Liverpool banter 6

11 Mar 2026 10:11:01
Lad's am I missing something here, please can Ed001 or Carra, Thefields anyone at all explain to me how is the club still persisting with Slot?

11 Mar 2026 11:01:04
I'm with you, Barry. The club should have sacked him in November, I don't care what anyone says. Instead, they persisted with him despite the obvious and, as a result, our league form continued to get worse, putting UCL qualification at serious jeopardy, not to mention potential summer targets. This all falls firmly at the feet of Edwards and Hughes!

11 Mar 2026 11:18:01
Let's lose to Spurs at home next, and I think he is off. Maybe get Gerrard as interim if Alonso only wants it in the summer.

Honestly, Spurs are so down, and their fans just know that we are there for taking and saving their season.

Says it all.

11 Mar 2026 11:39:41
New manager bounce would be very much welcome at this arse end of the season.

11 Mar 2026 11:42:37
100% agree, Mikey.

11 Mar 2026 11:52:48
We're just terrible. We do nothing well. Gotta be the slowest, most boring Liverpool team I've ever known.
It's not the worst, but it's by far the most boring I've witnessed.

11 Mar 2026 12:48:05
BarryinLouth - My personal opinion is that we reached out to Alonso back in January to float the idea of him coming in immediately, only for him to turn us down in order to see what other offers come his way this Summer, and with nobody really available in the interim bar Gerrard, the club obviously feels Slot is the better choice. If they did bring in Gerrard and he flopped, they would look unbelievably inept, as questions of "Why didn't you just stick with the man who won you the league?" are uttered from the mouths of every single pundit on the planet.

It would undoubtedly put their positions at much higher risk than seeing things out with Arne.

Cafu - If he hasn't gone yet, he's not going until the season's over.

11 Mar 2026 13:07:48
Maybe they have no available alternative?
Maybe the preferred choice is only available in the summer.

If you get an interim in, and they get a bounce, then what do you do in the summer? Get rid of the interim, leaving the new manager under immediate pressure to do better than the interim.


And if the interim is worse, then you look like a bit of a fool.

Do it in the summer, when there is less pressure, and you can get the backroom staff sorted too.

11 Mar 2026 13:25:25
Gamblers be gambling. The stakes are CL qualification and the impact of losing 100m+ of revenue in the middle of a squad and academy rebuild.

11 Mar 2026 21:07:43
Ron, are you a contrarian to everything suggested? You're like the negative voice of doom. Gerrard will know he's an interim, he's not an idiot. The same way, Carrick will understand.

11 Mar 2026 22:45:56
I would love to know what changed, tbh - you look at his record in his first 50 games vs his last 50 and ask, why did you change the whole style of play that worked so well?

Even when they revert back to it in games, they are instantly so much better, so why would that be the question?

11 Mar 2026 23:23:41
They were never going to sack Slot and we all knew that. The league was gone hence, CL footie became the target and as long as we were in or around that back then, his job was safe.

Ed01, Carra and the rest said so all season. Were going to have to suck it up and wait it out. This is not new.

11 Mar 2026 10:27:28
The question asked of me about the players being better or worst than Arsenal and City.

We have equally better players but not better coaching. We have had four different right full backs, four different center backs, three left midfielders, two center forwards. so in short, no cohesion over the season which in fairness has not helped the head coach, but that does not give him a get out of jail card.

we have a squad full of quality players that in reality should be winning the Premier League and cups, but a lot of the fans don't believe in the coach and the players. they think we are like a rudderless ship floating in and out of games and we have become reliant on two players to win us games; VVD and Salah, but they are waning with age so we need new leaders coming in to the club from the top to the bottom, we will leave that with FSG.
YNWA

11 Mar 2026 10:53:07
I think it was 6 different RB's - Bradley, Frimpong, Szobo, Endo, Gomez and Curtis.

11 Mar 2026 11:22:28
Honestly, our playing 11 is just not balanced.

The midfield isn't sorted.
The defence has not adjusted.
The attack just misfires.

