Arne Slot destroyed for ‘bonkers’ tactics, ‘cringe’ comments and lack of balls

Has there ever been such a speedy fall from grace? Arne Slot is being destroyed by Liverpool fans and others.

We also have mails on Manchester United, Tottenham and more, but Slot is the subject de jour.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com

United in laughter

Sunday was the first time in ages that Man U not losing was funny.
Finlay x

Arne Slot and Liverpool exposed

Well Sunday was fun. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the game ahead of time. My most optimistic thoughts were suggesting that this was a good time to play Liverpool, but that United remain capable of fouling up any type of opportunity presented to them.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that every negative inkling of Liverpool I had over the summer would be on display so plainly for 90 minutes, or that they’d be in such a chaotic state of flux midway through October. I’m obviously delighted that United took advantage and got a win, but I don’t actually think they had to put on a storming display to manage that. It was a 7/10 from United – some good, some not so good. A more confident/capable team probably goes for the throat at 1-0 up and goes in at half-time 2 or 3 goals to the good.

READ: 16 Conclusions from Liverpool 1-2 Man United: Panicking Liverpool rattle themselves into crisis

That said, it was nice to see a game plan in place from Amorim and a disciplined performance from the United players. Mbeumo, Cunha and Lammens have been immediate upgrades on the dross they’ve replaced, and the performances across the board do feel slightly boosted from last season (not hard, but still). There’s a bit of spirit in the team – Sesko seemed genuinely delighted with the winner and the result, instead of sulking like the Rashfords and Sanchos of this world when he was benched. Those small differences can add up over time, and it’s much easier to get behind a team that looks to have a healthy quota of good eggs (special mention to De Ligt in that sense).

But going back to the aforementioned negative inklings re: Liverpool, I thought the following were pretty indisputable:

• • Liverpool’s squad is hopelessly top heavy after their summer business. That bonkers 4-2-4 formation for the last half hour showcased how Slot is likely to react to adversity throughout the season. His options to change shape/tactics are overwhelmingly going to belong high up the pitch.
  • The full-back refresh has been executed horribly. Kerkez looks lost. Another contributor mentioned Alberto Moreno, and that actually feels bang on so far. Frimpong looks at home on the wing, but he very clearly wasn’t bought for that role so they’ve traded the “TAA leaves us exposed” quandary for a similar poser.
  • The bumper Salah and Van Dijk contracts were such short-sighted business, rooted in sentiment. The immediate regression in both has been alarming. Liverpool’s back-line looks ripe to be ripped apart at any moment, and the threat from the right side of attack yesterday was really sporadic until Frimpong came on. The 2 lads are there now on wages which shattered the structure at the club, and frankly are not pulling that weight while being almost undroppable because of the investment tied up in keeping them at the club.
  • Mamardashvili looks a downgrade from Alisson in most facets of goalkeeping, particularly distribution. Not sure where the assumption that he was going to be great even came from to be honest. Another element of succession planning that could cause issues into the medium term – I don’t understand the need to get him in and push Kelleher out.
  • Injuries to any member of the midfield or back line are going to hurt, and could REALLY hurt. As bad as their recent form has been, you can see just how many more issues could arise if they were to lose a centre half or centre mid for a couple of months.

All the above borne in mind, I’d be starting to look at Slot too. He obviously has tonnes of credit in the bank, but that summer splurge looks misdirected at this stage and his excuses after the game were limp. Moaning about low blocks and long passes out to bypass the press is facile – you have to expect those things when you’re champions and playing at home. Not having any solution bar “chuck all the attackers on and pile forward” debunks a lot of the praise he got for his tactical flexibility last season. They did have chances to score more, but so did United. If you turn football into basketball, you’re playing with fire.

Finally, it’s heartening to see the narrative for this season having flipped so dramatically in a month. From “mark of champions, league is done” when the issues were already clear and Liverpool were getting away with it, all the way to “deepening crisis, huge opening for Arsenal/City” in the space of 4 weeks that even included an international break. The truth is somewhere in the middle obviously, but seeing the usual early season knee-jerks being swiftly corrected is nice. Hopefully the remainder of the season provides as much intrigue.
Keith Reilly

…A few things that came to mind immediately after looking at that Liverpool line-up:

– Why is Isak starting over Hugo Ekitike? – Because he’s an expensive signing
– Why is Salah not dropped despite the loss of form? – Because he’s our “undroppable” HIGHEST PAID star player.
– Why is Chiesa and Ngumoha still benched? – Because they are not expensive signings and Not Slot’s favourites.
– Why does Konate start every game despite bad form? – Because Joe Gomez is not Slot’s favourite.

