Arne Slot went ‘a bit mad’ as he fielded the Liverpool kids in defeat to Crystal Palace and the next three games could decide his future.
Meanwhile Arsenal won without a set piece and Mikel Arteta played a load of Englishmen as a Rwandan defends their shirt sponsor.
Send your thoughts on everything and anything to theeditor@football365.com.
Slot ‘going a bit mad’
At the beginning of the season multiple websites (including this) had Liverpool’s as one of the strongest squads. Despite the obvious lack in depth defensively. Except that wasn’t the only hole in the squad.
Even with £400 million spent that squad looked incredibly thin.
This was exposed by Slot going a bit mad and playing 4 kids in the starting line up and chucking another 3 on while they were loosing.
I’d say those 7 kids who had played their first competitive game of football for the club, loosing at Anfield 3-0 may not be the best foundations for their future careers.
Either way it’s all very funny, sorry ‘pool fans, but the number of neutrals you think love your team is very thin on the ground. Maybe even thinner than your squad. Long may this losing streak continue.
Will (Schadenfreude, tasty tasty schadenfreude)
READ MORE: Arne Slot makes Liverpool kids part of the misery in sacking footnote
Lose three and gone?
Villa (H), Real Madrid (H), Manchester City (A)
If Slot’s Liverpool lose all three is he gone?
It’s incredible to do so much as ask the question, let alone consider it given he managed the Club to a league title just five months ago.
Beat Villa at the weekend and Slot gets a welcome reprieve.
Lose… well, buckle up for the visit of Real and a trip to the Etihad.
Sean Peter-Budge, Melbourne
Losing to Palace ‘the smart option’
People are saying that Slot should have named a strong Liverpool line-up to win and create that winning momentum. But that didn’t work after Frankfurt, did it? And if they had won, the reward would have been another game against Arsenal -which no one can see Liverpool winning. And, hard though it is to imagine, what if Liverpool’s strongest team had been on the pitch and lost last night? Confidence would have been even lower and all the players would be more tired going into the game against Villa. So no, thanks. At this point, with the team in such a state, giving Salah and co the evening off was the smart option.
Paul in Brussels (Slot in)
Arsenal for the English
I understand the narrative will rightly focus on the concerning drop in standards following Arsenal’s failure to score from a set piece this evening, but I thought it was worth noting they started with six English players aged 15, 17, 18 & 19 and a couple of old gits at 27 & 28.
Then they brought another two off the bench aged 24 & 26… with both scorers coming from the academy. Were it not for an injury I dare say another 23-year-old fully fledged England international would’ve got minutes too.
I don’t really intend on making a wider point here but that’s eight English players who featured, all of whom directly impacted the game or are already established top level performers, with another soon to return.
It feels like it’s been a while since that could be said.
James, Kent.
READ MORE: Chelsea summer signing arrives as Arsenal star makes history: Carabao Cup round-up and draw
No set pieces
The world has gone mad, Arsenal allowed shots on target AND scored 2 open play goals, not a set piece in sight
Andrew Goonerabroad Brown
A Rwandan on Visit Rwanda
I’ve seen a few comments in the mailbox (and a lot on social media) about Arsenal’s partnership with Rwanda for the visit Rwanda campaign which has been running for quite a while now. There has been a lot of negativity around it for a while and a lot of Arsenal fans would rather not have that on the sleeve. Rwanda’s human rights record and it’s involvement in the Congo conflict is usually the focal point of the criticism .
I’m a Rwandan who has lived in Kigali (the capital) for well over 20 years. I’m not an Arsenal fan-infact I dislike them quite a bit-but I feel quite a bit of pride when I see my country represented this way. I’ve followed the discussion about this quite closely and the debate about the sponsorship while based on understandable criticism makes me a bit uncomfortable.
