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LIVERPOOL 1 - 2 MAN UTD! REDS IN CRISIS?
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Liverpool suffered their third defat in a row in the PL against bitter rivals Manchester United at Anfield. Jesse has the unenviable task of suffering this episode alone and to talk about what went, and is going, wrong at Anfield.
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Global Sports Podcast Network - Creating the world’s first network of 30-minute daily podcasts for the world’s biggest sporting export, the English Premier League.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:01:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hello and welcome to the Daily Liverpool podcast brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network. It is Monday the 20th of October.
Liverpool's Recent Struggles
00:01:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
Mondays are always tough, but dear me, this one is ah is a tough one.
00:01:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's the day after Liverpool's third defeat of the Premier League sigan season. Their third in a row and fourth defeat overall in a row.
00:01:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
And that against... our arch rivals, our bitterest rivals, Manchester United, who won the game at Anfield I mean,
00:02:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
um i mean it's literally just could not get worse. I mean, we've got to keep a perspective. And i was at the game on Sunday evening and it just felt like that's it. It's just the season's over.
00:02:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
A bit of time does bring a bit of perspective. um I'm still fuming, but not as fuming as I was on Sunday.
00:02:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
And whilst I'm not thinking that our season is over, I don't think that any of ah any ah of us are thinking about winning or retaining the Premier League right now.
00:02:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I'm not ruling that out. I'm not saying that that's not a possibility or that it's just over. But it's just not something that we're thinking about or certainly not something that I'm thinking about.
00:02:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I dare say it's probably something that Arnie Slott or the players are thinking about right now.
Impact of International Break
00:03:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
Their only thought right now is how do we stop this rot?
00:03:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
How do we not just win the next game, But how do we not lose the next game? And I think that's a real worry. That's a real concern because I think once you have a defeat, okay, every team loses, you get two on the bounce and you think, okay, you know, that's ah that's another bad result, but You know, the international break is here.
00:03:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
Players go away. They get refreshed. They go to different environments, different competitions. Most of them came back with um positive results. You know, their teams qualifying for the World Cup or their teams, um you know, taking a major step towards the World Cup.
00:03:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
And then we come back first game.
Controversy Over McAllister's Injury
00:03:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
after the international break. And in fact, the first minute after we come back. And I think here's the issue.
00:04:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
The first minute of the game, we can see the goal. And so any benefit that you've had from having a two week break, any benefit that you've had from going to a different environment, from meeting up with different players, playing in different um surroundings, in a different competition,
00:04:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
Any of those possible benefits that you might have um you you know that that you might have enjoyed in that two weeks evaporates.
00:04:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's gone. Within 60 seconds, it's gone. And you are back to the team that lost against Chelsea. You're back to the team that lost at Crystal Palace.
00:04:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
you're You're back in that same scenario, in that same situation. And it automatically just becomes... an uphill struggle even though you're at home even though you've got your fans behind you it's just one blow after another and i mean let's talk about that first goal there's a lot of controversy over the mcallister head injury and whether the referee michael oliver should have stopped the game
00:05:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
um
00:05:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think it's it's a tough one. I mean, yeah, look, as Liverpool supporters, we would want the game stopped. And it was a genuine head injury. But i've I've got to be honest here.
00:05:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
The reason that we conceded that goal was not because McAllister was on the floor or that the referee didn't stop the game. Um... We conceded that goal because we just didn't react.
00:05:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
We didn't react as quick as Mbwemo. He was on the floor. He was on the floor and he got up and got ahead of Virgil van Dijk, who was not on the floor, who hadn't fallen down. He was upright.
00:06:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
And so ah don't think that we can really point the finger at the referee, even though Mike Oliver didn't have a particularly good
New Players' Performance Issues
00:06:14
Global Sports Podcast Network
game. I mean, ah you know, i think I've always said that the standard refereeing in the Premier League, I think is just probably the worst in my lifetime. So there's no great surprise that you have a poor refereeing display.
