is a collective thing but he lit the fuse. Again. Stop lighting the fuse you fkin moron. Do your own job properly and the collective is much more likely to take care of itself.

That was ALL on fkin Konate. Up to that point it was an absolutely fine away performance. Worse than Lovren that c*nt. Every fckin week he is killing us. He needs dropping for a long time not least to send a message to everyone that his brain dead b*llocks is not acceptable.

Got the selection and tactics spot on. Pleased for him. Needed to catch a break.

Beating Frankfurt last week has done nothing to stop the pressure this week. A win in the Carabao would be the same. It's all about Villa.

Not worked for a while that mate.

If you ignore context, maybe. And losing with a strong team would be a lot worse.

Kin ell the reaction in here is bananas. This competition has fcked us over when the season really gets going in the winter. We were completely gassed against Newcastle last season and we are more than likely going to have to play an extra CL fixture in Jan. We've got loads of injuries and can't afford to lose any more first teamers. At least Slot hasn't lost his bottle and is happy to ignore the noise.

That's what I wanted to see.

Maybe something radical like telling your full backs to overlap and provide some width.

30 - 60 mins was as bad as anything I can remember.

We can't be as bad as Saturday. I'm putting that down as our lowest point and we get better from here.

Gakpo is too streaky to be relied upon as first choice. Diaz at least gave you non stop energy and pace even if his output wasn't always great from wide areas.

We've got a lot of injuries as well in midfield and defence.

Tricky one this. Think I'd go for a fringe team and give the big hitters a week off. If we lose (good chance) you can write it off as one of them. If we lose with our strongest 11 then we're in a death spiral. Hopefully we whatevee team he picks.

Guehi plays in a back three.

Robbo should be starting league games for the forseeable. Kerkez on Wednesday hopefully.

Had a little dig into this thread to see early opinions on a young lad from a foreign league ultimately being played out of position. Mainly positive but lots saying he needs time to settle. This one though is tremendous!

A microcosm of this is the use of the full backs and our lack of width. Isak thrived off service from wide areas at Newcastle. We sign two full backs who overlap and yet all three are seemingly being asked to do stuff that doesn't play to their strengths.

Season isn't over yet and we're in the eye of the storm. Won't win the league but it could still be fun. My philosophical approach is clearly not working though this evening so....I'm out!

City did it last year. Now it's our turn. Arsenal might do it next season. Another one that has been said on here the last couple of weeks that is worth repeating: It's fkin rock hard to retain a title. Virtually nobody has done it for very good reason.

It will be fine in the not too distant future. With or without a new manager, perhaps. My favourite football cliche is that things change very quickly in this game, son. Look at Manchester Utd this weekend ffs. In the meantime we should take solace from the fact that we support a club who is in the top 0.1% globally in terms of success and achievement. This is just a blip.