they 'are defending like drunk imbeciles'

The reaction to some Arne Slot quotes have led to some ‘po-faced nonsense analysis’ which ‘means we’re talking about the wrong bloody things’ with Liverpool.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

Hyperbole

It’s been a real eye opener these last few weeks to witness how the media – and F365 are by no means the only culprit – love to turn a drama into a crisis.

I am, of course, talking about Liverpool and their recent 4 match losing streak.

Put simply, I think it’s got a lot to do with schadenfreude. A lot of pundits have become frankly tumescent that their proclamations of impending doom – after the first 5 or 6 games where they kept winning whilst not playing all that well – started coming true. Even the impressive win in Frankfurt, where they stumbled upon something that looks like it could work, has not been properly acknowledged. It was mainly down to Frankfurt being shite, of course. Because God forbid Liverpool actually turned up and play well. We can’t have that can we.

No, every area of weakness must be magnified, every mistake amplified. Every missed chance and every defensive slip must be analysed to within an inch of its life.

What I’ve not read anywhere is much truth or context setting – that here is an outrageously talented group of players, but many have only just arrived (several from abroad), and it takes time and a regular rhythm of games (ie Nov – March) for a new team pattern to emerge.

But hey, I guess that last paragraph doesn’t count for much when we live in the era of the click-farming outrage economy. Balance and context just don’t pay the bills, I guess.

Andy H, Swansea

Crisis support

It really has been nice not being the crisis team for a whole week. And it’s been even nicer that the official crisis team is our rivals.

The icing on the cake was the reaction to Will Fords article. First time Liverpool fans?

Not to worry thought, we play Brighton tomorrow so normal service will resume this weekend.

David, (Salah hasn’t downed tools, he’s just heading over the hill) Ireland

Suggesting the O’Hara Law

I’m not going to quote Slot because helpfully you have his full quote still online in your article here.

And then you’ve posted in full, the quotes where Slot clarified his remarks

And then you look at the next lot of quotes where Slot has clearly put his foot in it again.

Yep, he’s the problem here; Those quotes are outrageous, and this definitely doesn’t in anyway seem like a pile-on.

I guess my sarcasm is that I just don’t get it. Slot sounds exactly the same after Liverpool win 8 nil or when they get battered, and you’d have to be a trained vocologist to note any intonation differences between his talking about a player being out for 47 weeks injured, or extolling the virtues of a MotM performance from someone he’s trying to set up with his daughter.

And mainly, that this po-faced nonsense analysis of nothing means we’re talking about the wrong bloody things. It is genuinely making us stupider.

Grown bloody adults using the word ‘salty’ to try and explain a managers frustration at not breaking down a low block come across as insane when in the actual interview the manager is talking about how pleased he is that his team could break down that low block, as proved by an xG against United of 3.20 versus 1.34, and the united keeper rightly being man of the match for his 1:1 saves in a game where he conceded, LFC hit the post with him beaten twice, and his blushes were saved by an appalling miss by Gakpo late in the game.

That the tactical conclusion on the team is focused on the forward line despite their scoring in every league game they’ve played and even in the games lost have still been creating ample opportunities, having the better xG against United and Chelsea, and in the loss to Palace having an xG of 2.55 away from home against a side that was unbeaten.

I can agree goal scoring can be improved, and likely will when the new signings settle. But surely the issue is that, jesus christ LFC are defending like drunk imbeciles who’ve had labradors asleep on both their legs for 14 hours; That it is a problem that LFC need to score at least 1 in order to have the prospect of a draw. To debate whether or not Slot is another Roberto-Martinez-at-Everton situation where things looked great in season 1 but as soon as the muscle memory of Moyes’ defending left them they fall apart in a fortnight.

But you’re talking about ‘salty’. Salty about a thing he was pleased about. Football really needs an equivalent to Betteridge’s law; Maybe something like the Jamie O’Hara law, where if a headline is citing a quote about something, you can be damn sure the actual quote likely says the opposite of what the narrative is, but beyond that you’ll actively get stupider for continuing a debate on it.

There’s people that talk about football, but you also meet those folks who talk about press conferences and headlines and rarely about the game, and often (but not always) they do that because they don’t understand and if you try and talk to them about why a goal could happen or be avoided they get utterly bamboozled and want to show you a lolz from a presser, or clipped gifs of half-wit fan channels reacting to bit of skill. ‘Heads Gone, ha ha ha!’ And we unfortunately live in a world dedicated to the latter.