00:06:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
But ah in in in this instance, I've got to say that I really don't see that the referee did something really, really outrageously wrong, because I think in the first instance, when there's a clash of heads,
00:06:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
Unless it's abundantly clear to the referee and to everyone else that this is a serious head injury. You know, the player is motionless. He's not moving.
00:06:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
You know, that there have been instances where that's happened. Player swallows, um you know, his tongue. And you can immediately see the reaction of the players around him.
00:07:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
And everything just stops. McAllister wasn't in that situation. He was rolling around. Okay, now, I'm not saying that in ah in ah in a way that means that he was faking it. He got four stitches. It was a nasty blow to the back of the head.
00:07:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
But he wasn't knocked out. He wasn't unconscious. And so I think that as a referee, you don't make a split decision. You don't make a decision, right, the player's gone down, he's holding his head, right, stop the game.
00:07:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
Because otherwise you'd be stopping the game all the time. And unfortunately, we do see that. Lots of times, not just in pre in the Premier League, but across modern football, is that players do use that rule cynically.
00:07:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
They will go down, let's say, in their own box and at a set piece, knowing that the referee is probably going to stop the game because I'm holding my head.
00:08:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
And that neutralizes the opponent's attack. And so I've got to say that I i actually don't have a problem with Michael Oliver and that decision because it was three or four seconds and he's played the ah he's he's he's just played on. He's let the play play on and and we concede.
00:08:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
And that goal that we conceded was our fault defensively. We should not be allowing um the Manchester United striker to go from pretty much the centre circle unchallenged into our penalty area and you know slots the ball away.
00:08:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And so that's I think that's the first thing that we've got to clear up is that I do not blame the referee in that first instance. I don't think it was a hugely controversial moment. Yes, there have been times that the referee does stop the game and we've seen it all the time.
00:09:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
But for me, I don't think that's the major issue here. I think the question is, how how did this team lose to a Manchester United side that has struggled ever since Ruben Amrum took over about a year ago?
00:09:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
So there are a few issues that I think that we need to address and I think that most of us are aware of it and you just hope that Arnie Slott is aware of it. The first one is the obvious one and that is that the new players that have come in just haven't hit the ground running.
00:09:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
You know, there's a lot of players in and out and ah remember saying this um in the pre-season podcast episode. um that although it was exciting, obviously as a supporter, you're always excited that your club is buying players, buying new players. And particularly for us as Liverpool supporters, we just weren't used to ah the club going out and and buying players left, right and centre.
00:10:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
So for us to to be involved in that was exciting. But I do remember distinctly saying that it got to the stage, I think, after we'd signed Vietz and we'd signed two fullbacks.
00:10:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
Once we started signing more players like Ekotike and Izak, Marmadashvili is obviously there. I was thinking, you know, I'm just a bit concerned that this has tipped over the edge of what could become now a transition season.
00:10:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
because there are just too many new players coming in. And so those new players haven't hit the ground running. Alexander Isak, he is a fantastic striker and i am sure and I'm convinced that he will come good, but right now he doesn't look right.
00:11:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
um His fitness is always going to be obviously questioned because of his decision to go on strike in the summer to force that move from Newcastle.
00:11:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
to liverpool And I think I mentioned this on the episode um last week in the in the kind of preview to this Manchester United-Liverpool game. I think that that he's that decision is coming home to roost now.
00:11:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
You've got ah an elite footballer joining an elite Premier League team, Premier League champions in the best league in the world. And he's not fit.
00:11:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
He's just been found out. You cannot go into that league not fit. And I think that decision to effectively go on strike, I think has come up to roost. I think that think it was a mistake um in terms of, you can you can argue the morality of of how he behaved. with I think it's not the worst behaviour that you've seen from a ah professional footballer these days.
00:12:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
But I just think that he's shot himself in the foot. I think that he's he's given himself such a ah difficult start, which was unnecessary.
00:12:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
And in this kind of social media age, you're just not given any time. And so gone are the days where you can think, okay, I just need a season, you know, to get up and running.
00:12:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
You're judged immediately. You're judged in that first game, that first two games. And, you know, the the the pressure is going to be on him. And he doesn't look happy. He looks out of sorts.