You can run from it as much as you want, but we should have bid farewell to Salah and VVD last year and really started out from zero, especially when money for an astute rebuild was available.



Cuz we will be doing that next year anyway.

11 Mar 2026 12:11:50
@Cafu, did you mention we should sell VVD and Salah on here this time last year?

11 Mar 2026 13:17:15
I can't agree with any of that, Cafu.

The squad is balanced. All we've really done is replaced the players we lost.

Trent - Frimpong
Tsimikas - Kerkez
Quansah - Leoni
Darwin - Ekitike
Jota - Isak
Diaz - Wirtz.

Yes, we lost Elliott and Doak too, but did they really need replacing? Neither were good enough anyway.

Now, if you'd told me we would do that business in the summer (apart from the Jota tragedy, obviously RIP Diogo), I'd have said we have improved the squad massively.

I watched Sky's review of last season the other day, and I think people forget just how important Gakpo was. He was brilliant last season, scored loads of really important goals for us, so there was no reason to expect him to be as poor as he's been. Don't get me started on Salah. He was unbelievable last season, but this season he's lost any football talent he once had, and he was one of the best in the world.

We've lost a good £250-£300m of talent (maybe more) and signed £450m of talent. All different types of player to what we had, but there is no other Trent out there and you'd be hard pushed to find anyone who wouldn't have swapped Diaz for Wirtz in the summer or Darwin for Isak.



£200m of the talent we signed have barely played due to fitness and injury, and others have struggled to settle.

It was absolutely the right decision to keep Mo and VVD, as we were already losing Trent and Diaz through their own choice, so what message would it send if we'd also lost VVD and Mo? We had to keep them for at least another season, it was imperative, and they were both imperious last season, so why would we believe they'd drop off so much?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but at the start of the season we had a great squad on paper which we all believed was an improvement on last season. Football isn't played on paper though, and with the injury issues and basic poor coaching we've been really poor.

The Jota tragedy has had an impact, but we'll never know how much.

Ultimately though, Slot has been given a squad that should at least be challenging for the title, and for whatever reason he's fluffed it. I think there's much more to it than we know, but the buck stops with Slot, he knows that, and it's very likely it will cost him his job.

{Ed001's Note - we replaced Elliott and Doak mate - Rio replaced Doak and Nyoni is the replacement for Elliott.}

11 Mar 2026 15:21:55
I agree, Carry, and it does my head in that people are blaming the players still. I'm not saying they have no responsibility, but all the calls for getting rid of so many that were instrumental to winning the league last year when the whole team looks lost this year is short sighted.

I would like all the players that want to stay to get a new look by whoever is the next manager. Slot has used players out of position and with tactics so ill suited to them, it makes no sense to get rid based on this season.

Salah is the best example, but, unfortunately, because of his age, he may get moved before being given a chance/new role to prove that he still has what it takes to compete at the highest level with us. Because the whole team has been a long way off from that level all season this year.

11 Mar 2026 15:27:35
Think back to summer 06. Chelsea had just won two leagues in a row, then signed Shevchenko, Ballack, and Ashley Cole. It just doesn't work out exactly like a video game.

11 Mar 2026
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11 Mar 2026 09:27:30
Whoever invented the phrase no news is good news was lying lol.
Surely the owners are thinking about change. If not, have they actually watched us this season? Do they not have someone who scours the internet for fan feedback? It's not good reading if you're Slot.


The players have been dreadful but I think they stopped playing for the manager a long time ago. It's been very clear in lots of games.
Personally I'm hoping we don't have to watch this Hodgsonesque football anymore. The season's been as boring as any I can remember.

11 Mar 2026 10:09:54
They will be having conversations, Rum. They will be talking to Slot and probably senior players to ascertain why the form has been so poor. Make no bones about it, the club would've expected a title challenge this season.