You have to understand we are still a very poor country- tiny, landlocked and without substantial mineral resources and we basically had to restart the country from zero in 1994 after the genocide. The country has tried a lot of things to turn itself around but considering the reach of the Premier League, it makes absolute sense from Rwanda’s perspective to invest a lot of money in that kind of initiative on the road to becoming fully self-sufficient (we relied heavily on foreign aid and grants till fairly recently). Even just getting people to understand that Rwanda isn’t still some kind of war-torn hellhole is a victory in itself-I was in the UK about 10 years ago and most people I met thought Rwanda was still at war.
Criticism of the Rwandan Government is as I said earlier is understandable-a lot of it is fair although there is some misrepresentation and a lot of nuances that are missing but I don’t want to get into that now. However I have to ask- what are we as a country allowed to do? Are we not allowed to benefit from a sponsorship campaign because the Government will also benefit? Should companies not invest here because of the actions of the Government? Should people not be encouraged to visit? Should we just stay in our lane until everyone is satisfied with our political arrangements?
At the end of the day Arsenal isn’t sponsoring a state company (it is overseen by a government agency but it’s an official tourism campaign so that’s to be expected). We aren’t renaming the stadium to Visit Rwanda or anything along those lines-it’s an invitation to visit or invest in a country that’s been to hell and back and it’s an attempt to change perceptions about Rwanda. Granted there is no obligation for any Arsenal fan to care about us but again I have to ask- what are we allowed to do and when should we be allowed to do what other companies and nations are allowed to do? Should Rwanda be seen as just the sum total of the actions of its Government and nothing else?
Turiyo Damascene
Kigali, Rwanda
Too much change for Man Utd love
Signing players is great isn’t it. Fans love it. There’s the excitement around the addition, the improvements or changes we hope they’ll bring and we get behind that player and defend them in the face of inevitable abuse from opposing fans. It’s part of what being a supporter is; defending complete strangers from complete strangers.
But there reaches a point where too much change too often is just tiring, even if you – like me – like change. Especially when you see those relatively recent new players being ditched off by an even newer manager and replaced by yet more.
That’s how I feel right now, have felt for months in fact. Maybe I’m alone in this, maybe not.
As fans, it seems we are just expected to U-turn on a player we liked, defended, supported or transfer it all to the new ones just because a new manager – that you’re also supposed to transfer your support to, even if you don’t like them – doesn’t fancy them. How many times in a short space of time can you seriously be expected to do that without developing emotional exhaustion or mental illness?
It’s like being invested in a relationship only to unexpectedly break up and then immediately bounce back into the next one with the same level of investment. Doing that would be considered fairly sociopathic, wouldn’t it? If your buddy was doing that every year, you’d take the piss or advise them to maybe not dive in quite so keenly or so soon.
So this is where I am at, in case you wondered why I hadn’t written in. I don’t care about United any more, or the players bar a few I’ve still got that attachment too (De Ligt, Mainoo and Yoro are pretty much the only exceptions). I don’t care if we somehow win the title, or get relegated. Too many changes to players, to managers, to goddamn narratives. I can’t switch up my support or from one to the next this many times so quickly, and (maybe fortuitously) virtually all the players that haven’t been pushed out – yet – are the ones I detest. I can’t support decisions I don’t agree with and I reject the demand that I do.
So, so long mailbox and BTL, at least for a little while.
Badwolf
READ MORE: Carragher and Ratcliffe force-fed humble pie by reborn Casemiro
Fun to watch Man Utd?
I’ve supported Man Utd since I was 6 or 7 and I am now 41. When I lived in the UK up until the age of 27, I watched any game I could. That number has gone up every year since moving to the US, with 3pm Saturday games being available, and Utd always getting broadcast top billing over any other team. I watched the Europa games, I watched the pre-season games. I spent about $500 to watch the Utd-Wrexham, San Diego farce of a pre-season match a couple of years ago.$500 to watch “Manchester Utd” as advertised, to actually watch Manchester Utd under 21’s. The biggest name playing was Johnny Evans. Even Ten Hag wasn’t there. He was with the entire actual first team squad in Las Vegas to play Borussia Dortmund the next day.
I’ve read football365 most days since around 2009. I subscribe to the Athletic and listen to a few Utd podcasts. It’s fair to say the worse Utd has got, the more I’ve invested my time in them.