00:12:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
he He doesn't quite... He doesn't look like he knows what his role in the team is. And of course, that... that is going to be on the manager.
00:12:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
The manager's got to make that clear to him. But I think more over than that is that, you know, he's gone from a Newcastle team where he was the main man that as soon as Newcastle were attacking, all the players were looking up to see, okay, where's Isaac? Where's Isaac? Let's give the boards Isaac.
00:13:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
That doesn't happen at Liverpool. That doesn't happen at Liverpool because the moment the team attacks, they're looking up and thinking, okay, where's Salah? Where's Gakpo? Where's Eketike? Where's Vietz?
00:13:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
And so that's something that's an adjustment that he's going to have to get used to.
Defensive and Positional Concerns
00:13:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
But I think that the fitness... I think is i think is's the main issue with him.
00:13:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
I just don't think he looks right. And if he's not fit, then he he can't press in the way that we need our strikers to press. ah You know, given that Hamid Salah is is not someone who's going to be tracking back. So we do need the other players ah to pull their weight.
00:13:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
Florian Wirtz is another one of our new signings. I thought, you know he didn't start in Sunday's game, but I thought that he played pretty well when he came on as a substitute. But I think it's fair to say that he hasn't had the best start,
00:14:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
um you know, to his Liverpool career. So that's another issue that... we've got to deal with, that the manager's got to deal with and manage that process, that manage that situation, manage that transition from the Bundesliga, where he was a star, to the Premier League, where he's trying to find his feet.
00:14:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
And um I think physically, the physicality is one of the main issues for Wirtz that he's going to have to um to work on. Another player that we brought in was Frimpong, Jeremy Frimpong at right back.
00:14:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
And just not sure what his best position is. And I hope that ah hope that Arnie Slott knows, because that would be a worry.
00:15:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
Is he a right back? Is he a wing back? Is he a wide forward? Because he's played all of those positions since he's been at Liverpool. And so i think that's another area...
00:15:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
of concern for us or an area that has meant that the the form for Liverpool has been really patchy. and And maybe someone like Frimpong is almost representative of the team in the sense that there's no consistency.
00:15:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
There's no consistency, not just in terms of his performance, but But in terms of where he's playing, um you know, he's he's playing in in multiple positions in every game. um And sometimes he'll come on as a sub for as a right back or he'll come on as a right wing forward.
00:15:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
So that I'm sure doesn't help Frimpong. In terms of trying to get him bedded into the team to get him comfortable in in the team as well. So.
00:16:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
And then you go look at the other right back, Connor Bradley, who hasn't performed at the level that we saw last season. I think some of that is down to ah fitness. He came back from an injury and he hasn't quite looked the same since then.
00:16:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
um It doesn't mean that, you know, mean it wasn't it wasn't a serious injury that he's not the same player. I'm just saying that he he probably, he's probably still playing catch up in terms of um the kind of fitness and the rhythm side of things.
00:16:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
But it also has to be said that the pressure is on now. Connor Bradley, last season, there was no pressure on Connor Bradley. Last season, Trent Alexander-Arnold was the established number one right back.
00:16:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
And even though there was all the speculation and almost an expectation that Trent was going to leave, But there wasn't the pressure on Bradley that comes with being Liverpool's number one right back. And now he he might not be the out and out number one, but he had the shirt, if you know what I mean. Trent left. And so.
00:17:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
Connor Bradley was already at the club and f Frimpong is the new guy. And so I think there's more pressure on him to perform. I think there's more pressure on him to make that shirt his. And maybe, maybe he's trying to do too much.
00:17:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
Maybe he's trying to do too much. um And I think he should just focus on the basics, focus on what he's good ah good at, which is um his his energy, his tenacity in the tackle, in the defensive third. And i don't think that we've seen enough of that.
00:17:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
And then obviously we naturally go to the other fallback, which is Milos Kerkes. And Milos Kerkes, I would argue, has had the toughest time out of all of our new signings.
00:18:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
um He came in at £40 million. um I think one of the big mistakes that Arnie Slott has made this season is that he's brought Kerkhez in and he's treated him like Liverpool's number one left back.