I can only think that the answers they've been getting have made them believe that whatever is happening is only temporary, and things will improve.



All we see is performances on the pitch; we don't see the day to day, the team meetings, the analysis, etc. There could be other mitigating factors that are saving Slot from the chop.

11 Mar 2026 10:36:20
That's a very fair point, Varry. Unfortunately, it's still a very, very frustrating situation to be in, having to watch that style of football.

11 Mar 2026 12:14:03
As we've been saying for months, he won't leave until, at least, the end of the season, despite three or four people asking the same question every day.

11 Mar 2026 14:21:28
Yeah, owners etc might be having conversations with the staff etc, but how many conversations has there been? Was there heated debate? But with no improvement happening, or likely to happen, have they just decided to write off this season in the hope that something clicks.

That is piss poor management right through the club. It's too late now to change manager. It should have been done bfr xmas.

11 Mar 2026 09:15:14.
I guess this is one of the downsides of having friends run your organisation. No accountability, no check and balance, no telling the hard truth. Everyone is just cosy with each other as buddies. Otherwise, tell me why Slot should still be in charge doing the same awful things, playing the same awful way and getting the same awful results at this time of the season.



If this continues, soon the echoes at Anfield will be louder and it won't be in support of the team.

11 Mar 2026 10:38:23
Yep, Nigerred. Never have your best mates run your business, man. You take the eye off the ball when it comes to accountability and standards being maintained.

11 Mar 2026 13:10:54
You could accuse the players of the same things nigerred.

Doing the same awful things playing the same awful way and getting the same awful results.

Maybe we should bin them off too?

11 Mar 2026 21:15:16
You mean the same players who have had continuous success prior and at different clubs suddenly become bad, coincidentally, at the same time Arne Slot decides to abandon any semblance of tactics and change everything... Cheers, Ron, again.

11 Mar 2026 05:50:51
11 games to go.

The sooner we are put out our misery the better.

Can't add anything new to what we have seen and said for a year.

So anyone think tudor gets sacked before our game and spurs bring in a new man. and Richarlison scores the winner on Sunday? 👀🤬

Ed1 you may as well give up on match reports. not sure how much it would take to re watch our games, but you deserve better fella.

{Ed001's Note - it has become a real chore, even rewatching our wins is no longer as enjoyable due to the footie played.}

11 Mar 2026 07:53:03
It was mentioned previously that Slot's agent was in talks with Spurs, so imagine Slot being named Spurs manager before the weekend...

Stranger things have happened... but yes, I do think it won't happen, as he will be here till the end of the season.



It's just inexplicable as to what has happened to Slot and these players... I don't think anyone would have guessed that we would have been in this poor state of affairs.

11 Mar 2026 08:22:25
Your last point is the most annoying thing, JLC. It's so hard to put your finger on exactly what's gone wrong, so the supporters just flail around blaming everyone involved. This season has been an embarrassment. I don't expect to win every year, but at the very least, we should be competitive.

11 Mar 2026 08:38:01
Nobody is excusable for last night's performance.

Unfortunately for Slot, it's always the manager that falls on his sword. If not, we'd still have Hodgson at the helm.

I imagine quite a few of the players might end up not being here also next season at a guess Robbo, Konate, Mac, Endo, Salah, Chiesa & Gakpo.

Not that I'm saying it's all their fault, but those are who I believe will be moved on.



Hate to say it, but it looks like Slot has lost the dressing room, the players are picking and choosing when they want to turn up.

No one can tell me that other factors affect the players at Molyneux on a Tuesday night and not 3 nights later at the same venue.

11 Mar 2026 09:02:10
JK, I agree with your point regarding players leaving, but seeing it written like that just emphasises what a big job any new manager will have in the summer.

Losing that many players, some of them big names, in one go is never easy. The club is really going to have to invest again this year, which sounds mad considering the sums spent last year.

