Liverpool banter 5

20 Oct 2025 08:31:44
4 losses and the messiah is now the issue not the players?
Walk tall like a mountain when your winning then explode like a volcano when you loose. I was just happy to see a great game tbh. Yes the win is great for us but ill show some class and won't berate the players who get paid thousands to turn up and fall.

Who knows maybe next year

It be UTD saying its our year lol

Anyway peace out.

20 Oct 2025 08:51:42
Don’t think that the general views on here are what most normal fans are thinking reddevil. This is a place for the great unwashed to have their daily dose of therapeutic team bashing.

Those of us with any sense, humility and idea about the game and its nuances are still confident we’ll come good.

You guys got a bit lucky we didn’t have our finishing boots on and took advantage of some poor defending. Fair play. We’ve got no choice but to take it on the chin and move on.

20 Oct 2025 09:13:46
I think people are losing their heads with Slot because of two fundamental problems. 1) He is picking players who are not playing very well. 2) Our midfielders are being told to play like strikers.

We hadn't lost a game until he started dropping Wirtz and Ekitike. With those two on the pitch together we look dangerous. The players who came in for them (Mac Allister and Isak) don't look sharp at all. Salah also does not deserve his place in the team, so Frimpong and Chiesa should be given more chances to start on the right.

Onto the other point, what is going on with our midfield set up? Yesterday we were basically playing a 4-1-5 and this has been a feature since Macca came into the team, as Wirtz is intelligent enough to come looking for the ball. Mac Allister and Szoboszlai were so bloody high up (literally alongside the front 3) that we weren't capitalising on the gaping hole Fernandes and Casemiro left in the middle of the park. After Wirtz and Jones came on it changed the game because both of them came deeper and actually stood in the space. Then both of them turned and drove us forward by running past their non-existent midfield. It was too little too late though.

I am not going to call for the managers head when we're 4th in October and only 4 points off the top, but this next week is huge. We simply have to beat Frankfurt and Brentford. If we don't, I'm not sure Slot will see Christmas. The Jota incident is no doubt weighing heavy on a few of the players and a slow start was to be expected. Grief affects everyone differently. But what it doesn't explain is the tactical decisions from Slot or the baffling team selections.

As a side note, I've hammered Konate all season, so I should praise him when it's earned. He was excellent yesterday and carried the team defensively.

20 Oct 2025 09:46:43
The great unwashed ey. Can you see us over your nose robbo?

20 Oct 2025 09:47:12
Same with Jones, gets a bit of flack and rightly so but made a massive difference when he came on. He also tried to stir an almost silent Kop into supporting the team more.

20 Oct 2025 09:52:35
I back Slot and the process

I still think it’s odd to make subs where we end of up Endo and Jones as our 6/ 8…. or like today’s game we end up with Jones and Wirtz as our 6/ 8.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen an elite team make changes in a game that compromises so many key positions on the pitch in order to get as many players forward as possible

It makes me think Slot is chasing results. I’d much prefer attention to performance especially as we’re a new team and trying to build chemistry.

20 Oct 2025 10:14:16
Sorry but Konate was marking Maguire for the last goal.
Not strong enough in the air I’m afraid. A lob cross to the back post for the “slower than a glacier” Maguire should not result in a free header.
Konate is not good enough.

20 Oct 2025 10:23:08
Robbo - the things that really irritates me is that Salah and Mac Allister have capable replacements that are never given the chance. Every game I watch, I know that Mac Allister is going to play poorly and be replaced by Jones around the hour mark who always seems to make much more of an impact. Every game, Salah does absolutely nothing. Every time Chiesa plays, he makes an impact.

In defence I can forgive Slot to some degree (purely looking at selections, not tactics here) because there is no replacement for Konate or Virgil (I'm not sure on throwing Gomez in, personally) .

There are things a blind man can see but every game, Slot does the same thing and I know what's going to happen and lots of us do. It's the sheer bloody mindedness of Slot that is really starting to grate.