00:18:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
And he's not. I argued last season um that Andy Robertson needs to stay at Liverpool and it should be Kostas Simikas that gets moved on and that we get a new left back and that was going to be Kerkes.
00:18:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
But that they have to fight for that position, that there isn't a number one. And I think one of the issues is is that Kerkes has, because he started every single game,
00:18:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's almost like Slott has said to him, OK, you are the number one. And I don't think that's right. um I don't think he should be the number
Player Form and Management
00:18:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
one. I don't think you should be treated like the number one. He's got compete for that shirt.
00:19:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
And Andrew Robertson, even though he didn't have the very, very best of seasons last season, we won the league last season. And he had a few games which were not very Andy Robertson-like.
00:19:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And that obviously set the alarm bells ringing with ah far too many people who, you know, knee knee-jerk reaction that he's over the hill. And that is just simply not the case. But what Andy Robertson did need...
00:19:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
was competition. Competition to just get the very best out of Andy Robertson because Kostas Simikas was always the number two. He was never seen as the number one.
00:19:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
And now that we've got someone who is competing with Robertson, the times that Robertson has come on ah has shown that he's a better player than Kerkhez at the moment. And let's not forget that when Andy Robertson did come to Liverpool,
00:19:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah those years ago when Jurgen Klopp signed him. He didn't kick a ball for about three or four months. He was eased into that team and and became the player that he did.
00:20:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I think the same should be done for Kerkes. He's got to be eased into the team. He can play the League Cup games, the FA Cup games. He can play the odd Premier League game. But I think Andy Robertson, for me, is is the number one.
00:20:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
And and mi Milos Kerkes has got to prove that position. And look... you there should be no knee-jerk reactions with Kerkes either. He's a young player. He's 22, I think.
00:20:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
And we haven't signed him for six months. We've signed him for the next five or six years. And so there's plenty of time for him to improve and to become the player that we all know that he can become. But right now is not the time to just play him every single game.
00:20:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think he needs to be taken out the team. um The other signing that has hit the ground running is Hugo Eketike, the one shining light from the new signings.
00:21:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
And, you know, what a player and the impact that he makes every time he comes on onto the field. He's got to start. He has to be a starter for Liverpool and and just really play around that.
00:21:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
play around that assumption that XTK is starting and the likes of ISAC, they've just got to prove themselves and to get into into the team. um The other issue that we're facing as a team are the players that are out form.
00:21:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
Principally, we've got to talk about Mohamed Salah. um His form has, just can't remember his form being like this.
00:21:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
And again, with players at his age, there's always, you're always waiting to say, right, this is the moment that he's dropped off the cliff.
00:22:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
This is the moment that it's all downhill. This is the moment where his legs have given up. And, you know, this is just going to be a slow, painful descent into um him not being in the team and then eventually being sold.
00:22:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
I don't necessarily think that's the case. It's not his physical fitness that I see as an issue. i still see him as as being in great shape.
00:22:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
I see him as being fairly sharp. but I don't see a great kind of slowness in him. um Yeah, he's not as lightning quick as he was when he first came to Liverpool, but that's never that was never going to be the case.
00:22:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
But he's he's not kind of slow or slow to the to react to opportunity. I think that that that would be a huge issue if he was slow to react to opportunities. And I don't see that.
00:22:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
But I think even more worrying is he's his actual, his touch. um That first touch, which used to be so assured, just seems to be letting him down.
00:23:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
And even more shocking is his composure in front of goal. ah this This is a guy that is just a goal machine and is in the team just to score goals.
00:23:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
And it just seems that lately he's snatching at opportunities. I mean, the opportunity that he had on Sunday where you just thought this is going to go into the roof of the net and he just...
00:23:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
absolutely kind of shanks it with his left foot, with his strong foot as well. It not it wasn't even his his weaker right foot. It was his left foot and it just looked so unsalaar-like.
00:23:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And so I think that's the issue is that he's just genuinely bang out form. And look, we can never know if this is just a temporary thing or this is a permanent switch that's been flicked that, OK, that's it. His career is over. We just we just don't know. we will only know in the coming weeks and months.
