Welkom Arne Slot

[Swipe]

4 minutes ago, honourablegeorge said:

City linked with Enzo Fernandez today too. 

Aye saw that. They'll drop another fortune in the summer, especially if they've to deal with Guardiola going. 

[Swipe]

The Athletic saying Iraola is on Chelsea's list. 

They mentions Silva, Glasner and Fabregas as well. The latter is meant to be doing really well in Italy. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Swipe

[Conrad]

Can see Fabregas at Arsenal in the next year or two

[Swipe]

It's not a crowded market and the thought of them all going elsewhere as we dawdle with Slot is terrifying. 

He ends up getting the boot in October and there is f*** all available and we go for Gerrard. 

[Barnesy_10]

21 minutes ago, Swipe said:

Aye saw that. They'll drop another fortune in the summer, especially if they've to deal with Guardiola going. 

You’d think if Guardiola was leaving it would be announced before the end of the season due to wanting such a long tenure to not be an abrupt departure and no chance to say goodbye to the fans. Be interesting if this happens with so much to play for over the coming weeks. If he is leaving then surely the players will already know. 

[charlie clown]

1 hour ago, Jarg Armani said:

This is a funny thing people have started to say.

a) has he ever said anything about not taking the Ajax job due to club loyalties?

b) Ronald Koeman and several others have already done it

c) if you think he gives a crap about club loyalty, upsetting fans or whatever, I would suggest you haven’t been paying attention to what sort of person he is 

He doesn’t strike me as a loyalty kind of guy.

[Swipe]

4 minutes ago, Barnesy_10 said:

You’d think if Guardiola was leaving it would be announced before the end of the season due to wanting such a long tenure to not be an abrupt departure and no chance to say goodbye to the fans. Be interesting if this happens with so much to play for over the coming weeks. If he is leaving then surely the players will already know. 

 A big chance now of having the league title to go out with, and maybe even a treble. If he was unsure about it all before then being able to go out on such a high might be hard to turn down.

[Benzo-13]

He went from AZ to Feyenoord. Back in the 80’s that would’ve caused riots. So I don’t see him not going to Ajax if they approach him.  Cruyff played for both.

[Swipe]

Latest from Joyce

Spoiler

What Arne Slot must do to unite fractured Liverpool fan base

Coach’s popularity has plummeted since 2025 title win amid boring football and inconsistent results. Here’s a five-point plan he can adopt to regain supporters’ trust

It will be a year on Monday since Liverpool were crowned champions amid a joyous outpouring at Anfield that highlighted the unity between players, head coach and supporters. Tottenham Hotspur were swept aside 5-1 and a 20th league title was claimed in Arne Slot’s first season in charge. Now the holy trinity, as Bill Shankly referred to the union of players, manager and supporters, is fractured with Slot’s popularity having plummeted during a difficult campaign. Can he win over the dissenters and, just as importantly, what do Liverpool have to do to give him a chance of winning back their trust?

No more slip-ups

Qualification for the Champions League would not disguise the problems encountered this season and Virgil van Dijk said after Sunday’s victory over Everton that targeting a top-five finish was not aligned to “the standards that I expect and envision myself being a Liverpool player”. 

It would, however, salvage a sliver of consolation, maintain a presence at Europe’s top table and unlock the funds that are so important to the club’s financial model. Liverpool banked about £95million from their run to the quarter-finals of this season’s Champions League. In the Premier League, Slot’s side boast a five-point advantage as they sit in fifth place, three points behind Manchester United and Aston Villa, whom they meet away from home in two of their last five games.

Consolidating their position with a win against Crystal Palace on Saturday is paramount. Oliver Glasner’s side have beaten Liverpool three times this term and no team have defeated them four times in a season. Beyond that, finishing with momentum is vitally important for supporters looking for signs of the bright future Slot has insisted is on the horizon. 

In 2020-21, a strong finish enabled Liverpool to scrape into the Champions League and the next season they pushed for the Quadruple. Some tactical tweaks were made in the final weeks of 2022-23, when Trent Alexander-Arnoldwas used as an inverted right back, which helped to lay the foundations for improvement in the following campaign. It is essentially a different group of players now, under a different head coach, but they need to push on. 

Improve style of play

Ultimately, results dictate the mood around a club and there have been too many losses, but much of the disgruntlement among the supporters stems from what they perceive to be sterile and boring performances. Slot admitted that has been hard to hear and reasoned that a lack of intensity has been due to multiple factors, including how other teams set up and new players being unable to cope with playing three games a week.

The second point, of course, is no longer an issue. Liverpool have a week to prepare for each of their remaining fixtures and so can commit everything in their pursuit of victory.

While there has been a craving for the high-octane football played under Slot’s predecessor, Jürgen Klopp, the reality is that style was changing towards the end of the German’s reign. Over the past five seasons there has been a sharp drop-off in metrics such as high turnovers in the Premier League (443 in 2021-22 and now 247 with five games to go) and possession won in the final third (287 to 133 over the same period). How much that is to do with managerial instructions and how much it is to do with changes in, and the decline of, personnel is a key point.

Palace will offer another gauge as to whether Liverpool, with more time to prepare, are more aggressive in their pressing. If they have that mindset, then the numbers should go up and could lead to the sort of goal Mohamed Salahscored at Hill Dickinson Stadium last weekend when the visiting press forced Everton into mistakes as they played out. 