11 Mar 2026 09:04:30
Exactly Ed1. I really don't get excited anymore when we win. It has gotten that low for me. The football is abysmal!

11 Mar 2026 09:26:09
Stuie, agree mate, but that's only the world seen by me.

The club might end up keeping all them players and signing them to new and improved contracts.

11 Mar 2026 09:48:25
I agree. Even when we win, it just feels like a loss, it's that boring. Can't believe he's still manager. Club don't care 1 single bit about this season, it was chucked last year.

11 Mar 2026 09:17:52
Indeed, Ed. Like many of our games this season and esp. of late, I just sit, fold my arms and see what happens. I did the same thing last night. It was a dreadful watch for the upteenth time this season.

Like the OP said, we will be put out of our misery in 11 games time (in terms of watching this rubbish) and then, let the chips fall where they may afterwards.

Oh and one last thing, Ed01. Pls, do not bother your pretty little head about doing match reviews. I wouldn't wish that on anyone at this point.

11 Mar 2026 09:55:46
Desperately trying to find a positive from last night - The return leg cannot be as bad, can it?

11 Mar 2026 10:12:35
I missed the first twenty minutes. I was not surprised to turn on the TV and see we were 1-0 down.
Feeling pretty indifferent at this point, just waiting for the season to end and hoping next is better.

11 Mar 2026 10:39:32
I think Tudor & Spurs could achieve a confidence-boosting victory at the weekend, with the way we're playing.

11 Mar 2026 10:56:57
Hey Willo, losing to this Spurs side would be awful. I think we are at home as well. We should smash them 3 or 4 nil. This will give Slot a little bit of breathing space.

11 Mar 2026 13:14:20
JK and Stuie, it's one reason why I think Iraola will be the next head coach.
He's proved he can deal with a lot of squad changes, and we are going to have a lot of squad changes.

11 Mar 2026 01:59:01
So if rumours are to be believed Konate plays well when he thinks he may sign a new contract and has absolute nightmares when he thinks he’s going to leave. Worst team performance and individual performance in recent memory.

Special shout out to Virgil, who was also pathetic, and Salah, who is just sadly finished at the top level.



Grav for the new contract cannot pass a ball 10 yards.

Truly awful performance and struggle to see where we go from here with slot still in charge. Mentality of the team is completely wrong atm.

11 Mar 2026 05:20:07
It was a split the wrist kind of a performance.

Gravenberch tackles like a schoolgirl. The number of times he shirked out of tackles was ridiculous.

Macca clearly has checked out.
Salah - I cannot remember the last time he actually beat a full back. He needs to leave before the supporters turn on him.

Konate - The less said, the better. For someone who is so heavily built, he got bullied by everyone.



Ekitike - We need Isak back playing, as I think Ekitike cannot be our starting striker. His finishing is just not there yet.

Slot - Why cannot he see that Wirtz is not a winger and is ineffective from the left?

Even if we get past a poor Galatasaray next week, we will get ripped a new one against Atletico or PSG.

11 Mar 2026 06:47:30
Why leave out Dom, Macca, and Wirtz, Brummyred?

Every one of them was crap. Period.

11 Mar 2026 06:54:41
RRH, I could not agree more. Gravenberch can't pass the ball at all, and he has turned back into the player under Klopp who pulled out of every 50/50.
Macca has been a passenger all season, you don't realise he is on the pitch for 75% of the game till you see him rolling around the floor.
Ekitike has been one of our best players this season, but that doesn't take a lot, and you can see he is some player, but his decision making 70% of the time is wrong, his pressing is not right at all, but that is down to the manager to sort out.


Konate's form started picking up, then Madrid's name gets mentioned again and he is away with the fairies.
Then we have Virgil, who does not open his mouth unless it's moaning after he has made a mistake.
I would love a Henderson or Milner personality in the team, because this lot need a boot up the arse.

