Footy Surgeon

Footy fan first, LFC supporter second. FPL mini league tormentor. Marrying data and a 20/20 footy eye - stating the obvious because now in rare supply.

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

Unpopular opinion..the Liverpool post Wirtz disasterclass part of window (Etikite over Rodrygo and failure to land Hato or priortise top quality cover at the back) has been only outdone by Newcastle..need to fi nish well.

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@StevenAinswor19 @LFCApproved 😄 indeed!

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

So clarify this for me...from now until the start of next season is your mission to show every data point that proves in your mind Iraola will fail oat our club? I started following you as you had a sensible viewpoint on sacking Slot but I am not enduring this stream of negativity about my current manager.

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@rajsinghchohan Scandalous..Liverpool need to get a clue

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@SteKelly198586 Brilliant..Why fans cant get this through their thick skulls! How can the club make the player sign a contract? A better angle is https://t.co/Z9gOYRlxZQ upset the club loss the sale funds..not the player who had no intention to continue.

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@anfieldforge Absolutely..Just ridiculous and enragihg..if fans want Slot sacked sack Edwards/Hughes as well.

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@LFCApproved Yup ..it's fine ..to each their own but frankly I find the negative exhausting.

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@BarakRavid Parrot says what?

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@Shahhussain3211 @TheKopHQ @Mobyhaque1 These accounts are driving me nuts.

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

We're had a ton of injuries and a concentration of injuries. I am not sold on Slot as a coach but this brainless stuff when both right back, Isak and Hugo have missed consiserable time and the squad has been fatigued. If failure is his fault entirely ..is last season's success entirely his doing?

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@A_Andersen_ @Rory_Bond @TheJJTEra This boy Andreas' negativity is draining..have to unfollow for now

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@briankith @xGPhilosophy Exactly that

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@justdammyyy @sanele_sage Well said

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@LFCLaurie Salah complained in November when he was not in the squad and benched..not that we were losing..Are you dense?

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@MelissaReddy_ Absurd fangirl stuff. Thought you were a journalist?

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@A_Andersen_ @sanele_sage Ah I see. So you must reside on Liverpool to support LFC now. Got it.

[Brian @CFCMJordan]

It's an interesting situation with Arne Slot at Liverpool because I genuinely do think it would be harsh to sack him — and I've maintained that stance all week.

Football is a game of fine margins and the margins against Slot this season have been more than fine.

At the end of the day, what actually matters is whether the players still believe in him or not.

That's something only people inside the club truly know. You can't just look at bad results and automatically conclude that players are downing tools or the coach has lost the dressing room.

It's similar to what happened with Maresca at Chelsea.

Performances were poor, results were horrible and the intensity had clearly dropped — but when he left, the players were crushed by it. Many still are. So clearly the dressing room still believed in him despite what people on the outside thought they were seeing.

Slot won the Premier League in his first season — by quite a margin. This is now his second season and it's not going nearly as smoothly, but they're still very likely to qualify for next season's UCL.

Now compare the context around both managers.

Maresca left Chelsea pacing just north of 50 points.

He didn't have a goalkeeper capable of consistently playing out from the back. Colwill got injured. The CB situation became a mess. Midfield lacked physicality. Winger depth was poor. Injuries were completely out of control.

Now look at Slot's Liverpool.

Likely finishing around 60 points.

Alisson having his worst season at the club. Horrible CB depth and Konate having completely lost his head. No RB options. No real LW solution. Lost Diaz, TAA, Jota and Darwin. Salah's form dropping massively after losing the partner he'd built chemistry with for years down that right-hand side — while also needing to build new relations with an almost entirely reshaped attack. Midfield already planned to be addressed this summer.

And then you had the Isak/Ekitike situation where they seemingly couldn't stay fit at the same time.

So why is it that when Maresca left Chelsea people were saying Chelsea made a mistake by not backing him — but with Slot it's suddenly "he needs to be sacked" and "it's all his fault"? He literally won the Premier League last season.

This season he's overseeing a rebuild and Liverpool's recruitment — which isn't on Slot — simply hasn't been good enough.

Personally, I still think Liverpool are more likely to stick with him than sack him — and I actually think that decision could end up being justified.

The only thing that really changes the equation is if he's genuinely lost the dressing room.

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@deankarrachef @eddiegibbs @SkySportsNews "I don't think he absolved himself" Your comment betrays the lack of conviction in your argument. I respect the polite engagement that said..family can agree to disagree. YNWA

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

We agree. "No one is better than the other". Logically them if Salah is going to hold Slot to account publicly for some failing to idemtity ..then he ALSO should apologise to us for his poor form. He has 1 more goal.than Van Dijk. Hasnt done that but done plenty of posts about being benched and Klopp nostalgia.

[Footy Surgeon @Pabhspringer]

@Prussian777 @eddiegibbs @SkySportsNews So Salah hasnt isolated himself?