Slot Ball
The Ghost Of Jurgen Klopp And The Clamoring For Xabi Alonso
At the height of the ‘Slot out’ social media rants when PSV did a number on us, I was pondering what Slot was actually trying to do.
I was reading the constant berating of a man who’s just delivered Liverpool’s second title in 30 years. I was trying to understand the abuse he was receiving. There was a lack of rationale or context for what he was trying to do.
It all began with the Klopp comments in October that he’d never rule out coming back. If anyone actually listened to the full podcast he’d done, you’d realise Jurgen Klopp will never manage Liverpool again. However, the one line he said was all over social media. People just read the headline, and that was the first sign. ‘Well, if Jurgen wants to come back, sack Slot’.
READ MORE: Replace From Within by Ciaran Nevin
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The Past Is In The Past
The reality is Liverpool fans need to move on. Heavy metal football is gone. It’s a difficult one to accept because we loved it. The thrills, the intensity, the passion. We were spoiled for nearly 10 years. However, all good things come to an end. It will never be the same, no matter who manages us. The ghost of Klopp needs to be remembered for what it was and not a stick to beat the current manager with.
We then moved into the horror results phase. Forest and PSV were embarrassing. The club surrendered leads to teams they should have beaten, such as Leeds and Fulham. The style of play is boring, pragmatic, and so on. It was here that I started to ask myself a question that absolutely no Liverpool fan, social media fan pages, or journalists were asking.
How long does it take to implement a completely new style of play with a new set of key players?
The Meal Still Tastes Good Despite Missing Ingredients
How long does it take when key players have been missing/not fit several times this season? Have our two £100+ million signings played more than 90 mins together in total in the PL this season? The players that will be focal to what he wants to do right?
The manager’s new ideas don’t get implemented overnight. This rings especially true with the multiple things that have gone against us in the past 8 months. Injuries, deaths, bad luck, and key players leaving. This led to Liverpool playing some uninspiring football. In the midst of all the ‘poor’ performances, we beat the Madrids, Arsenal, Villa, Inter, and another good performance against Arsenal away.
Teaching Arsenal a lesson in the second half at the Emirates showed we can mix it with anyone. If we had one of our high-priced strikers on the field that night, we’d have beaten them.
Performances have to get better, and I think they will. We actually played well against Burnley, and on another day win 5-0. Yet they score with one shot on target.
It’s Not “Slot In” Forever
If we’re still playing terrible, unattractive football next December, he’ll get the bullet and rightly so if performances aren’t much improved. But the lack of understanding from fans of what’s actually going on and what he’s trying to do is beyond belief. If Klopp won the Premier League, he’d be allowed to finish 15th for five years, and nobody would criticise him. Conversely, Slot has been treated disgracefully with just over half a season gone.
He’s definitely looking over his shoulder since Alonso became available, and he or Luis Enrique could well replace him. Judging by his comments pre-Marseille game, he seems to be under no pressure from his bosses, who understand that there is a process taking place.
I asked at the start how long a completely new style takes to implement, with so many other factors to consider as well. In recent games against Arsenal, Marseille, and Burnley, we’re beginning to see what ‘Slot Ball’ will look like in this Liverpool side.
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Slot wants his wide players to stretch the opposition, which creates space in the center of the pitch, allowing 1-on-1 situations to open up the game.
This approach allows Slot’s teams to maintain possession and control the tempo of the match. Slot’s wants us to be flexible tactically by mixing up the structure and adapting to different game situations. So if Frimpong and Kerkez (or the two pacey wingers I believe we will try and sign in the summer) start creating problems on the flanks, this allows our extremely gifted midfielders more scope to be creative. Put it all together with a bit more tempo, and teams are really going to struggle against us when we fully get to grips with playing Slot’s way. But do people want to wait that long?
The Increasingly Louder Slot Alternative
One of the key things in this whole season is that the players haven’t given up on Slot, and neither have the board, nor the owners. Social media has given up on him. Our fan base can normally rationalise how a change like we’re undergoing takes time. Yet I’d say a good 80% plus have lost their heads. Why? Because we’ve been spoiled for 10 years, winning match after match after match. The first sign of trouble and the man who gave us everything we wanted has been chucked under the bus. No rallying around him or ‘He deserves time’. No ‘Let’s see what the end product of Slot Ball looks like’. Just sack him and get Alonso in.
This is the same Alonso who tried to force a move to Arsenal when he played with us. He passed up the chance to manage us in favour of Real Madrid. The result was that he couldn’t get those Real Madrid players to listen to or respect him. Is he a bad communicator? Not being able to handle big egos at the highest level? A Madrid squad that disrespected someone of his stature in the game and an ex-player at Madrid. Yet the clamor is on to get him in ASAP. As the old saying goes, ‘Be careful what you wish for’.