And I haven’t even started from Wirtz or Frimpong yet.

There is no plan, no tactics, midfield is invisible and a big mess.

Defence is crumbling, good quality wingers and forwards are rotting on the bench.

Ekitike and Chiesa did in 5 minutes what Isak and Salah couldn’t do in 90!

It’s utterly frustrating!

Slot is out of his depth and needs to fix these issues if he wants to avoid becoming a Brendan Rodgers type scammer!

I can’t wait to see what Klopp will do with Isak, Frimpong, Cheisa, Ngumoha, Wirtz and his heavy metal!

Bring it on!

Till then we are stuck with Slot and his boring, identity-less football.
Tejas (Ekitike and Chiesa to start against Frankfurt)

…Can those defending Slot not admit Liverpool are still 4th despite him, not because of him? The majority of wins were the result of individual brilliance, and nothing to do with his tactics or game plan. One half of decent football from 10 games is damning. The man has persisted with Salah, Mac Allister and Virgil/Konate (delete as applicable) when they’ve repeatedly stunk the place out, and made Szoboszlai at RB a thing, when you have two actual defenders in Gomez and Frimpong sat on the bench.

He also lacks ‘de bolls’ to drop Salah and play both Ekitike and Isak. I don’t subscribe to the view that Liverpool spent £400m to bolster their squad, as they’ve a net loss on players after the transfer window. However, £200m was spent on two strikers who were supposed to be an improvement on what was already there. Yet here we are, with Salah being completely anonymous for 90 minutes yet again, and Gakpo missing more than he scores.

Finally, post-game interviews have become a cringe-fest. Bemoaning the other teams’ tactics (case in point yesterday “they only played long balls”) after yet another poor performance is an embarrassment. Last season’s easy-going and honest (Dutch?) vibe has been replaced with snide and derogatory remarks about opponents, win, lose or draw. There’s obviously massive pressure on Slot, but a bit of self-awareness is needed.
DF

Patience needed for Arne Slot

Very much enjoyed that win as a United fan.

No doubt a lot of negativity on Slot right now after 4 defeats in a row, but I would also suggest that like for Amorim, a bit of patience is required.

A lot of idiots like to throw around the sums spent and expect instant success. That’s not how it works. Players need to settle and get to know each other and fully understand what the manager wants. The team has changed a lot since the last year. They lost 3 big players in the team and bought in a whole load of new ones. And that’s not including even the tragic way one of those players left.

Three games ago Liverpool were 5 points clear and the chatter was they were slam dunk to win the league. 4 games ago Amorim was an idiot whose formation would never work. Since then Liverpool lost 4 games in a row and United won 3 out of 4.

Let’s see how it all unfolds over the season. For me this is a transition season for Liverpool where they will get top 4 but not win the title. They need new defenders like United need new midfielders to take the final step.
Nishul Saperia (Slot’s chips are down! No-one knows their slot in Slot’s team!)

…Ruddy nora. Nowt as kneejerky as football fans is there?

Said it once before, will say it repeatedly. Salah, VVD, et all are still coming to terms with the fact their mate died. Can we cut them a bit of slack in terms of performance?

However, Diaz (even Darwin) worked their socks off at the top of the pitch. Isak and Salah don’t. Our work rate has plummeted and going for Isak as opposed to much needed defence and defensive midfield will ensure no league this year.

When Diaz left I was worried, still am, for this season.However, this Liverpool team will be back for the league next year, and may even gel in time for a potential CL this season (PSG were poor at beginning last year before it clicked).

LFC fans, try and relax, would much rather be in our position than any other team in the league.

Oh, apart from Arsenal. They look legit superb.
David (Let Utd win the occasional battle, we’ve won the war already #Amorinforeverin) Molby, Shrewsbury

Liverpool had a plan this season but…

Slot said before the season that we won too many close games last year, so the plan internally was to reduce a bit of the control and seek to be a bit more attacking, which makes sense.

