Ben Winokur

Working on Subsalt. @passporthq, @wustl (x2), @washuwash, @dukelaw, @instagift alum. @auburnfootball and @lfc. Sock enthusiast.

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

@ged0407 @TheKopHQ Surely, given the — very real — emotional toll of losing Jota, Slot must have spent the season absorbing blame for performances and shielding the grieving players from criticism. Since he’s such a decent man…

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

@LFCApproved He’s irredeemable. His treatment of Salah, lowering of standards, and deflection of blame onto the players — who were grieving the loss of a friend and teammate — is unforgivable.

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

Team Slot gives an interview to the S*n blaming Salah for this season’s problems. If you think this happens without Slot’s knowledge and his team’s involvement, you’re delusional. He doesn’t deserve one moment of peace until he’s fired.

[Anfield Edition | æ @AnfieldEdition]

Former Netherlands international Jan Everse, who managed Slot at PEC Zwolle: “The worst thing that can happen is that they fire him. But they would be very stupid.

“Slot came in and he became champion. Everybody was happy. And now one player is not satisfied because he’s played bad.

“You will now see them competing for the title again.”

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

Delusional. There really is no plan.

“The plan worked great when Salah [having the greatest individual season in the history of the Premier League] and Trent [greatest right-back progressive passer in history]. We’re going to buy guys who can do that again.”

[Anfield Sector @AnfieldSector]

Arne Slot:

“Last season, one of the reasons why we were so difficult to play against was because we had threats over on the right side, on the left side. It was not only the wingers, it is the combination between the winger and the full-back. Last season I think if you had to describe the style of play I would describe it as very reliant on the winger-full-back combinations. We have tried that this season again but there hasn’t been the end product that we had last season. That is not to say it only about them. We all – me included – didn’t bring the same level.”

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

After almost a decade as the best run, smartest club in the world, Liverpool is broken.

[David Ornstein @David_Ornstein]

🚨 Yan Diomande a leading target for Liverpool. #PSG also among suitors but #LFC firm contenders; strong position with 19yo RB Leipzig winger & if player deal looks doable club-to-club talks will follow. #RBLeipzig would seek €100m+ to sell @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/Hk4wKLh3oA

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

I don't hope they paper the cracks of Slot's incompetence and venality with big transfers. Instead, I hope they rediscover the Liverpool Way and the club's modern identity: overpowering competence on and off the pitch. There's no room for Arne Slot in that version of the club.

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

I don't hope Arne Slot "turns it around" at Liverpool. I want him out of the club, both because he's a horrific coach and because he's not capable of leading in alignment with the values of the club. Keeping him debases the culture and history of Liverpool.

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

If they keep Slot and spend another $250M on transfer fees, it will feel like an abandonment of both the historic and modern identities of the club. That Slot's only "mitigation" to this season is to buy more players instead of building a team and identity is shameful.

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

@JamesPearceLFC The least charitable plausible explanation is that Salah wasn't referring to precisely the style Klopp called "heavy metal football" a decade ago. What do you think this pedantic, bad faith criticism of his wording adds to your audience's understanding of the situation?

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

@LFCApproved Mo Salah is protecting the club, not Jamie Carragher.

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

@henrywinter Even this understates Slot's role in escalating the conflict. Salah communicated a much less pointed version of his critique over the last two weeks, and Slot attacked him directly in response ("not only in the gym"). In context, Salah has exercised remarkable restraint.

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

“The best criticism I can make of Mo Salah’s post is that he’s made an argument that’s both correct and emotionally resonant.”

🇪🇬👑

[Beth Lindop @beth_lindop]

Ultimately, that’s the crux of the problem. Salah has played on the heartstrings of a fanbase which, largely, wants Klopp/the Klopp era back. Whatever happens with Slot in the long-term, measuring every future manager against his predecessor is unlikely to end well for Liverpool.

[Mohamed Salah @MoSalah]

I have witnessed this club go from doubters to believers, and from believers to champions. It took hard work and I always did everything I could to help the club get there. Nothing makes me prouder than that.

Us crumbling to yet another defeat this season was very painful and not what our fans deserve. I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies. That is the football I know how to play and that is the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good. It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it.

Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about. All teams win games.

Liverpool will always be a club that means a great deal to me and to my family. I want to see it succeed for long after I have moved on.

As I’ve always said, qualifying to next season’s Champions League is the bare minimum and I will do everything I can to make that happen.

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

@SketchesbyBoze This is a long-used, intentional malapropism on the forum where it came from (@AuburnOn3). There are no grand lessons or profound commentary on societal decline to be drawn from it.

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

@tejgw Chronicle

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

@martin_casado In your DMs

[Ben Winokur @Benokur]

@martin_casado 🤜🤛 talked to some really sharp CoSes when scoping the job ~5 years ago. Mostly later-stage. Happy to share notes.