I Agree With Rooney – Slot Needs To Stop The Excuses

I have to say, I agree with Wayne Rooney’s comments about Arne Slot and the excuses around recovery time between games. After Liverpool’s defeat to Brighton, Slot spoke about the short turnaround between the Galatasaray game and the Saturday lunchtime kickoff, suggesting the players were tired and didn’t have enough recovery time.

But like Rooney said, football has always had busy schedules. When top teams are playing in Europe, domestic cups and the league, this is normal. In fact, if anything, players today are better looked after than ever before with sports science, recovery teams, nutritionists and huge squads.

Rooney made a very good point when he said that when you are playing games regularly, you actually build momentum. Players would often rather play games than train all week, and many former players say the same thing. So using recovery time as a reason for poor performances is something many fans don’t want to hear.

Yes, the quick turnaround between Galatasaray and Brighton was not ideal, and it probably did have some effect. But it cannot explain the performance levels. Brighton outran Liverpool, created more chances and looked like the team with more energy and more desire. That is the worrying part for Liverpool fans.

The bigger issue is that this is not the first time this season Liverpool have looked second best physically. We have seen multiple games where the opposition have run more, sprinted more and simply worked harder. That cannot always be blamed on recovery time.

This is why Rooney’s comments will probably resonate with a lot of Liverpool fans. Supporters don’t want excuses, they want solutions. They want to see energy, pressing, aggression and players fighting for the shirt.

Managers always have to protect their players in public, and Slot is probably trying to do that, but at the same time fans want accountability when performances are not good enough.

Liverpool still have a lot to play for this season, but the performances need to improve quickly. Because talking about tiredness and recovery will not change results on the pitch. Only performances will.

Jamie (The Kopite View)