I’ve grown to appreciate the success of the Ferguson years more and allow the loss and poor performance synonymous with recent times to affect me less. I’ve always tried to remain optimistic, able to see enough improvements in one first half performance against Palace to convince me Ten Hag is still the man to succeed. Or that Joshua Zirkzee is one of the most naturally gifted footballers you’ll see and has the makings of a Di Canio level fan cult hero if given the time and opportunity, which I sadly believe won’t be at Old Trafford.
There have been some notable ups during that time but the noticeable difference that I felt during the Brighton game, was that for the first time in what felt like an eternity, it was really fun to watch Utd. The game was fun, the players were fun to watch, they looked like they were having fun, the crowd was having fun. It was fun. So much of Utd’s last decade hasn’t just been about poor results but dull, uninspiring, boring performances to accompany those poor results.
There have been glimmers of fun before but they have faded quickly so I am cautious. However, I am now looking forward to the next game, not anxious about it. That’s been a while. I think we should win. That’s been a while too. I think we should get at least a point from Spurs, although with their up and down home form, a win is not unreasonable. It’s been a very long time since I thought we could beat two teams in a row, let alone five.
But, for the last few games, the performances of Mbuemo, Cunha, Casemiro, Bruno, Sesko, Lammens, de Ligt, Yoro and Amad in particular have all been very good, and are only improving. I’m not predicting titles or champions league just yet, but if following Man Utd is at least fun again I’ll be celebrating. And whilst my previous prediction about Ten Hag was proven wrong, it feels like there is more to grab onto this time. We’ve seen noticeable and repetitive actions and an adaptability to game style generate success in successive games against teams that can be described as decent or better. If that isn’t progress from the pig shit we were served up last season then I don’t know what is.
Matt.
Fixing a Premier League ‘in trouble’
Watching the Premier League it looks in trouble. The quality and style of football across the league is tedious and it’s turning people off, and it it’s like watching the 3 little pigs, huffing and puffing to blow your house down. All sides can be set up and coached to sit deep and look for a corner, long throw or free kick into the area to nick a goal and hang on.
Teams are so well drilled that on top of their game football has descended into Sunday morning mashup. Anywhere near goal and the cry of ‘Stick it in the mixer’ seems to the the objective of teams. Big centre forwards, long ball, long thrown in’s. Hutchinson, Delap etc would make a come back.
But what is the answer, what rules could be introduced to reward attacking impetus. Maybe a draw should not be awarded any points, would make for some interesting Jeopardy.
Thoughts?
P Didi he not
Arsenal F365ers are alright
My mail, for all intents and purposes, was meant to highlight the difference between Arsenal(football) fans in social media and those in the f365 ‘realm’ (if there is such a thing).Arsenal fans in f365 are mostly defensive(asking why their team is being criticized for simply winning) or cautious (not being boastful of their wins knowing that the league is unpredictable and far from over).
(Stolen from the m*****-please forgive me)
I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I realized how much time I spend here.
I hate social media. It’s the smell, I feel saturated by it, and Everytime I fear I have been infected by it. I hate the ultra woke guys trying to be ‘cool’, the highly sensitive people who sound like they would commit genocide just because you got their name wrong. I feel the greatest cringe in my stomach when I read about a particular country which has the most arsenal fans on X and the vile that is out there masquerading as “football debate”.
I was simply asking about these arsenal fans who were apparently bragging here on f365, because even if they’re not the beautiful bride of days past, they’re still light years ahead of the rest.
Jamo, Nairobi.
Coach initials
Once again, the mailbox delivers with the big questions of the day, it’s why I keep coming back!
In answer to A, LFC, Montreal’s question, I thought the initials were on the kit to make it easier to sort the laundry?
It’d be better than having to sew name tags onto the labels like I do with my kids’ PE kits…
This is a discussion that could lead to a dedicated standalone mailbox with more hot takes than Liverpool’s most recent loss!
Andy (MUFC)