I think a lot of the tactical issue was actually shown in the Everton game. Grav was super and bombed forward to great effect, but given the way we are currently set up we absolutely need someone sitting in that position in front of the back 4, and he’s the best person to do it. Having our 6 charging forward to join attacks is all well and good, but it’s leaving us far too open.

Other aspects would be as mentioned previously here – let the fullbacks bomb forward, play a front two narrower with Wirtz behind.

Ultimately, the results haven’t been great, but our last 3 games we’ve created 6.5 xG and scored 2 goals, while conceding 3.6xGA and 4 goals. We aren’t taking the chances we are conceding and, no matter what tactics you have, if you’re doing that you can’t expect many good things to happen.
Tom, London

The Wirtz signing ever?

If Man United spent £100m on an attacker with what was the highest transfer in Prem history and he went 10 games without a goal or assist and got dropped for a massive game, would he not be called in the tabloids the Wirtz signing ever?

Not saying he is a bad player and won’t come good. But we know if he was signed by United, there would be a massive pile on at the minute.
Paul

Are Liverpool just suffering from collective grief?

Bit surprised to see that this hasn’t been mentioned in any of the coverage anywhere following Liverpool’s abject humiliation at home by United yesterday, especially what with F365 being the sainted protectors of footballers’ and fans’ mental health, provided they don’t have different views on certain matters of course. The collective expectations of Liverpool this season have been massively overblown, the steep decline we are seeing was always far more likely – it’s the logical outcome of human beings being forced to work in a high pressure environment during a mental health crisis.

I watched the Chelsea game back before the United one, and was struck not just by how every single Pool player was making basic mistakes that are normally coached out of players at school, but that the reaction to each and every snafu was the same vacant lost expression and resignation that nothing better could be expected. There didn’t seem to be any fight, nor fire in the belly to do themselves justice. It was the same yesterday – when Mo’s toe-punting it six feet past the upright and Gakpo’s heading it even further wide, both in the six yard box, the reactions were more performative than passionate. Mo normally smiles, knowing a goal is coming soon, especially against United – this time, a look to the heavens, almost close to tears.

Slot’s completely lost his composure too – the analysis is spot on – he went full cuptard when there was plenty of the game to go. Previously, we would go a goal down and the reaction would be to step up the focus and intensity and eventually overpower and owerwhelm pretty much every opponent we faced. Now we shit the bed at the first sign of adversity, throw everybody forward and start finger-pointing and arm-waving that it is everybody’s fault but our own. No accountability, no sacrifice, no collective, no team. Slot’s deployment of the new signings has neutered them completely, while simultaneously making the established players demonstrably worse. Slot’s not waving, but drowning unfortunately.

But these are elite players, some of the best in the world – winners of the biggest trophies. Slot is a proven winning coach – calm, authoritative, an excellent, effective decision maker. So what’s gone wrong?

It’s got to be Jota. Football is a team game, the best teams win trophies, to get the best teams you need closeness and intimacy (fnarr) – absolute trust in the people you are in the trenches with, you have to do anything for the person next to you for mutual success – it should come as naturally as breathing. It’s more of a band of brothers than colleagues – everybody intensely focussed on the same goals, and the collective euphoria that follows achieving them. United looked like more of a team yesterday – more focussed, more together. Liverpool looked like they didn’t really want to be there, engulfed by triggers of tragic loss.

Liverpool are reminded constantly of Jota’s passing – the space in the dressing room, the chant every 20 minutes of every game. Liverpool’s non-cunt (before this summer anyway) recruitment policy has resulted in a squad especially vulnerable to this situation. They are being forced out into the spotlight multiple times a week while they are still trying to process the loss of a friend, almost brother. The new players are trying to forge relationships with damaged human beings – it’s not easy. Losing a friend too soon (RIP Joycey, sorry you missed Spurs actually winning something) stays with you always – initially you are thinking about them, about what happened, constantly. Over time you think about them less, but it’s always there, like a cold blanket enveloping you or a dark undercurrent trying to pull you down. Imagine taking that with you onto the pitch under the bright lights and intense scrutiny, everybody expecting, no demanding you deliver, and abusing you when you just can’t.