In an attemnpt to appeal to the former, and ignoring quotes and narratives, I wonder of the LFC fans who read this, whether they think Slot adopting Houllier’s narrow 442 will work, or whether they think a 4141 would be better, or whether the players we have might benefit from Brendan’s bonkers diamond? But the focus should be on what can we do to improve the back four, that won’t break the slowly growing cohesion between the lads up front. And that Slot may have insights about this, but based on the narrative so far I wouldn’t trust the accuracy of the reporting of his quotes.

But I’m not fretting about Wirtz or Isak, they’ll come good. I’m not fretting about Gakpo, he’s great. I’m not fretting about Frimpong or Mac Allister who missed pre season too. I am fretting that reliable players at the back no longer look reliable at all.

Tom G

More Ford fanmail

I suspect Will Ford is actually a Chelsea fan. His articles about both Arsenal and Liverpool are embarrassingly blinkered at the best of times.

Sadly though to all those writing to the mailbox the best remedy to “click bait” journalism (read:shit) is to simply not click at all.

Minty, LFC

Will Ford is a Chelsea fan. But don’t take it personally, Liverpool fans, he writes sh*t about everyone. Way below the standard we’d got used to being spoiled by on here.

Mornings these days seem to be a choice between Charlie Austin then Jamie O’Hara on Sky Sports News or Will Ford on F365. FFS!

It’s as if F365 have hired their own “Reaction Creator” and didn’t think we’d notice.

Mark ((SWFC) Lewis, (damn, you got a reaction!)

While A, LFC, may not have been correct in that Will Ford is not a United fan, he is correct in that all his articles are essentially clickbait. The quality of writing at Football365 has certainly deteriorated over the years. I recall the time when Daniel Storey was writing great articles and we saw more from the current Editor, Sarah. But many of the guest (?) writers now, and the more common ones like Ford, do write a lot of drivel.

While the consistently excellent, funny and my first point of call – Mediawatch – has plenty of fodder with the likes of the Mail, Sun and Mirror – it would be interesting to see it pointed back on itself. Sure, they set the bar very low for writing, but Will Ford comes awfully close.

On the topic in question, Liverpool, clearly, fans of opponents are going to have a heyday with Liverpool losing four on the trot, especially after a pile of new signings in the summer. However, it wasn’t Liverpool that said we’re going to win all four, or ‘we won the transfer window’ etc., but the very same writers who can’t wait to tear things down to get more clicks.

As to other letter writers: No, Klopp didn’t win it for Liverpool last year by leaving a great team – meaning Slot is essentially useless. With only a half-fit Chiesa coming in, Slot had a lot of work to do and found the right combination with players or players in roles that Klopp didn’t rate enough or didn’t play in said position. His tactical tweaks both during a game and after halftime were excellent. And doing this amid the ongoing saga of the three out-of-contract players, which added to the tension for most of the season. But we have seen the risk of starting new players in a high-performing team. Klopp and Guardiola, for example, both made new players wait quite a while before giving them their first start. Other than Ekitike, the others have all struggled a bit.

This is now a much younger Liverpool squad, and it is clear they were signing players for the future as much as for now, as the squad had aged. Perhaps Slot should have started with Robertson, or brought Wirtz on for Gakpo later in games, for example. But then, they were winning. So I am sure that the thought was, hey, it isn’t quite right, but we’re getting points and it will come together. And let’s face it, in several of those losses, it could easily have gone the other way with the number of decent chances created.

Will Liverpool be able to keep it together enough to retain the league title? Perhaps not. Arsenal are super strong right now, with the best squad and superb defensively. They aren’t going to give any points away easily. But there are three other competitions and still a long way to go. Recall last year that PSG didn’t take off until after the winter transfer window, with players gelling under a new system and with one player added to an already decent team.

But can Will Ford’s output improve over the same time? Doubtful.

Paul McDevitt

Leave lovely Will alone

Dear F365,

I’ve been disappointed to see the level of vitriol directed at Will F in recent weeks.

Personal attacks have no place in a community that should be built around debate, humour, and mutual respect.

Those responsible ought to reflect on their words and the tone they bring to these pages. Constructive discussion and good-natured banter have always been part of the fabric of football culture — something best understood by those who have regularly stood on the terraces. Sadly, many of those F365’ers seem to ‘support’ their teams from afar, engaging only occasionally and often without understanding the spirit of genuine support.

I commend Will for maintaining his composure and continuing to produce insightful, entertaining work despite the negativity shown toward him. His ability to provoke strong reactions speaks to the relevance and sharpness of his writing. I encourage Will to keep up the excellent work.

Best regards,

Branmasterflash

(MC – it’s also his birthday so don’t be rude)

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