00:24:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
But he's out of form and he needs to be rested. whether you want to call it dropped, whether you want to call it, call it what you like, but I think something has to be done with that situation.
00:24:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
um You know, there are plenty of games to be played this season. I mean, there are 30 more Premier League games to go and that's not counting the League Cup, Carabao Cup games.
00:24:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
The FA Cup starts in January. um We're only, you know, two or three games into the Champions League campaign. So there's plenty of games to go around for all of those players.
00:24:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I know for someone like Arnie Slott, it's a tough one. It is a tough one. I think it's ah a balancing act for Slott in terms of...
00:25:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
what to do with Salah. You know, the the optics are so glaring. You know, Liverpool is is under the spotlight like few other clubs. It's only Manchester United really that gets the attention.
00:25:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
and that Liverpool do. And these are the two biggest clubs in England, probably the two biggest clubs in the world in terms of fan base. And so, you you know, the the the scrutiny is just constant. And so for Slot two quote unquote drop Mohamed Salah, he's, I think he's going to have to do this carefully and manage this carefully and almost be like a politician, you know, for the outside world and the press as well, because, know,
00:25:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
you need to keep your senior players on side. and someone like And it doesn't mean that you should be afraid of dropping them, but it's just like any any job in politics and and being a manager at a club like Liverpool...
00:26:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
is a job in politics as well. you've got to be You've got to be careful how you treat your your biggest, your senior players. You need to keep them on side and you've got to be careful of the impact that it has, not just on that player, but on the rest of the team that looks to that player.
Managerial Challenges and Strategy
00:26:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
to get them out of holes. um So, but look, you know what? That's what Arnie Slott has paid millions of pounds a year to do. And so he's going to have to step up and make that decision.
00:26:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
Another player out form, Alexis McAllister. He just looks off it, just looks unfit. He looks not even a yard um too slow. He looks two yards too slow.
00:26:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
um He's not up to speed. And what it means is we're we're just getting overrun, I think, in midfield far too easily. ah Against midfields that we shouldn't be getting overrun by, you know, the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro.
00:27:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
Bruno Fernandes is a fantastic player, but he's he's not someone that should overrun you in midfield and certainly not Casemiro. um So I think that's another area of concern for Liverpool.
00:27:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
um The centre-backs. Now, Ibrahim Kanate has been, I'd say, on balance, I think he's been pretty poor all season. and But I thought he was excellent yesterday.
00:27:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
I thought he was excellent yesterday. And it was actually Van Dijk, who has been very good all season, who was below par. So again, we've got the um inconsistency and instability in the full-back areas.
00:27:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
And then we've got one, um at least one of the centre-backs that doesn't perform. And so that doesn't help. I mean, even the goal that we conceded,
00:28:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
I honestly think that Alison Becker saves that. I know it's a bit harsh on Marmadashvili. And this is not to blame him in terms of that defeat. I don't blame him for that defeat.
00:28:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I think he's a very good goalkeeper. And I think he's going to get better. But, you know, these small details, they add up and they get piled on to the other issues that we're facing. And then all of a sudden, we're losing back-to-back games.
00:28:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
So think Arnie Slott, I think he needs to get back to basics. first off, I think he needs to shore up this defense. And the way that you shore up this defense is to do what I think commentators have already said this. I've i've seen Gary Neville say this.
00:28:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
um A few others say this. And so this is no breaking news. um Although I ah do maintain that I thought of it first. And that is that you need to get your experienced defenders in, batten down the hatches and say, irrespective of how the rest of the team play, I don't care if it's Florian Wirtz, I don't care if it's Alexander Izak, I don't care if we're playing absolutely rubbish up front.
00:29:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
No one is getting past this back four. And I think if you're Alison Becker in goal, Or Marmadashvili, obviously Becker's out injured. But I think you've got Canate and Van Dijk as your centre-backs.