This isn’t an excuse, nor a plea for sympathy, but it does explain why the formerly faultless have reached a new nadir – why players can’t play a pass or shoot straight, why Slot can’t select the right players or make the right subs or pick the right tactics – they are all in a PTSD storm with no way out until the summer.

So Liverpool won’t win anything this season, they were never going to – this season is all about repairing mental health, rebuilding confidence and trying to find some affinity with each other. It’s a real shame that Slot and the Big Virg won’t admit this publicly, as that would start the healing process, but I guess it must be impossible to do that in the macho football microcosm.
Gofezo (or maybe it is just because Slot looks exactly like a human glans)

Wake up hun! New Spurs meltdown just dropped!

So Spurs lost on Sunday, to Aston Villa. For the third time in three games in 2025 as it happens, and for the sixth time in 8 games since Steven Gerrard left. A period where Thomas Frank has now lost 5 times and drawn twice in 7 games against Villa. And in which Villa have finished the season above the world’s most Ridiculously Entitled Football Club 3 times out of 3 (including last season obviously, when everyone else finished above REFC too).

So maybe the media build-up to the game may have focused on what Spurs were going to have to focus on doing to beat an opponent they often struggle against? Maybe the commentary during the game would have suggested that the Daniel Levy Thunderdome Conference Centre ™ might have posh toilets but it is not actually a good place to play football; and if REFC concentrate on what the opposition can do, they might have more chance? Possibly the coverage after the game could have recognised that rather than going overboard on Spurs being sloppy and some amazing God from the machine moments from Villa, there could have been a glimmer of recognition that Villa are… just better?

But no. Because of course, any of this would require club and media to get over themselves. When Conte and Mourinho and even Ange – Ange Postecoglou! – were explaining to the world that there is an attitude problem at James Maddison Football Club, did anyone listen? When Rio Ferdinand was banging on about Djed Spence – Djed Spence! – being the best one-on-one defender in England, we probably should have all been running to the bookmakers to put the house on Spurs conceding goals from the Spence zone. But will this be forgotten by the next time the England squad is announced? You bet it will. A Spurs player puts his shirt on the right way round and suddenly a star is born.

Being ‘Spursy’ is not a thing. ‘Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’ is not unique to Tottenham at all. Clubs good enough to win frequently, without access to the final 0.1% of quality to keep getting over the line regularly enough to be the best, are all in this position. What is unique to Tottenham is a colossal ego with absolutely nothing to back it up. But the results they get are normal. The performances and outcomes are all normal. If they attract new signings to the club because of the allure of London, they should not be surprised to have a lot of ‘injuries’. They are not cursed. There is no spell preventing the club from becoming Liverpool. Pretending they’re driving an F1 car when playing Mariokart will not result in success.

And while I’m here, a quick note to everyone who should know better (I don’t know if Barney Ronay reads, or indeed is someone who should know better). Despite no input from WMP, Aston Villa, Jason Bourne or whoever else is apparently to blame, Maccabi Tel-Aviv’s game against Hapoel was cancelled this weekend after the lovely fans started riots with each other and the police. Importing that mess to Aston/Witton on a Thursday night, in an area with a large Muslim population? No thanks. It’s unfortunate that Keir Starmer has now joined the Tony Parshole-Rory Smith Water is Dry club of being wrong about literally everything, but here we are.
Neil Raines (any of the clowns booing Matt Cash should probably take a look at Lucas Digne’s Instagram page) UTV

READ: What is the point of Spurs? We don’t know what they want to achieve, or how they plan to do it

Tel it to my heart

The article on Mathys Tel reflected many messages between myself and mates during the match; the lad is just not good. The match yesterday was a microcosm of all that is clearly not happening for Tel.

Within the first five minutes he’d misread a run to a through ball from Xavi, mis-controlled a simple pass into his feet, and miscued an easy pass.

The half got worse culminating in one break where he simply ran into Konsa after multiple daft step overs, and then somehow managed to nutmeg himself when in front of goal (something he also did against Doncaster in the cup).

Konsa treated him with contempt, and one point shrugged away his attempted tackle with laughable ease.

Nobody wants a player to fail for their team but we’re now approaching ten months since he signed and the signs are getting worse.
Dan Mallerman

Villa feeling good again…

That second Villa goal. Sheesh. A thing of rare beauty. The Cash hit, Digne’s control and flick, and then Buendia’s lovely slotted strike.

