Has football moved away from the Pep Guardiola style so beloved of Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca. Plus, Liverpool fans want more credit.
Send your views to theeditor@football365.com
The Pep way is over
Pepball is dead and if anyone doubted it the Arsenal v Chelsea game at the weekend proved it. Liverpool, Nottm Forest, Newcastle and even Man City, at times, have adapted to playing with long balls and direct attacks when necessary. Pep’s disciples, Arteta and Maresca, are the last to get the message.
Possession as an end in itself does not win you matches, whatever statistics you want to conjure up in support of such a belief. Little things like having a competent goalkeeper, or a player who can shoot in the direction of the opposition goal now and again, do matter.
Keith Miller, Victoria, Australia
On Liverpool and Arsenal standards
Big club Liverpool: despite winning a PL title with one hand in his pocket (£8m summer spend), in his debut season, in a new league, where his three star players’ contract scenarios have become a distracting media circus; Arne Slot (£6.5m a season in salary) is getting pelters from some Scousers for losing a cup final. And is being (rightly imo) held accountable for his mistakes. Pleas being made to upgrade Jota, Darwin etc. No mention of the PGMOL Deep State, the ball, calendar year points or Hillary Clinton eating hamsters with Howard Webb in a covert Brooklyn basement bunker where they conspire to overthrow the Emirates (🙄)
To be clear in his debut season, Slot won the PL, made a domestic cup final and topped the CL group, schooling Real Madrid in the process (not quite PSV Levels, sure).
Smaller club somewhere: despite winning sod all 🥱 (21 years and counting), El Fraudo Antonio El Pulizon (£15m in salary, five year PL head-start) is lauded for “competing” with a spend of over £700m whilst winning sod all. A country mile behind debut Slot, PL dead end of February. An ashtray we are told, is in fact a precious emerald stone (note how almost no Liverpool fan tries to convince the world Darwin is “class”) and El Fraudo is “one to two players away” (presumably from a third place finish next season lol). The season has been a stonking success. War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength, NO COLLUSION!
Stewie Griffin (Arteta will spend another packet this summer over more shite, and Arsenal will win sod all, again, next season. If Saliba is smart he will accept Real Madrid’s offer. Perhaps he’ll do just that after the final whistle at the Bernabeu, after another glorious 7-1 CL away win 😉)
READ: Arsenal set for worst kind of second place: Dull and distant to Liverpool
More credit for Liverpool pleaseReading the one and done Liverpool piece I couldn’t help thinking…just what do Liverpool have to do before anyone will give them credit?
As far back as the Houllier days Liverpool success has repeatedly been dismissed. Win 6 trophies in a year? Yeah but they were all minor trophies though.
Ok… Few years later we won the big one. “Yeah but it was a one-off though.”
So a few years later we won it again. “Yeah but you haven’t won the league though.”
Ok…a year later we win the league. “Yeah but it’s only because of COVID though.”
So a few years later we win it again. “Yeah but it’s only because everyone let you win it though.”
What’s more is I keep hearing people saying Liverpool will only win the league this year. Only? Why are Liverpool the only team considered a disappointment regardless of what they win, which is everything. Unless we win a quad in which five teams all get 100 points and Liverpool get 101 while narrowly beating every single European giant in the champions league which Madrid in the final.
The standard for giving Liverpool credit is so unbelievably higher than everyone else. Slot took a team of players shaken up by the loss of our greatest manger of the modern era, to a Premier League title in his first year having spent £15m on a player who barely even plays and nothing more.
He will actually have won the Premier League spending even less than Leicester, in fact even less than anyone that ever won the Premier League. Surely that’s worth the tiniest shred of credit no?
“Yeah but only because you have Salah though..”
Yes and if we take everyone’s best players away none of them win a title, it’s a dumb argument.
Lee
READ: Ten reasons why this has been the worst Premier League season ever
…Not been on the old F365 website for a while so popped in for a look.
Greeted by the following articles:
– Could ‘exhausted’ Liverpool still blow the Premier League?
(That’s a Mailbox followed by ‘Liverpool have had ‘a f***ing great season’; lay off Arne Slot’ but carry on – Ed)
– Five fiascos that will see Liverpool lose the Premier League title to Arsenal
– What next for Liverpool? This really could be a one-and-done season for Arne Slot’s side
– Ten reasons why this has been the worst Premier League season ever (subtext: Liverpool are going to win it).
(There has been no title race; that’s largely why it’s been a terrible Premier League season – Ed)
How can I put this politely…..
I believe that is the sound of the collective faeces of opposing fans being tightly bound to the point of being throttled.
Stay classy, F365.
Andy H, Swansea
(We also have pieces on Arsenal, Manchester City, and a Mediawatch special on Newcastle, but ignore all that because Liverpool did not get enough credit in the week they played like ghosts to lose to PSG and Newcastle United – Ed)
From Quaduple Vanquishers to Slot’s Budget Bottler Mega-Flops?
Some of the coverage of Newcastle’s fully deserved League Cup triumph has been utterly nauseating. If I have to read another paragraph about multi-generational teary facetiming or selfie-swapping I am likely to be sick outside of my mouth. Did the tea-towel wearing horse-punchers shed so many tears for Jamal Khashoggi one wonders?
But I know every club has filthy dirty money stashed in the mattress somewhere, and I’m not here to p*ss on anybody’s chips (any more) – well done Toon, a fully and completely dominantly earned victory, bet it feels amazing.
Interesting views on Slot, clearly the more extreme ones are those promoted as the most likely to keep the lucrative clicks rolling in, but the fall from grace really has been quite stark hasn’t it?