00:29:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
You need to get back in Andy Robertson, an experienced player, vice captain, serial winner. um He just needs to come in. Come in and shore up that defence. And yes, after 75, 80 minutes, if you know if if we need if he needs help, then you bring on Kerkhez.
00:29:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
But as a starter, it's got to be Andy Robertson. And I think it's time for Joe Gomez to come in at right back. Joe Gomez has performed fantastically well at right back every time we've needed him.
00:29:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I think what that does, it gives us that solidity, at least down one side of um our defence. And effectively, you've got three centre-backs then.
00:30:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I think Joe Gomez needs to come shore up that right side and just just defend, just keep clean sheets. And we've got enough firepower that we might nick a 1-0 because that's what we're looking at right now.
00:30:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
but We're looking at just a 1-0. Give me a 1-0 and let's build on that. um and just play the players that've been performing ah that that have been performing.
00:30:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
So you take out Kirk Hayes, who hasn't been performing, and you put in Andy Robertson, who has been performing. um You play Curtis Jones, who came in who came on yesterday for Alexis McAllister. Alexis McAllister is a fantastic player, but he's had a tough season. Again, he had a very, um I think he missed most of pre-season.
00:30:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
So there are fitness issues there. It's not an ability issue. It's a fitness issue. And I just think that he needs to be taken out the firing line. Curtis Jones comes in because Curtis Jones has been playing well.
00:31:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
um I thought that he should have started yesterday. I mean, he's a scouser and you're you're playing against Manchester United. You'd think that, you know, you want to see that energy, that passion, that,
00:31:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
that you need in in these kinds of fixtures. And even the the the main criticism that has been leveled at Curtis Jones over the years is that, you know, he kind of, um he delays the pass. He dilly-dallies on the ball too long.
00:31:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well, he didn't do that yesterday. As soon as he got the ball, he drove forward. He was looking for the forward pass. And a lot of the attacks, the a lot of the good situations that we created yesterday in that second half was down to Curtis Jones.
00:31:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
So I think that he needs to get more game time. um
00:32:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
I said that Mo needs to be rotated. um So as I said, whether you call it ah dropped or rotated, but he's got to be rotated. And the and the guy that's got to come in,
00:32:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
is Federico Chiesa. My God, this guy needs more game time. What does this guy have to do to get a game? Because he comes on, he always affects a game.
00:32:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
He gets goals, he gets assists in the scraps of minutes that he's given. He's two-footed, you know, he can play either side of that front line.
00:32:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
And he tracks back. There were moments in that game where he was defending outside, running back from ah when we were attacking, chasing a player back all the way into our own half and winning the ball back. he's he's His attitude and his professionalism is...
00:32:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's one of the reasons why he's he's already a fan favourite at Liverpool. He's already a fan favourite at Liverpool. But that shouldn't mask the fact that this guy has got the ability. He has got ability.
00:33:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
he's He's a quick player. He's always threatening when he's got the ball. And he makes things happen. He made that goal happen yesterday. And so I think that he needs to be given game time.
00:33:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
I honestly would give Mo the, um I'd give Salah the Champions League against Frankfurt on Wednesday night. It's an away game. I'd give Salah the Champions League.
00:33:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
But on Saturday, I think it is, we're we're away to Brentford. I think he's got to go for Chiesa. Give Chiesa a start. What's it going to cost you? We've already lost four back-to-back games, three back-to-back games in the Premier League.
00:33:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
you know what's it going to cost you? ah you can't keep doing the same thing. So give Chiesa a run out, give him a chance. And ah personally, I think that he can't do any worse than um ah than than what we've done so far and the way that Mohamed Salah has performed so far. So i would give him the nod for the Brentford game next ah weekend can and start with Eketike.
00:34:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
You know, he's I think he's something special. I think he's the new signing that has let's hit the ground running. So play him, you know, play him and and let him build on that confidence and, you know, let the other new signings look at him and feed off of him.
00:34:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
And you know what? That's elite sports. That's elite football. You play the players who are performing. And right now that is Hugo Eketike. um And I've said this before. i know it's broken record time. I've said this millions of times before, even last season. and I think we've got to become more energetic and in possession and less obsessed with possession just for the sake of keeping possession.