11 Mar 2026 07:56:43
Oh, and I have no clue why we went and spent 30 million quid on Georgi. Not blaming him, as he has done decently whenever he has been called on, but he is just not suited to the way we play out from the back. His passing is not good at all.

We would have been better keeping Kelleher.

Slot looks like someone who knows the writing is on the wall, and it is like sitting in prison, waiting to be hanged. We are just sleepwalking towards Europa League and midtable mediocrity.

11 Mar 2026 08:46:54
I'm sure we'd have loved to keep Kelleher, Red Riding Hood, but he wanted to leave to be a first-choice keeper, and who can blame him for that?

11 Mar 2026 09:03:05
V - Couldn't agree more, especially on Virgil, not captain material for me, not in the way we need a captain right now anyway. Hendo got a lot of stick from people for lacking in ability, which I thought was unfair considering the boots he had to fill, but he was a great communicator and did a good job running the team. I don't see any of that from Van Dijk, he doesn't have the ability to drive the lads on. He's been great for us as a defender, but he's just not capable of running a tight ship as a captain, and I just don't see him igniting passion like a true leader can. And, if I see him throw his arms up in the air after he's the one who made the mistake, I'll be tempted to...

(violence is never the answer). Let's just say he'd make a great aircraft marshal, waving them little lights around.

Red_Riding_Hood - 100%. I remember somebody doing a video on this last summer, Georgi's horrendous lack of footballing skill. I was shocked by his inability to play with the ball at his feet, even more shocked that we thought he was a better option than Kelleher, who had without doubt proved himself during Ali's prolonged absence. Slot did indeed look like he saw a ghost as he waited for the first question in the post match presser.

11 Mar 2026 09:42:48
You did not see anything out Gerrard he did his talking on the pitch VVD does the same that is why i would bring milly back on the coaching side the new Ronny Moran YNWA

10 Mar 2026 23:49:38
Slot out now. He is a car crash.
Alonso in for the remainder of the season. It would boost the players and fans and give Xabi time with the team as he will get next to no pre-season next season.

11 Mar 2026 03:18:10
I can't get how he can get these performances out of this bunch of players.

11 Mar 2026 03:56:30
Carrick seems to be getting performances out of that pile of s*** at United.

11 Mar 2026 07:13:20
Just need somebody to come in and instil a bit of hunger and desire. That's all Carrick has done. He's still a Championship level manager.

11 Mar 2026 07:54:16
And just put players in their correct positions, Shirley.

11 Mar 2026 09:04:20
Agree, Shankly, and don't call me Shirley.

11 Mar 2026 09:04:30
ShipleyKopite, exactly, and that's why they should have brought Gerrard in as interim.

11 Mar 2026 09:21:18
For me, Hughes and Edwards had a chance to let their guy bite the dust, but chose to support him even after 9 losses out of 12 and consistently dwindling performances. Well, he is their guy.

Hence, at this point, they should be held accountable for keeping him rather than giving another interim manager a chance to steady the ship and give the players a new voice to listen to.



That's what I would do if I was FSG at the end of the season.

11 Mar 2026 10:30:09
United turned in an insipid performance against ten-man Newcastle, and lost.
They beat an injury-ravaged City team in their first game at OT with a new manager, and, fair enough, they beat Arsenal with a good performance. But they have hardly set the world alight since.

11 Mar 2026 12:34:58
Semibythesea3 - Since Amorim left, 6 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss, and from a possible 27 points they've secured 20. We've secured only 14 in the same period. A 66% win rate vs our 44%. You can nitpick all you want, but the stats don't lie.

10 Mar 2026 22:47:05
The good thing about Slot is, he is making it easier and easier to move him on. It makes the suit's decision easier so there is no reason why they cannot move him on.
SO DO IT!

10 Mar 2026 23:08:51
Outa curiosity, Albey, how many of these players would you feel confident building a team around? Realistically, expecting them to best Arsenal and City?

