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Ronan had been following the clash between Manchester City and Liverpool on his phone during the cup final, so we knew Liverpool had reverted to form following a two match spike against Aston Villa and Real Madrid, and were not playing well despite Giorgi Mamardashvili stopping Erling Haaland penalty. The Norwegian soon made up for that miss with a well taken header close to the thirty minute mark. With City two up by half time, Liverpool's chances were about as good as Cork's.
Even with an unfortunately and unfairly disallowed goal, Liverpool left the stadium post-match with as many points as they deserved - none. It was painful to watch. No flow, no fluency, just fumbling. Cork City played with more passion in their cup final.
One lesson Liverpool seem not to have learned is that at this level of soccer, playing with nine men is not a recipe for success, even when up against opponents who are not able to outplay them in every department like Manchester City did. Arguably, if they only field nine players rather than drain energy having nine men prop up two dead weights, the side might even fare better. More compact more controlled, no good passes thrown after bad. Mo Salah should no longer be a first choice Liverpool player. Not only has his goalscoring acumen taken a nosedive, his passing is rubbish. Simple passes that a seventy year old man could complete successfully fail to reach their intended target and end up being intercepted by the opposition. Salah has charged Liverpool through the nose for a service that he has simply failed to provide. A Guardian columnist summed the situation up:
Why is Slot playing Mohamed Salah in every game? Why is Slot continuing to do this even when the evidence is clear that this is a mistake? One that can still be fixed, but which becomes more deeply compounded with every passing week.
Florian Wirtz contributes no more than Salah. While the Egyptian has gone off the boil, the German has never even made the simmer. Every sort of excuse has been made for him but he shows no sign of improving, despite a few flashes against Madrid, seemingly hopelessly lost with not a sixpence of an idea about finding a way out. If he does not call time on his poor performances he will end up considered an infinitely worse buy than Darwin Nunez. The Uruguayan striker might not have been brilliant at striking but he could electrify a pitch and bring a touch of panache. Even with his below par performances in front of goal he was never a dead weight.
Arne Slot will at some point come under scrutiny. Suggestions that he only won last years title with the team that Klopp built are off the mark. Klopp's final year in charge saw him reign over a side that faded in every competition towards the end. That Slot got enough out of them - helped by a poor Manchester City and a hapless Arsenal - was a substantial achievement in itself. To think that he has lost that canny coaching skill almost overnight is shallow. Yet this is his team. Of all the imports he has brought to the club in the close season transfer window, Ekitike alone has performed. Alexander Isak seems to be still on strike, forgetting that his move to Liverpool was the term agreed to bring his Newcastle withdrawal of labour days to a close.
Slot cannot dismiss the possibility that as a coach he might become a one hit wonder. Liverpool seem not to be at the point where they are asking who they might replace Slot with but they must be asking if we do need to replace him who is in the running? If Slot does not get off the slippery slope the direction of travel is only down.
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