20 Oct 2025 10:26:56
My issue with Slot is that I don't think he knows how to play each player.

Let's take yesterday for example. From the few things I know from ManU is that they play counter attacks and that they literally do not have a midfield (yesterday was not the exception) .

If Liverpool decides to play aggresively, he should have played the same tactics as yesterday BUT playing Wirtz instead of Macca and playing Ekitike instead of Isak to exploit the midfield that everyone should know ManU do not have.

If you play more conservative, worrying about counters, then you put the same lineup except for Isak, since Ekitike can press better than Isak and could have been better alongside Szobo on the tip BUT also clearly instruct Macca to hold the double pivot to protect the backline.

Nonetheless, the issue is not only Slot. The players carry a lot of blame too. How come the player that on the ground can get up and just outrun everyone to score? Kerkez has played bad, but yesterday literally he was overload and didn't have any help (i don't know if it was by design) . Van Dijk is not playing at the level he is used to, and I don't if he is affected by Kerkez or viceversa.

Finally, can the team please stop conceding goals from set pieces or follow ups from those set pieces? Now, I'm always expecting the worst whenever there is a set piece against us and I'm tired of it.

20 Oct 2025 10:46:17
Leave it out Robbo. Everybody is entitled to their opinion. What makes you a fountain of wisdom all of a sudden?
Nuances of football? Give me a break.

20 Oct 2025 11:00:33
@Reddevilfan, you thought that was a great game? Maybe cos you won so I can understand that. For me, that was not a great game. Utd are were poor (a midfield with no pace and no legs, for starters) BUT we played so much crap (no press, no midfield shape on/ off the ball) that we made Utd look competent at best, something they most definitely are not. If either team played a team that knew what it was doing, we both get smoked as both teams have been already. That's why our perf. (forget the result) was even more awful than it looks.

As for Slot, Im not Slot out in any way shape or form and won't be. However, he is doing way too many things that people simply do not understand. A manager can do something I disagree with while at the same time, understanding why he did it. That is not what is happening here and it is very painful to watch.

20 Oct 2025 10:31:06
Albert Einstein say Insanity is doing the same thing while expecting different result.

20 Oct 2025 12:49:32
I just don’t understand how all of you can go from the elation of winning the league, then the further elation of the unbelievable transfer window, then 5 wins in a row, beating Arsenal at home etc etc, to the over the top negativity and drivel I’m seeing on this site.

It’s disappointing I get it, nobody likes losing especially at home and especially at home to that lot but it happens. It shouldn’t but it does.

This 4 game run has been a horrible experience for all of us but does it warrant going from ‘it’s so good to be a Liverpool fan right now’ to ‘Slot doesn’t know what he’s doing and should be sacked, Salah should be dropped forever, it’s all doom and gloom, we’ll be lucky to get top 6?’

Not for me. I choose life.

20 Oct 2025 08:28:19
Does Slot have the guts to make the big decisions, like dropping Salah and Isak. Or can he only haul off 19 year olds at half time?

The team is lacking cohesion and we are so porous we look like we could concede whenever we are attacked. Cannot believe this is all down to GvB but he is the key difference in the management setup.

If we are going to play so open we need Gravenberch/ Jones or Endo to solidify midfield and stop us getting run through.

Van Dijk needs to show some fight, strolling around looking uber cool is pointless when you're getting beat every week. Time to be a captain, start from kick off. Not just reactionary.

20 Oct 2025 08:53:20
Van Dijk is an issue. His leadership skills are, at times, pathetic. I don’t give a damn if these are his mates, most of them need a massive kick up the backside to regain their focus. Shout, yell, and direct people with some aggression instead of standing around trying to ‘aura farm’ in the middle of game - he’s a good 5-10 years older and more experienced than the others, and should be leading them through matches.
This doesn’t go into his defending.