10 Mar 2026 23:21:10
All of them.

Literally anyone else would be licking their managerial chops to get this squad. Slot has them playing out of position, with tactics that don't suit the players we have, and asking them to play so slowly we're easy to defend.



I'm so surprised you're out here making excuses. I really thought the Slotcult would go into hiding until we had drawn a couple so you could talk about our unbeaten run again.

10 Mar 2026 23:27:15
I think we have got a good set of players, in fairness, FM. If Ali can return to his past form, it's a no brainer. Otherwise, he is still better than an average keeper. In defence, with a good partner and enough rest, VVD should still be able to play. Kerkez is promising. Leoni/Jacquet have huge potential by all accounts. Bradley/Frimpong are, again, good players if utilised correctly. In midfield, Szob, Grav, and Wirtz should ideally be long term starters. Isak and Ekitike are great.


According to me, we should really be focusing on a player who is physical with a good passing range in midfield (someone like the pre-injury Rodri, but I guess such a player walks into any team), and an explosive winger (peak Mane would be a godsend for this team).
Maybe I am placing too much faith in Leoni and Jacquet, especially after their injuries, but we have spent 90m on them, and with proper guidance from VVD, I have no doubt they can learn and grow to become the players we want them to be.

10 Mar 2026 23:35:15
Man for man, Florian, we have a better starting 11 than Arsenal and City. Different strengths, but for me, better players.

They are just coached better than us, especially Arsenal. You never see Arsenal leaving the space we allow teams. They have a defensive unit of 7 players who all work together and stay close to each other. They hold a high line and press aggressively from the front, then if you beat the press they foul you.

They can do this because they are close to each other, so are hard to play through. Raya is also good at sweeping up the ball over the top if Gabriel and Saliba fail to foul the attacker on the halfway line.



It's not pretty, but they are organised and everyone knows their job.

If you watch us, we are far from organised; we just react to what's going on around us, which allows teams to pull us out of position, leaving space everywhere. There's no connection between the lines, or even any partnerships down the flanks.

That's down to poor coaching. I think Slot thinks we have better players, so we can just open the pitch out and outplay teams, but without structure even the very best players will struggle.

10 Mar 2026 23:40:52
Florian, reading your posts there’s a lot I agree with, but to say we can’t compete with City or Arsenal is nonsense. While probably not good enough to go for a title push this season, and being a season in “transition”, we should be comfortably in a position to qualify for CL, and should have had enough about us to have had a tilt at the League Cup / FA Cup & CL. Bluntly, we can & should be good enough to compete at the top, but the fact we aren’t competing in any way, shape or form is down to how Slot has set the team & squad up in every facet.

imo he’s failed miserably this season in nearly all elements of the coaching & management of this squad. An absolute polar opposite of what he excelled in last season.

That means a couple of things - his ego doesn’t match his ability & his ability has been badly over hyped.

I said on here after the Wolves defeat that this decline now isn’t going to be easy to rectify, and we could be in danger of starting an era of being a European yo-yo club - one season in the CL, a couple in the Europa League & so on.

The board are as culpable as Slot - missing out on good quality January targets which would have given us a real shot in the arm is going to cost us just as much as the players inability to run out & put a bloody good shift in due to an inability of the coaching staff to inspire these players.

10 Mar 2026 23:46:01
Ok, so who's out of Wirtz, Dom and Grav's place does the physical with a good passing range MF take? The good partner for VVD, would you agree we haven't had that this year? And the explosive winger, again would you agree we haven't had that this year? And before people say Arne's slow build up kills wingers being able to do anything, I witnessed a 17 year old kid being perfectly able to cause havoc and pull a defense around like we haven't all season last Friday night.

So basically, if we get the things we haven't had this season, we can be a better team than this season, is that right?

{Ed001's Note - you clearly see what you want to see, Rio was awful on Friday, flashy stepovers before giving the ball away is not pulling a defence around.}

10 Mar 2026 23:48:42
Also thekoparmy, I can't see Alli returning to his past form. I love him, best LFC goalie I have ever seen, but to me it just seems his heart isn't in it anymore.

