On October 30 2025 21:49 sharkie wrote:
Sheesh. This totally looks like that Slot's style was figured out by everyone and the title win totally overshadowed it... There was nothing done in the summer to keep evolving.
Evolving is precisely the problem, they’ve tried to shift the style and it’s not yet worked.
If Liverpool had remained static in how they set up, and were getting diminishing returns in terms of results, I think that you could definitely attribute it to folks working out how to play versus Liverpool, but I don’t think that’s the case.
You can look at Ange’s Spurs, a very strong start, a weaker end to his first season, and a disastrous second season, and I think that’s an example of what a setup being figured out looks like.
On October 30 2025 23:29 DropBear wrote:
Yeah it's increasingly looking like 400m very poorly spent.
Ekitike has been good. Otherwise...
Kerkez has been poor
Wirtz has been poor
Isak has been poor
Frimpong has been injured the whole time
Meanwhile Diaz is destroying in the Bundesliga
Could really use Quansah, Tsimikas and Nat Phillips as defensive cover right now too
It’s a bit of a strange one. Of the new signings, Frimpong’s from another league so there’s adjustment, and he’s been injured. Wirtz is also from another league, but also a different kind of player than they’ve had recently, and Isak didn’t have much of a pre season. Ekitike from another league, and like his former strike partner Marmoush, only really had a pretty short spell of being hugely prolific and productive at Frankfurt under his belt.
If they’d all hit the ground running, that wouldn’t have surprised me, but teething issues also wouldn’t.
The weird one is Kerkez, he was the one I thought would be a lock to give you a minimum 7/10 performance every week, but he’s probably been the worst of all the signings so far.
Ekiteke has been actually good, I think Wirtz has been OK, doesn’t have the numbers to show it yet, but I think he’s playing better than some would have you believe.
Then we’ve got the established players. MacAllister hasn’t remotely looked himself yet, Konate has had a few wonky games. Virgil is Virgil but he’s looked unsure at times, given how dysfunctional the whole defence is looking. Salah historically is either dangerous and involved a whole lot, but if he isn’t doing that, then he’s super decisive and nabs goals and assists in games he’s not done much in. At present he’s doing neither.
Alison’s done his job alright. Ekiteke has been good, I think Gakpo has generally been solid as well. Aside from that who would you give an A-B grade for performance so far this season? It’s basically Gravenberch and Szoboszlai.
Even the most talented teams around would struggle to compete for honours with so many of their number performing at a B-/C level or worse.
EPT![[image loading]](https://s.studiobinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Michael-Jackson-Popcorn-GIF.webp?resolution=1680,2)