20 Oct 2025 10:29:00
Virg has been our best player up until yesterday. Don't know what you're talking about atall lowe. Virg doesn't fancy kerkez atall. It's glaringly obvious he thinks he's babysitting him on the pitch. Kerkez has to be supported because he's young like bradley but kerkez has looked a very poor buy.

20 Oct 2025 11:05:27
"Does Slot have the guts to make the big decisions, like dropping Salah and Isak. Or can he only haul off 19 year olds at half time? "


I've been asking the same question myself. It's all well and good picking on Elliott, Quansah and Chiesa saying this or that about them not being of the "standard" when you're winning.

Now when you're losing and those who are of the "standard" are the ones letting you down way more while the Jones's and Chiesa's of the world are outplaying them and showing up everytime they are called upon, it's a diff. kettle of fish, isn't it?

20 Oct 2025 11:06:46
Batman - I’m not second-guessing Virgil as a player. I think he’s world class. But I don’t like things I see from him as a captain. Captains need to lead by example, sure, but they also need to be a jerk at times because the team aren’t doing what they need to.

20 Oct 2025 11:41:58
I mean, hendo shouted a lot at people in the darkest period of the klopp reign, can't say it helped a lot when it was something deeper and more systematic at fault for the performances.

20 Oct 2025 14:20:57
When was the last time Chiesa played 90 minutes?

20 Oct 2025 07:08:54
What makes it worse for me is slab head scored the winner! Can't stand him 😠.

20 Oct 2025 09:57:02
I'm in total agreement with you on that mate here's hoping when slashed goes to court in Greece the judge is a fan of the reds on not the devil's 11 was taking stick in at work today but shut them allup by asking who they play this week answer nobody still we have wed to get yesterday of our systems anyone want to bet that Hugo scores if played?

20 Oct 2025 11:06:05
Hunter64, is that court case in Greece still a thing?

20 Oct 2025 06:36:32
For me . I want the whole coaching and staff to change

It's clear there's nothing going on behind the scenes that's making the team BETTER . With now even more quality
We look worse and worse

And in don't even recognise the way we play or what their trying to do .

Look how long United have stuck with Amorim . it's clear lfc will stick with slot and he is going to continue this deluded belief . we are unlucky and by the next two weeks
Liverpool will be out of the league race . and falling down the league table in Europe and trying to qualify to get to the second round


I don't think slot is the type to change ideas.

20 Oct 2025 07:56:35
Great idea redrebel. Sack them! Sack them all! It’s the only way!

And cancel Christmas.

20 Oct 2025 08:30:17
Xmas we can keep

I am just convinced if we don’t the season
Will collapse by December
Out of two major trophies

Sometimes in life u have to make the big calls.

20 Oct 2025 09:55:49
Big calls like sacking Nuno and signing Ange?
Big calls like having 10 managers in 10 years?

I tend to agree about the risk that Slot is stubborn and won’t change his ways. But that’s not a reason for pen pushers to make a change.

Jumping ship is for losers.

20 Oct 2025 11:07:11
Faith, you ain't never lied.

20 Oct 2025 00:41:04
Ed1, what do you think? Is it time to panic yet? That's four losses in a row, and it's not like we were playing good football either. I do think there are players who don't deserve to be in the starting lineup right now, but they keep getting selected.

{Ed001's Note - it is worrying that Slot seems to pick some players no matter how they perform, while others can't get a game when they are key every time they come on. He has to stop trying to get players fit by starting them and get them fit in training. And why drop a player in form for one who is not even close to half fitness? It is time that he addresses the issues or someone needs to have a serious talk with him.

Also, if you are going to pick players, at least play them to their strengths and stop playing like Trent is in the team, he is gone. We no longer have teams dropping 5 yards deeper and allowing us to control the play when we have the ball.