11 Mar 2026 00:01:21
Varry, I agree with a lot of what you say, but we've a better starting eleven than Arsenal and City? Really? Especially Arsenal. This season we would get 2 or 3 in a combined 11 at best. City in a poor season have more players who are genuinely top class than us.

That's not to say I don't think some of these players can be better, but a lot of them have let the club and the fans down this season.

11 Mar 2026 00:05:29
Bristol, you say we should be able to qualify for CL and have a go at cups. We'll get CL and are still in two cups.

10 Mar 2026 23:16:45
Hang on a minute Florian the Scientologist you give Slot credit last season and this season, we give the players credit last season but suddenly you think they're the problem this season then have the audacity to challenge fans when they see Slot as the problem.

11 Mar 2026 00:53:50
In our squad we have:
- Arguably the best gk the club has ever had (imo) and a very capable international giant shot stopper as backup.
- Arguably the best cb the club has ever had, and by all metrics is still a world class performer, flanked by a cb wanted by the biggest club in the world.
- 2 of the best performing attacking fullbacks in Europe from last season.
- A midfield consisting of a World Cup winner wanted by the biggest club in the world, a top young talent that won Young Player of the Year at cdm and an international captain with the best shot on him that we have had since Gerrard and Coutinho.
- Last season's most highly sought-after young midfield talent in the world.
- The best player in the league, and fourth best in the world as voted for, from last year, and arguably one of the best players to ever wear a red shirt that ripped up teams all day long to the tune of 57 goal involvements.


- An international winger that contributed a further 25 goal involvements.
- Arguably the best all-round striker in the league and an incredible young talent alongside him.

These, I would say, are the main players, not to mention the pack of young talent, internationals, league winners and champions around them.

These players did not just turn rubbish overnight. Something has changed, whether it's tactics, motivation, positioning, coaching or just plain good old 'notbotheredritis'. The manager is responsible. If you can't get a tune out of the undeniable talent in that squad, then you shouldn't be managing the squad. It's literally that simple.

11 Mar 2026 01:44:38
I agree with Varry. When everyone is fit, we have the best first 11 in the league. Unfortunately, our squad is far inferior to Arsenal, City and even Chelsea. It's not a title winning squad, but with the players we have we should be playing much better football than we are.

11 Mar 2026 01:49:38
That wasn't the question, Florian. Based on this season, we'd struggle to get one player in Arsenal or City's team, but if you looked at the starting 11s at the start of the season, we have better players in most positions.

Our players have just been coached poorly. In fact, it's difficult to see if they've been coached at all.



That's the most frustrating part. We should be up there, but instead we are just all over the place.

As you know, I don't criticise Slot where it's not warranted, and I even defend him at times, but he's the head coach and the team are poorly coached, so the buck stops with him.

11 Mar 2026 03:03:14
I think we have a bunch of great players, and some of these great players have been awful this season. But I would not take away the fact that they were good, and they can be great again. I would put the blame on the manager, yes.

11 Mar 2026 03:58:37
@Westwood, In no universe that Alan Hansen still exists is Virgil the best CB we've ever had.

11 Mar 2026 03:32:08
Also just have to say "Florian the Scientologist" is my vote for phrase of the year..maybe the decade.

11 Mar 2026 06:23:36
That's why I said arguably. It's all subjective and I didn't see Hansen play.

11 Mar 2026 06:01:57
Varry this is a general observation of how he airs his views on this platform. It's becoming tiresome now. Only a Scientologist deals in this disbelief and frankly stupidity.

11 Mar 2026 06:58:28
I would be more than happy to see the majority of this team next season with a few additions. The CB (which we've already signed), a midfielder who can sit in with Grav when required, and someone to replace Salah, but honestly that's it. There is a great mix of youth and experience in our team already. We haven't gone bad overnight, Florian.

