'This was a heavily refreshed, heavily backed group that looked disjointed and uncertain. It was a team with no clear identity or direction, led by a coach who simply could not be trusted with another phase.'
Heavily refreshed? In 12 months we sold/released 10 players and had one die. We brought in 11.
Of those 11, we had Isak, Wirtz, Frimpong, Kerkez, Ekitike expected to play. (Mama wouldn't have expected the minutes he actually got).
Isak had no pre-season and then had his leg snapped. Frimpong had 2 seperate hamstring injuries (plus another issue). Wirtz struggled with the physicality of the league and had to bulk up, by his own account. Ekitike started great but was overused due to Isak and ruptured his achilles.
Its kinda wild to summarise the season for Slot and not mention that it started with a car ploughing into hundreds of fans at the parade, Diogo's death and the pre-season being replaced by funerals and public ceremonies, and an injury list that would derail any team.
We can also add in complete loss of form for experienced players like Macca and Mo, and Ibou having a second bereavement in 6 months when his father died.
And speaking of Mo, he reacted to being benched by setting fire to the club.
So yeah, the club lacked identity and direction. But its hard to ascertain how much of that can be attributed to the coach and how much of it relates to the countless other issues the club faced.
Excellent response. This writer also mention a heavy defeat against Palace. I assume he means the League Cup tie at Anfield when we fielded what was basically a youth side. There are few pluses to this season I agree but the defeats of Real,Arsenal, Everton (twice)and Atletico are surely worth a mention. But when you’ve got an agenda. He also fails to call out the disgraceful booing and social media abuse heaped on a decent man. And these people talk about loss of identity. This hateful behaviour is beyond anything I’ve experienced in more than 60 years of going to Anfield. If that isn’t a loss of identity, I don’t know what is. Whoever follows Slot has a hell of task. Two seasons, one title, two ECL quarters only losing to eventual winners and a Champions League spot retained. What a record of failure. Oh, and a star player died but that probably
A great effort to give a balanced view but too many clichés and egregious Confirmation Bias. Did you not think that this season has been a blatant combination of 2020-21 and 2022-23..?! It is glaringly obvious that VVD, Robbo, Salah, Gomez and even Konaté do not have the speed or dynamism of 2 years ago. They are way past their peak. Their "legs have gone." Did Liverpool not have a whole host of injuries this season to established and new players? 🙃
Salah has behaved like a selfish, egotistical prick. He was responsible for Klopp leaving a year earlier than planned. One could say that Salah potentially cost Klopp another title. FSG were bullied by the Egyptian's agent and the fanbase into giving Salah a huge contract which was not warranted.
Robbo has clearly explained to that the pre-season was seriously curtailed by Jota's sudden death. That basically screwed the season, removing the fitness base and core strength for most of the squad. Most of the Liverpool team were going into the season at 80-85%, nowhere near the level needed in elite sports which is above 90%.
'This was a heavily refreshed, heavily backed group that looked disjointed and uncertain. It was a team with no clear identity or direction, led by a coach who simply could not be trusted with another phase.'
Heavily refreshed? In 12 months we sold/released 10 players and had one die. We brought in 11.
Of those 11, we had Isak, Wirtz, Frimpong, Kerkez, Ekitike expected to play. (Mama wouldn't have expected the minutes he actually got).
Isak had no pre-season and then had his leg snapped. Frimpong had 2 seperate hamstring injuries (plus another issue). Wirtz struggled with the physicality of the league and had to bulk up, by his own account. Ekitike started great but was overused due to Isak and ruptured his achilles.
Its kinda wild to summarise the season for Slot and not mention that it started with a car ploughing into hundreds of fans at the parade, Diogo's death and the pre-season being replaced by funerals and public ceremonies, and an injury list that would derail any team.
We can also add in complete loss of form for experienced players like Macca and Mo, and Ibou having a second bereavement in 6 months when his father died.
And speaking of Mo, he reacted to being benched by setting fire to the club.
So yeah, the club lacked identity and direction. But its hard to ascertain how much of that can be attributed to the coach and how much of it relates to the countless other issues the club faced.
Excellent response. This writer also mention a heavy defeat against Palace. I assume he means the League Cup tie at Anfield when we fielded what was basically a youth side. There are few pluses to this season I agree but the defeats of Real,Arsenal, Everton (twice)and Atletico are surely worth a mention. But when you’ve got an agenda. He also fails to call out the disgraceful booing and social media abuse heaped on a decent man. And these people talk about loss of identity. This hateful behaviour is beyond anything I’ve experienced in more than 60 years of going to Anfield. If that isn’t a loss of identity, I don’t know what is. Whoever follows Slot has a hell of task. Two seasons, one title, two ECL quarters only losing to eventual winners and a Champions League spot retained. What a record of failure. Oh, and a star player died but that probably
doesn’t count.
Bravo! An excellent, sensible response.
A great effort to give a balanced view but too many clichés and egregious Confirmation Bias. Did you not think that this season has been a blatant combination of 2020-21 and 2022-23..?! It is glaringly obvious that VVD, Robbo, Salah, Gomez and even Konaté do not have the speed or dynamism of 2 years ago. They are way past their peak. Their "legs have gone." Did Liverpool not have a whole host of injuries this season to established and new players? 🙃
Salah has behaved like a selfish, egotistical prick. He was responsible for Klopp leaving a year earlier than planned. One could say that Salah potentially cost Klopp another title. FSG were bullied by the Egyptian's agent and the fanbase into giving Salah a huge contract which was not warranted.
Robbo has clearly explained to that the pre-season was seriously curtailed by Jota's sudden death. That basically screwed the season, removing the fitness base and core strength for most of the squad. Most of the Liverpool team were going into the season at 80-85%, nowhere near the level needed in elite sports which is above 90%.
Some points, yes, but there's others a big NO I'm afraid.