Good day indeed!
Gary AVFC, Oxford (Bring on City, Liverpool, and Bournemouth!)

Not bad being Palace either…

On Saturday I was visiting family and spent the afternoon in a pub refreshing my phone for updates on Crystal Palace v Bournemouth. The last time I went to that pub was 5 April, the day Palace beat Brighton 2-1 despite being reduced to nine men. What odds that our next visit will end up being 14 March, the day Palace host Leeds United? That seems to have good madness potential.

* As plenty of us have said before, there is something incredibly fun about supporting this particular Crystal Palace team. They just don’t know when they’re beaten and regardless of the opposition, will throw everything at getting back into the game, then go behind and do it again, before missing a glorious chance to actually win the thing. Some things never change. I can’t decide whether it feels harsh to criticise them for not stealing all three points, or if it’s actually justifiable because Oliver Glasner has raised expectations. The same applies to Jean-Philippe Mateta: he deserves a lot of praise for scoring a hat-trick, two of which were classic centre-forward goals and the other was a stoppage time penalty that required a lot of composure; however, having done all that, he was in the perfect position for another textbook centre-forward goal to win the match and couldn’t convert the chance. Incidentally, had he scored a fourth, he would have been the first Crystal Palace player to do so since Johnny Byrne in 1960, when the Glaziers (as they then were) played in Division Four.

* Overall though a draw with a side as good as Bournemouth is a good result for Palace, particularly after their club record unbeaten run was ended last time out. Palace fans think we’ve come a long way but we’re far behind the Cherries on that front. Andoni Iraola has them playing good football with a sense of ambition towards the European places that is far more realistic than other recent occupants of the Bournemouth dugout. Had Iraola’s team won on Saturday, they would have very briefly gone top of the Premier League, something inconceivable for most of their history but the way they’re playing this season makes perfect sense – in that respect, a point for Palace is a good result.

* The family I was visiting was my octogenarian father in law and his partner. Watching the lunchtime game and the fallout led to some predictable conversations, like “why do they have to have a woman commentating”, “you don’t see players with names like Smith and Jones anymore”, and “where are all the British managers”. My answers to those were that Lucy Ward is actually a good co-commentator, you support Liverpool, who have a midfielder called Jones, and that in what is broadly a meritocracy, the British managers they mean aren’t good enough anymore. As Alan Shearer said on Match of the Day, there are only 20 Premier League jobs at any given time, so when one becomes available there will always be a long line of candidates, even when the club is in as much disarray as Nottingham Forest. People from all over the world will apply, so it would be incredibly strange if the strongest candidate ended up being Sam Allardyce, Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes or Alan Pardew.

* A side effect of Forest’s decision to sack Ange Postecoglou was that MOTD viewers had to sit through Micah Richards trotting out some incredibly tired analysis of the situation. Postecoglu had eight games, none of which ended in a victory and for most of which his team were absolutely dire. Eight games isn’t very long, but if his ideas were going to take effect at all, there would have been some sign of it happening before now. Richards said managers need time, but the manager who needs the time is the one who has to come in and fix the mess caused by the owner’s handling of the previous two managers, both of whom drew unfortunate comparisons with Roy Hodgson: Nuno Espirito Santo because of how reluctant his team could be to attack, and Postecoglu because of his teams’ unfortunate habit of conceding soon after half time. I’ve no idea what he says to people but, like Hodgson at Palace, you wonder if he would have been better off saying absolutely nothing.

* People really need to stop comparing the current Arsenal team to Tony Pulis’s Stoke City, at least until an opposing player has done something ridiculous in a panic trying not to concede a set piece opportunity. Think players conceding corners so they didn’t have to defend a Rory Delap long throw, that’s the bar.

* Liverpool conceding goals because their defenders are ball-watching instead of tracking the players they’re supposed to be marking? I for one am shocked by this. Well, I might be if I hadn’t watched Liverpool regularly for the past few years and mentioning it on a regular basis. I don’t think they need to worry too much about losing to Manchester United. It seems like when United were challenging for the title (a long time ago now obviously), they would often lose to Liverpool, so it makes perfect sense that the same would be true the other way round.
Ed Quoththeraven