From the best team in Europe, to worse than Plymouth, who drew back the veil and lifted the skirt and exposed Liverpool to a right royal rogering from every decent team we have played since then. Liverpool’s performances against PSG and the Toon were historically bad. The home loss and exit to PSG was the first time we have gone out like that after winning the first leg away. Record-breakingly abject.
Google tells us that Liverpool had a combined xG of 1.91 over both legs vs PSG’s of 4.34 – comprehensively outplayed, particularly in the first leg where we only garnered 29% possession and had two (2) shots resulting in an xG of 0.25 – both lowest markers of the season at the most important time of the season. Against Newcastle we were a similarly tepid shadow of a football vacuum – it was like we saw Joelinton and Burn were a bit big and just downed tools and gave them heading practice so they wouldn’t bully us (and then they did anyway). Pool had just the 1 shot before half-time and an xG of 0.89 for the match as a whole – Newcastle’s was 1.46 because they came prepared for a fight. Salah’s was 0.00 by the way – sign him up!
Slot’s excuse (justification? Utterly lame either way) that opponents get better the further you go through knockout competitions is laugh out loud incontinently hilarious. Maybe it is a language barrier thing but that is a risible comment – you are supposed to up your levels as well, in order to compete – not wave the white flag like Slot’s team have done.
Liverpool fans have been spoilt by Klopp’s teams always turning up and competing, if not always playing well and winning. If the last week is anything go by, Slot’s turned Klopp’s team into a contract-dodging vanishing act.
As for Slot’s tactical genius? Bringing on ALL THE ATTACKERS and hoofing it up to Big Virg as a makeshift tentpole was sub-Allardyce pub football, and a craven admission that his team had been comprehensively outfought, outmuscled and outperformed. Or that the players weren’t listening to him so he had to complete debase himself from an actual coaching perspective and just hope to blag some totally undeserved luck.
Slot referenced luck quite a bit after going out to PSG which is concerning – it’s your job to make the team better than depending on luck Arne. Also the fact that Liverpool were out-footballed by PSG and out-fought by Newcastle is doubly concerning – what are Slot’s team actually good at?
All of that said, if (and it is an if now, a big IF – the team looks shot, and Slot doesn’t trust any other players in the squad) Liverpool win the Premier League then you cannot say this season has not been a success. It’s okay to say that and acknowledge that Slot and his team have utterly soiled themselves at precisely the point when the truly elite teams tighten up the old sphincter at squeaky bum time.
Also I had similar misgivings about Klopp – think I may have called him the ultimate bridesmaid on these hallowed pages after a Europa league final schooling from Emery – and he turned out okay, so after I collect my toys I will support Slot’s revolution (he will be thrilled and relieved in equal measure no doubt) and not go full Stewie.
It looks likely that it will need to be a full revolution rather than incremental improvement too – Slot doesn’t trust this squad, hence the tiredness due to a lack of rotation – and we might need to replace the entire attack and the entire defence, depending on what happens with the Contract Three.
Maybe that’s why they haven’t been signed up – we need all of that money for a complete rebuild of the squad in line with Slot’s vision. Slot has earnt that right, IF we win the Premier League. Otherwise he will be firmly in the Eternal Bottler Mega-Flop column, and we all know how difficult it is to break out of there (Lego Pulis – arf! – wants a word). Ah transitional seasons, how I have missed thee…
Gofezo (in fairness Slot lost his first final with Feyenoord too and turned that around)
Pet peeve corner
Maybe it’s a sign of getting older but, small things are beginning to really bug me…
1. Socks rolled down. Jack Grealish claims he couldn’t get his socks over his enormous calf muscles and the habit has now stuck. Now it’s a “thing” amongst many younger players. I have heard stories that some players used toilet paper or playing cards as shinpads now. Then when they get kicked in that region, they roll around like they have been shot. If I ever got a whack on my shin, it hurt so much I wore shinpads resembling Medieval Armour. Maybe a few more players in the league like Vinny Jones may do the trick!
2. Can anyone please tell me why it is a bookable offense to remove your shirt in celebration but lifting it over your head is not? The only answer I can think of is that after seeing Ryan Giggs bare his chest, they decided small children should never be subjected to such horrors ever again!
3. Is there ANY scientific evidence that holes in your socks enable the calves to breathe? I have read a lot of literature about compression socks that AID circulation and help prevent cramp. Who is right, scientists or Twenty Something Football players. And if they are right, why don’t clubs mandate it for every player?
Anyone got other pet peeves?
Adidasmufc (Yes, I played when leather balls had laces in them!)
…I’ve wrote in about this before but it’s getting worse and it’s driving me up the wall.
I’m sick of football Hipster YouTubers, pundits and commentators saying foreign footballers names using an accent i.e. Bruno Fenarnssssh
I’m not condoning Paul Merson-esque just flat out getting pronunciation wrong, just get the pronunciation correct using your own accent
If this trend is to continue I suggest 2 things have to happen (which will highlight the stupidity and hopefully put a stop to it).Let’s get German, Spanish and French commentary teams to use a Scouse accent for TAA, a Brummie accent when saying Grealish and let’s celebrate Dan Burns week with Geordie accents.
Part 2 is to enforce the hipsters to not only use the relevant accent for British and Irish players but make them go the whole hog for every player.
Unless there’s a reason they are comfortable using a fake Portuguese accent but would never dream of using a stereotypical Korean accent for Son or full blown offensive Nigerian accent for Ola Aina?
It’s idiotic and they need called out on it.
Ryan, Whitehaven