00:35:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
you know I know it's hard because, look, teams are coming to Anfield or we go to their ground and they're playing a low block. And so we can't counterattack them. So it's it's it's hard to get around them or behind them with pace, um you know like we did did when Mane and Salah were flying.
00:35:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
A lot of those were you know teams that we would hit on the counterattack. But eventually, once we'd won the Champions League and once we'd won the league, those teams that we played against wised up and they no longer came attacking at us so that um Salah and Mane would, you know, completely tear you to shreds on the counter. They played a low block.
00:35:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
But Klopp, you know, even though it moved to a more kind of possession based style, the possession was done with intensity and the passing was done with a speed, which just seems it just seems to me that we've lost that.
00:36:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
So slot is coming in for criticism, which is just, again, it's inevitable. You put your manager of Liverpool football club, the biggest club in England, the most successful club in England, one of the biggest clubs in the world. So yeah, you you lose one game and you know, you're going to get criticism two games and it's like, well, what's happening here?
00:36:29
Global Sports Podcast Network
You lose three Premier League games and a Champions League game. You know, alarm bells will start to ring. That said, that said, I think that some of the unsurprisingly, some of the social media outrage, I think is ridiculous. I mean, that's not going to be your match going fan.
00:36:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. So I don't ah don't think that that's the opinion that most Liverpool supporters, most match-going supporters share. however However, we do have concerns and we do have criticisms of Arnie Slott.
00:37:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
And look, he has had...
00:37:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
probably one of the longest honeymoon periods um that you get as a manager when you replace a legendary manager, which he did in Jurgen Klopp.
00:37:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
You know, and now's the rocky patch. Now's the time where he really earns his money and his salary. And this is something that I think is, think it's, this is something that's going to make or break slot.
00:37:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
really I really do because I don't think I'm i' overplaying this because this is not just the first time that he's um he's going through this difficulty as Liverpool manager.
00:37:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think this is the first time that he's experienced this as a manager. You know, three or four defeats in a row. He's not man he's not dealt with that. And so I think that how he comes out of this I think is really going to tell us where we're going to finish as a club this season and how successful Arnie Slott is going to be moving forward.
Ownership's Vision and Future Plans
00:38:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
I don't think that at the ownership level, you know, we're not Nottingham Forest.
00:38:29
Global Sports Podcast Network
You're not going to have the owner, you know, barging into the dressing room and, um you know, having a fight with Arnie Slott. although that would be an interesting watch John john W Henry versus Arnie Slott I think that ah FSG are going to back the manager I wouldn't be surprised that come um come January that he gets a new contract because As we've said on this podcast on more than one occasion, and especially over the last week or so where we've marked 15 years of FSG taking over at Liverpool, this is a very shrewd ownership.
00:39:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
that They're not prone to knee-jerk reactions. They're not prone to making decisions in the heat of the moment. They're very calculated and they are very...
00:39:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
far-sighted And I think that with Arnie Slott, I think they will give him a huge benefit of the doubt in the sense that they are the ones who have sanctioned this wholesale squad renovation.
00:39:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
And so they're going to have to back him to weather this storm and and to bed these players in, which may take
Conclusion and Upcoming Matches
00:39:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
some time. It might be that this season is...
00:39:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
What last season should have been, which was just qualify for the Champions League and that'll be a good season. and It may be that internally that's what ah FSG are looking at, that we've gone through such a squad um upheaval that it might be unrealistic for us to look to win the league this season.
00:40:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
We'll see. um But it has been a ah ah tough 24 hours. It's been a tough couple of weeks. And the game's just come thick and fast. And we've just got to get back to winning ways and winning ways quickly.
00:40:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
But we're going leave it there. Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back tomorrow as I'm sure we'll be continuing to you know discuss the fallout from another loss in the Premier League. But then you know we've got to quickly turn our attention to Wednesday's Champions League trip to Eintracht Frankfurt and then ah the weekend's trip to Brentford.
00:40:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
So join us ah for you know all those pre and post-match reviews. Until next time, thank you for listening.