11 Mar 2026 07:57:22
You only have the best 11 when the manager in charge of them gets the best out of them. Names on paper are just exactly that. Names.

11 Mar 2026 08:01:02
Varry, I disagree with regards to us having a better starting XI than Arsenal and City. Let's take Arsenal: how many of our strongest starting XI would get in their side? Alisson does not replace Raya. Not one of our fullbacks, when fit, replaces one of theirs. CBs. If Virgil gets his arse in gear, he may replace Saliba. Szoboszlai gets in ahead of Zubamendi.

None of our other midfielders get a look in. Forwards: do Gakpo or Salah get in their side? Not a chance. When Isak is back fit, he'd get a game. Ekitike and Wirtz may push for a place when they are on song.

I could do a similar exercise against City, and it would be similar.

To summarise, our starting XI isn't better than either City's or Arsenal.

{Ed001's Note - you are forgetting that you are talking about them under Slot, so no, no one will get in because he is making such a crap job of managing them. And Virgil plays left, Saliba right, Virgil is up against Gabriel not Saliba.}

11 Mar 2026 08:41:30
I wasn't being specific regards to VVD, Ed. Either way, I don't think he gets in ahead of either of their CBs. Not the 2026 vintage.

Without repeating what I've said, Salah, Gakpo, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Bradley, Kerkez, Konate, Alisson, don't get in the Arsenal side.

We will have to agree to disagree again, Ed!

11 Mar 2026 09:10:19
There goes Florian again, trying to blame 25 individuals instead of the obvious common denominator. Did you not learn fractions in school, mate? 25 to 1 are not good odds, pal.

11 Mar 2026 09:16:27
For me, Chewy, barring a miracle, Slot will be gone in the summer. However, like I've said above and on countless other times, the players are responsible as well. That's my opinion and I'm standing by it.

11 Mar 2026 09:25:07
Indeed, @Chewysuarez7 and @Frode. That's why I always tell people here to let Florian "cook".

11 Mar 2026 09:39:02
Rome,
I'll ask the same question again. What has made these players so bad in a matter of months?

11 Mar 2026 09:45:58
As Ed says you are looking at this incarnation of those players Rome and as I said earlier, at the moment we'd struggle to get one player in Arsenal's team.

Take yourself back to the start of the season before a ball was kicked and the only player you could've argued would be a dead cert upgrade on our starting 11 would be Saliba in for Konate.

Full backs Bradley or Frimpong vs Timber or White. Kerkez was the best LB in the league last season.

Szob is a better all round player than Rice, Grav a better 6 than Zubi, Wirtz better than Odegaard or Eze.

Up front is a no brainer. Salah, Gakpo, Isak and Ekitike. Arsenal are nowhere near that level with any of their forwards.

As I said I'm basing this on the history of the players before this season and we have a better starting 11 than Arsenal based on that.

I agree though if you look at the 2 sets of players based on their performance this season they have been better in every position which is why they are top and we are 6th but with proper coaching and a proper team structure we have more talented players.

I've said on numerous threads recently poor coaching and team structure will make even the very best players look average.

11 Mar 2026 11:04:05
Varry, I'm agreeing with you quite a lot lately, mate, but I'd have Rice in my team every time over Szob - no question.
Rice is the best midfielder in the country right now and probably was near that last season as well.

11 Mar 2026 11:05:43
Irish, that's the 64,000 quid question, mate. In the case of Salah and VVD, I believe age has caught up with them, certainly in the case of Salah. I also believe that injuries are curtailing Alisson, certainly when it comes to his kicking, which has been woeful this season.

Gakpo has become a one trick pony. How much of that is down to Gakpo or Slot, I'm not sure.

I could go on, mate. I'm not a Slot apologist; he will have to go. However, I caveat that by saying I have concerns that whoever comes in has got a job on his hands. There is no magic wand.