There is also more time on the training pitch to work on patterns of play — overlaps, underlaps, certain players linking up — aimed at overcoming defensive blocks and speeding up attacking moves. In the title-winning season, there was strength on the right side with Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai dovetailing. That has collapsed this term since Alexander-Arnold’s move to Real Madrid.

Supporters sense that Liverpool quickly reach the opposition half, but then they slow down with sideways passes, resulting in a lack of entertainment.

Bringing the best out of game-changers

Intrinsically linked to style of play is coaxing more from players such as Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. Should both begin against Palace, it would be the first time this season that they have been in the starting XI together for three successive games. Isak’s injury problems mean they have played a total of just 553 minutes together. In that time they have swapped only 28 passes, according to Opta’s database.

In the home Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain, there was one pass from Isak to the German and none from Wirtz to the Swede during the 45 minutes they were in tandem. Against Everton, there was an improvement, albeit still only four passes from Wirtz to Isak, and two in return, across 72 minutes.

It was hardly emphatic evidence of a blossoming partnership, but there were signs Wirtz was creating moments in which a sharper Isak may have caused more issues for Everton. Certainly, the striker should have done better immediately before half-time when, after Wirtz found him on the edge of the penalty area, he made room for a shot but struck a rather apologetic effort straight at Jordan Pickford. 

Improving the relationship and understanding between two players who cost a potential £241million combined will become crucial to starting next season in a positive vein of form, especially given the injury to Hugo Ekitike. It looks as if Wirtz will continue in the No10 role for which he was bought, but, partly because of injuries and his own physicality issues, has not always played in. 

So far, they have combined for one goal, the strike away to Tottenham Hotspur in December, the match in which Isak sustained a fractured fibula and was ruled out for four months. The next five games are about connections between the two and signs that a rapport is being built. 

More signings needed? 

Liverpool are facing another summer of change and improving the profile of Slot’s squad will be crucial. Richard Hughes, the sporting director, and Michael Edwards, chief executive of football for the club’s owner, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), will be confronted by several pivotal questions as they, along with Slot, enter the final year of their contracts.

The recruitment of a pacey winger is essential. Someone who can run in behind defences and take on opponents on the outside would benefit Isak and Wirtz, especially, as well as the team as a whole. Liverpool have tracked RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande, 19, who would be expensive at about £85million — and they will not be the only elite European club pursuing him. 

Slot pointed out recently that it is not the club’s model to buy older players, but they are also aware of the situation of Denzel Dumfries, who turned 30 last weekend, at Inter Milan. He has a €25million (about £21.7million) release clause in his contract this summer and Liverpool need to give serious thought to their options at right back. Great faith has been placed in Conor Bradley. A replacement for Alexander-Arnold was not sought last summer, but Bradley’s subsequent injury problems created issues at full back that negatively affected the season, forcing the redeployment of numerous players there. 

A solution is required. Dumfries was considered in January, but the priority then was signing the centre back Jérémy Jacquet from Rennes. Whether Liverpool firms up an interest in the Netherlands international remains to be seen.

There is uncertainty elsewhere with Juventus’s interest in the goalkeeper Alisson not deflected by the fact Liverpool recently triggered an option to extend the Brazil player’s contract by 12 months. Sources in Italy suggest Alisson is more open-minded about his future, which raises the question of whether the deal was prolonged to protect the club from losing another player for nothing. Salah and Andrew Robertson are already departing when their contracts expire. 

Similarly, Ibrahima Konaté’s confidence that he is close to signing a new contract has not yet resulted in him putting pen to paper, while Curtis Jones has a year left on his deal. Talks have not taken place with Alexis Mac Allister on a new contract. 

Last summer’s £450million reconfiguration did not address some gaps in the squad and Liverpool must go into next season with a better balanced group. 

Start next season well 

Many astute managers have been of the opinion that once doubt has been sown in the minds of supporters, it will always be there. That winning eight games in a row counts for little, because if the ninth ends in a reverse then all of the old frustrations come pouring out. 

It is imperative that Liverpool come flying out of the blocks next season. There will be huge pressure on Slot, and the rest of his coaching staff, to avoid early setbacks and nourish the green shoots of a recovery he hopes will be evident in the coming weeks. FSG has been of the view that the championship-winning coach has not disappeared; the coming games offer an opportunity for him to prove it.

 

 

[Benzo-13]

That’s a bit like after Rodgers sacked his coaches stuff.

Doesn’t matter who we sign. His football is dull and his manner is of a prick.

He was saying our league form is good today. Jesus. 

Edited 39 minutes ago by Benzo-13

[DanWM]

1 hour ago, Swipe said:

The Athletic saying Iraola is on Chelsea's list. 

They mentions Silva, Glasner and Fabregas as well. The latter is meant to be doing really well in Italy. 

Interesting that Alonso doesn't seem to be getting mentioned in any of these.

[Swipe]

5 minutes ago, DanWM said:

Interesting that Alonso doesn't seem to be getting mentioned in any of these.

VERY interesting indeed. 

If he's seriously linked to another job in the next month then I'll fully believe that Slot is totally safe.