Slot's Liverpool Project Unravels Despite Early Promise
Following a promising start, Slot's Liverpool appear to have lost their way this season with key players underperforming and tactical issues mounting.
It's a bittersweet pill to swallow. Taking over from Klopp, no one expected such a season initially, and after the impressive start, I really thought Slot was building a team to be feared worldwide. Yet it's just not worked this season. Yes, mistakes were made in the transfer window to adequately cover certain positions, but even so the drop-off has been shocking when the team, on paper, should be far better.
Missing the Engine Room
Liverpool seem to lack the workhorses or engines that define great teams. Only Dominik could be classed as that in our current side. The most recent example being Diaz sold and not replaced. For all of Gakpo's goals, he's nowhere near as mobile as Diaz was, and to be honest, Diaz was a poor man's Mane who we've missed since he left. No one can question what Mo has done for the club - he's a legend - but this season 'barn door and banjo' springs to mind, which is sad to see. Is it just one season too many or lack of motivation in the player? I don't know.
I do know that in a lot of games, if we had put away just some of our chances we would have been out of sight before the other team had their one shot, one goal miracle that has blighted us continually. Maybe, had chances not been spurned, we may have been more like the team we want to see. But confidence is shot, who knows?
Mental Fragility Exposed
The inability to take a game by the scruff after going one down and get it done has been glaringly evident all season long. I always thought smart championship-winning teams add one or two class upgrades to a current system. We've had to replace a lot more, some from choice and others forced, which transforms the core and will take a lot longer to develop that sixth sense of where other players are or which runs they make. Defensively, covering runs and spaces show glimmers of hope, but we're inches away and one step too slow at the moment.
No matter what anyone thinks of him and the EastEnders way he left, we do miss Trent's creativity turning defence into attack. I was hoping Mac Allister would step up this season to fill that void, but God knows where he left his football brain. I like Dom - he's getting better every year - but I would take a peak Henderson any day and twice on Sunday. He had seriously big boots to fill, maybe even bigger than Slot did.
The Alonso Question
Because he's been the best of a bad bunch, Dom's like the current saviour, but he's prone to bad judgement and the lad misses countless forward passes every game when we start our attacks, which drives me mad. Not that he's the only one. My real worry now is this: if we do get rid of Slot, who I actually feel a bit sorry for, is Alonso the solution? The messiah that can return us to the holy land? One good season - yes it was an amazing season - in a less competitive league, is that the solution?
Not that I have any clue who I would want if Slot goes, apart from Alonso. If he is deemed the solution, I hope so, even more so having had the privilege to watch him ooze class in a Liverpool shirt. But sometimes that grass isn't greener, and I have this nagging thought - he rejected us before, so is it now just because he got the flick from Real Madrid that we're even in his thoughts? The uncertainty surrounding the manager's future only adds to the malaise that's settled over Anfield this season.
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