And what is this about with Macca just standing on their defensive line? We are just emptying midfield and wondering why every opponent can get at our backline easily. The midfield is offering no protection at all. Macca is too slow to get back, it is an imbecilic tactic to play him as almost a striker.}

20 Oct 2025 07:57:19
I had a distinct sense of dread when I saw the starting lineup an hour before the game with Macca and Isak starting, Ed, I mean if we all know that it isn't going to turn out well, it's flabbergasting that Slot can persist with doing this even when the likes of Ekitike, Chiesa and Jones all showing good form recently. Ekitike looked very good next to Mbappe for France in the break as well, so it is genuinely perplexing.

Emptying midfield is a massive problem for us in the build up, Grav now has loads of space to operate in with the opposition not looking to press him and the other team dropping into a low block, but Dom and Macca are all the way up the field with everybody else, you have to wonder what it is that we're trying to do with our ball progression.

{Ed001's Note - it is something the Rangers fans used to call 'the horseshoe' when GVB tried it in Scotland as their manager. They were frustrated by it then and said it never worked and just led to slow, boring, sideways football. It is a nonsense idea. Movement is the key to unsettling defences, even if only used to distract them for a second. When we did have movement, we created chances. But sending them all to stand up in a line up the top is just idiotic. Rodgers used to do something similar.}

20 Oct 2025 08:42:44
The biggest flaw with this system is all our ball playing players are pushed way to high and all easily marked by the opposition, if you look at recent games it’s our CBs who are expected to play penetrative passes which is just crazy. We no longer smoother our opponents we make it so easy by emptying our midfield, we can’t press once the opponent turns over possession because once the 1st pass makes it out our whole team are on the turn and chasing back. If you watch our last 10 games all our opponents have to do is play a long ball into the channels and we are carved open. Carragher pointed this out to Slot in interview way back before the season started and he had no answers and it seems he is yet to come up with a solution.

20 Oct 2025 09:38:35
You think the appointment of GvB hasn't work so far? Also, is Konate keep being selected because we don't have someone capable of replacing him right now? I wouldn't mind putting Gomez in and see how he perform.

20 Oct 2025 09:52:21
Play any combination of defenders you like, but if the midfield offers no protection we’ll still be a soft touch. As it is, any opponent will fancy their chances of us gifting them easy chances.

20 Oct 2025 09:59:05
Ed1 - the situation is really baffling and I wonder how in sync Slot is with Hughes.

Like we’ve signed two attacking wingbacks - Frimpong we’re not playing and we’d sooner play Szoboslai ahead of him so he can invert into midfield like Trent.

And the Kerkez were playing deeper and narrow so most of his runs are inside the LW.

It’s strange.

{Ed001's Note - it is very odd. Clearly not fully in sync as the recruitment has not matched the style of play from the beginning. In fact the recruitment is patchwork anyway, a keeper who is woefully unsuited, a full back who is not even a full back etc etc. The signings are great individual players but not a cohesive group of players who match up as a unit. It seems a bit uncoordinated.}

20 Oct 2025 11:12:55
Ed, I don't know if you saw it re: the Horseshoe. In the first half, Kerkez had the ball and Grav came over to show for a pass. Right behind him, there was the centre circle with a huge doughnut hole (or horseshoe) the size of you guessed it, the centre circle. I almost had to go wash my face to make sure I was seeing the same thing.

So it seems like the other midfielders just go stand on the oppo. 's defensive line when we are building and leave that doughnut hole in midfield. And yet we are surprised that we are awful when out of possession and in transition and get attacked and scored on with no pressure on the ball.

{Ed001's Note - my parents are staying and ended up going out on the balcony to watch the diwali fireworks rather than listen to my rants about that. 🤣🤣

19 Oct 2025 21:49:34
Ed01 I would really appreciate your words of wisdom right now. What’s going on?

{Ed001's Note - I don't think the choice of coach was correct, to be honest. Heitinga being replaced by GVB has brought a style of play that is not working. We brought in players for a completely different way of playing and then wondering why they are struggling to adapt. This is on Slot, he has to stop worrying about a potential burnout and just get the players back to a higher intensity.}

20 Oct 2025 10:47:02
Great response Ed.

{Ed001's Note - thanks mate.}