Former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher has likened his former side to a basketball team and said that head coach Arne Slot needs to “really earn his money” to fix the teething issues at Anfield this season.
A disjointed Liverpool side fell to a 1-0 defeat at Galatasaray on Tuesday night with Victor Osimhen scoring the only goal of the night from the penalty spot, their second defeat in succession after the loss to Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
“I’m not watching a top team,” Carragher told CBS Sports. “Liverpool aren’t playing football at the moment, they are playing basketball. It is just end to end and I don’t think top teams play like that.
“And they haven’t gained anything going forward but they have lost a lot defensively. I think for the manager now, last season was such a smooth ride for them, he’s now got to really earn his money.”
Liverpool struggled infront of a hostile crowd in Istanbul on Tuesday. Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
“This [defeats] has been coming. This is not a shock. And the manager needs to fix it.”
One of the Liverpool’s big-money summer signings Florian Wirtz struggled in Istanbul and is yet to register a European or league goal contribution for his new club and Carragher doesn’t believe he has justified his spot in the starting XI yet this season.
“Right now I don’t think the balance of the team is right and the obvious one that stands out is Florian Wirtz,” Carragher said.
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“He’s just not at the races at all. He’s a young boy coming into a new league — he has got plenty of time to go as a Liverpool player but right now I think he needs to come out of the team, Liverpool go back to what they were last season and then go from there and build some confidence, build some defensive solidity.
“Because right now it is a mess. It’s not the losses, it is not the defeats. This has been coming from day one.”
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