Liverpool and Arne Slot are boring. That was the argument raised on the radio on the way home from Anfield on Tuesday night. Actually?
Leader of the group stage of the Champions League with a perfect record of seven victories in seven. Six points ahead with one less match at the top of the Premier League. To a victory of a Capabao Cup final and still in the FA Cup. Bored. Actually?
Try telling fans who witnessed a 2-0 victory over Real Madrid, 15 times king of Europe, a convincing victory over the current English champion Manchester City, a 3-0 shame for Manchester United in Old Trafford, which Your team is boring.
What part of scoring the victory goal in the 91st minute in Brentford last Saturday, which led the Bees coach, Thomas Frank, to label them as the “best team in the world,” is boring? What part of winning Tottenham 6-3 or see Mohamed Salah break records scorers every week is boring?
If any of those things are bored, then maybe football is not your sport.
Ok, Slot's style is more patient and controlled than the Greepressing 'Heavy Metal' by Juren Klopp. This was clear in the first training of the Dutchman and is not under discussion. But it is also more sustainable and, if it gives results, it is entertaining for the fans of the Reds.
Slot's have won 26 of their 33 games this season and have options to reach quadruple
Darwin Núñez's late double to achieve a crucial victory over Brentford last week was far from boring
Slot Liverpool is less exciting than with Jurgen Klopp, but it is a winning formula
On Friday, Slot was asked if he preferred patience in a dizzying style and said: “That is difficult for fans and also for my father as a fan.” When I call it after a game, he says: “Ah, it wasn't as exciting as other Liverpool games” when he saw the match against Lille.
“I had to try to explain: these games can be easily lost if you start forcing all kinds of difficult balls, but you do not always agree with me. As a coach I am very happy with our performance against the Lille.
“I remember that Curtis Jones tried to play, from the midline, a ball that had a little risk and we lost it and counterated us. So that is the risk you run if you play against a low block team.
'Nottingham Forest is probably the best in the league if you play these “stupid balls” (I call them stupid balls) that my father would love to see us play a little more. That is the risk that they believe many more opportunities.
“And it is a difficult balance between assuming the risk and granting a lot or having control and not creating so much.” It is a balance that we have to find and I understand that it is difficult for fans who come to the stadium see us win. Hopefully it is also good to score many goals in an exciting game, but for that two teams are needed. “
The statistics support it. OPTA data suggests that the general trend in Liverpool is a slower movement of the ball (measured in the direct speed of attack movements in the field, which is on average 1.75 meters per second (3.9 mph) low Slot compared to 1.93 (4.3 mph) in the Klopp final last year.
There has been a drop in “high ball losses”, which were a characteristic of Klopp style, suggesting that they are more methodical inside and outside the ball. And the low Slot attack lasts 11.7 seconds, slightly higher than low Klopp during his mandate.
However, clean play for Slot: the fact that your child is an elite coach clearly does not make it immune to criticism, even after a historical beginning in Anfield who has contributed 26 victories in his first 33 games and a real opportunity to achieve a quadruple.
Liverpool defeated Real Madrid, 15 times European champion, and is the leader of the League.
Liverpool comfortably defeated the current champion Manchester City last month in Anfield
The head of the Reds knows that his measured approach is giving results, and will not change just to please the nightlife speakers who try to force debates … OA his father!
Football in the 2020 has become much more robotic. Let's use Pep Guardiola and Manchester City as the following example. At its best, the City has been the best team on the planet of the last decade in terms of incessant victories and entertainment value.
If the trainers had had the opportunity to see Guardiola, the best coach of his generation, they should have taken advantage of it. But what many may not notice is that Catalan caused the City to be more boring – or perhaps more sensible and pragmatic – in their search for perfection.
In his first seasons, as the 2017-18 campaign of the 100 points, the City attacked, attacked, attacked. There were rapid extremes that were kept open with two 10 numbers in the midfield: David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne.
Now, although Savinho seems to be the first option on the left, Guardiola often seems to prefer inverted ends, which slightly slows down the game.
In the past, he looked good, but his style left them open, especially in Europe. They remained painful defeats in the Champions League, all marked by being undone in the counterattack, at the hands of Monaco, Liverpool, Tottenham, Lyon and Chelsea.
Then Guardiola changed. Technically gifted extremes arrived that, with space to exploit, control and maintain possession. Think of Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish.
At the other end, the sides were removed their license to attack and they were asked to be surrounded. The four defenders who won the 2023 champions League final against Inter Milan were Manuel Akanji, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake: four central defenses by trade.
Pep Guardiola has changed its philosophy and now favors the extremes that move inside
The Arsenal of Mikel Arteta succeeded using four baseline plants
Do you remember the tens of thousands of City fans in Istanbul that night that it was a cautious and boring party in general? At all. Did they care that their tactics made them less likely to defeat teams for five or six goals? At all.
The Arsenal of Mikel Arteta did the same and, often, when the injuries allow it, the Spanish plays with four central media, turning Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori into open players.
Football in general is less and less exciting for fans. Several factors, such as the introduction of the VAR, have influenced, and the fact that today it would cost you to go to an elite level party for less than 60 also makes the profitability of your investment much lower.
Almost every Saturday, the championship match at lunch time in Sky Sports will be better seen, in terms of goals and drama, than the premier league offer in TNT Sports. Lower league football looks less like a chess match and has more uncertainty.
However, in the era of social networks, negativity about almost everything is common among fans. This extends to the best teams. Liverpool, to continue with them, is in good shape in England and Europe, according to the tables, but some followers still complain.
Every Friday, the answers to my publications on social networks are flooded with fans who complain about the questions that ask Slot. “Why did nobody ask him why our stopped ball moves are so horrible?” He said yesterday. “Why don't you report the owners about the lack of signings?”
Arne Slot is more than happy to face criticism, even those of his own father!
Fenway Sports Group, the owners, are not holy, and fans are part of reason when thinking that one or two new faces this month could strengthen their search for four trophies.
But some of them want to answer: “Liverpool is the leader of the League, friend, it is not in a battle for the descent.” Stop complaining and simply enjoy it. '
In summary, look at Ange Postecoglou. He prefers his Bang-Bang-Bang attack style and Tottenham occupies the 15th place in the table. Slot is more measured but his team is gradually becoming a winning machine.
There is nothing boring in that.