Chewie

There's a lot of double speak doing the rounds -we hate low block defensive football, preferring games like against PSG when two teams play football and attack each other (a rewriting of the reality of the first leg last season btw) - we can't compete against PSG so we play a back 5 and have no shots.. - Slot appointed by the brains trust as the 'continuity candidate', the man identified to match the current players and style of play and thus cause the least disruption.. - there was always (seemingly) an understanding that a complete rebuild would be needed given the end of an era (and the second of these - if not both - land at all of their doors.. Slot, Hughes, Edwards) And let's not forget that Jurgen stayed on one more year so that we would not be left in a mess, proven by winning the league with strong leaders and new players in the team, and a backup cast of young players desperate to support and one or two supplanting the starters. We had continuity, sought to evolve this by bringing in new players to a title winning team, and have ballsed the whole thing right up. We can't now say the design was to tear it all down and rebuild.

Arne knows how to conclude a rousing farewell.. "He's won everything at this club, served his club and really loves this club. [It's] been a great nine years for him. This season, he didn't play as much as he was used to and as a result of that, he's leaving."* *he did precede this ending with these words of tribute... But boy he didn't half stick the landing with ".. and as a result of that, he's leaving" the end... "He's had many great seasons here not only as a player but as a great person as well. Every team-mate of his will tell you how funny he is, how great he is," Slot said. "What I remember most about him is the intensity he plays with. I can remember Robbo making a press from the left-back position to the right wing a few years ago and I showed it to my players I was working with back then.

That's beautiful, and I have no doubt this seminal moment will be to the fore, hopefully years from now, in his tribute and eulogy on your sad demise.

It's with great sadness that I too am announcing today that I shall be continuing my support, love and/or loathing, of Liverpool Football Club up to and beyond the end of this season.

I feel overlooked here

Aye, that's where I'm at, though it's more of a melancholic lament and resigned acceptance that the party is probably over. There was a period of time before klopp when I figured we simply would not return to winning the league, being the best at home nevermind Europe and the world. Jurgen changed all that and when he announced his departure I figured it was going to be a return to being the 4th - 7th best team in England. Then we went and won the league, without him. It looked like we'd found the formula. Sustained success. Ongoing greatness. Increasingly that's looking more and more like the actual last dance for the klopp era, albeit with the guidance for one season of a new coach. Maybe we can turn this around quickly, but we need to pivot now. Not necessarily today, but the next step we take is absolutely huge. It either confirms the party is over and it's a long return to 4-7th or we're back in the fight. It's easier to get back in the fight from the fringes of 4th than from the prolonged fringes of 7th. So I'm numb to last night for what it was. I'm 50/50 growing to 60/40 resigned/'hopeful' (wrong word but can't think of a better one) about where we go next

Totally, but hopefully the ceasefire will provide space for cooler heads to prevail

If there's anything worse than our form this season it's mcmanaman continuing to say Slobiszly

I read that as intern, and would be ok with that

On its own, a backs to the wall euro away that could have been better and could have been worse... But having been told all season that the managers preference is for high quality football such as playing PSG compared to teams parking the bus.... to then go out with zero ambition other than to compress space and park the bus... There's nowhere to go after that

MacAllister

Nothing much has happened bar a deflected goal. Half a job done

Agreed. We need legs and solidity and maybe a full force Salah with 20 minutes of all out effort. He needs to roll the dice. He prob knows he's gone. He doesn't need to manage Mo to stay. On the basis of Saturday I wouldn't have started him.

Just checking in. He's still here then. As you were.

Some season for city.. Easy draw in every round till the final

He was and will always be a title winning manager for Liverpool. He contributed to that and should always have the credit for it. He took over a team that hadn't won the league for 4 years and they won it. He had the smarts to orchestrate that, and made some player and technical decisions that made us click. However, he also had Souness x 2 in the first year of Joe Fagan. When Joe took over Souness grabbed that team by the scruff of the neck to show that we could win post Paisley. In Virgil and Mo last year Slot had 2 leaders playing for their futures, but also two fiercely proud and competitive players determined to show they could win post Jurgen. To the credit of all 3 of them, they found an alchemy that made it work. But those two leaders legs have fallen off, the post klopp zeal to win without him has burned off, the tragedy of Diogo has hit massively, and what we've found is that Arne is almost certainly not the leader to carry us forward. Fair enough. But shake hands and move on. And do it quickly.

How on earth do you swap shirts when coming off as a sub? The half time swaps are bad enough but at best at least it's logistically understandable

Salah has been awful today but that's the right call to not humiliate a legend within the game.

It's the lack of hope that sustains you

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cd7j8wn59pno Really glad we got the massive money for this lad rather than keeping him to not rest and rotate the 3 midfielders we've been flogging to death all season. What a waste it would have been to have him and Harvey hanging around being told they weren't good enough.....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cwyd0pzmv0jo Comparison of ticket prices for the euros in 2028 and this world cup. Have a feeling, and in no small part a hope, that this World Cup is gonna stink the place out.. Which I'm not happy about as, for example, I'd love it to be amazing for Scottish fans who haven't been for years. But a combination of too many teams (so lots of mediocre games and little jeapordy for the first 2.5 weeks), stifling heat, games split into quarters (for ads.. Sorry, drinks breaks), no real generational superstars at their peak or generational team, fans from blacklisted countries denied access, an entire nation told not to come for their own safety.... It's lining up to be soulless

Closed my eyes and listened to that and for a moment it seemed like he was still the manager.

When the dust settles on all this it does leave a lot of questions / points of discussion... - is this the first admission that they made the wrong call this time last year in preparation for this year? - does this indicate the same group of people are going to be the same group to correct their collective mistakes (inc. Arne?) - are they really allowing Mo to essentially be in the same situation as last year or is there an understanding he won't sign for certain teams? You'd have to think having a contract gave them some leverage? - whilst a certain amount of this is about money, Mo costs them 20m per year. If he can literally sign for anyone, including a rival, he's worth that as our 4th or 5th attacker after making the signings we need, and he can leave for free next summer - is this about a clean slate for a new appointment? Have discussions been had with a new manager who said 'you sort the Mo question before I get there'. The new guy doesn't have to worry about being the guy to get rid of Mo? - why has the club not treated this like Jordan Henderson, allowing him to leave for a nominal fee. 10m for instance would pay for half the cost of re-signing Mo last summer? - who has driven this? Mo or the club? If Mo, does he believe he's not wanted or that his chances of success are better elsewhere given the downward trajectory of the club? Is this a warning from Mo we should be heeding? - what is the alchemy that allows some players to leave - even for nothing - heralded as a wonderful servant, and others who leave on a free as having cheated the club? The context, the player, and our desire to have them stay are different, but the bare facts are that a player announcing he's leaving at the end of the season for nothing into a camera that he and his publicity team have manufactured to communicate his love for the club is something we saw before - last year - and that didn't land well at all.

He's proper gone and done a trent, leaving on a free, speaking to a script being displayed just above the camera, talking about loving the club and fans... Just everyone wait and see when he signs for the Saudi league and gives his first presser in Arabic as if he hasn't been taking lessons for quite some time now...

Horrible for him at a time when you can well imagine life doesn't feel that great. From a spurs perspective this either blocks them in (hard to sack a man who's father has just died), or offers both parties a way out (he steps away to be with the people that matter and not that basket case of a club, and they get the opportunity without sacking him to replacing him).