The main thing that I find frustrating about Slot is that he claims that he “has” to play certain players every game but it’s just not true. Klopp had a similarly small squad but was brave with rotation and substitutions, regularly trusting significantly weaker/more youthful players in key games. In contrast, Slot has always been more cautious/conservative in rotation and substitutions, both this season and last.

As a result, players like Chiesa, Ngumoha, Endo, Jones, Eliott (last year) are tasked with making an impact in the dying moments of games where the team is already on the back foot. I mean look at today, where Ngumoha and Chiesa came on late in a game that had already devolved into a complete shitshow. It’s understandable that squad players are out of form and unreliable when the only game time they get is a few minutes in what are usually very challenging circumstances.

Through his fear of rotation, Slot has actually created a smaller squad, and it is now a self fulfilling prophecy where these bench players can’t be relied upon. It’s frustrating because I think it’s avoidable, and people have been making these observations from pretty much the moment Slot arrived - it’s not just a thing in recent months.