After losing three-consecutive games for the first time under Arne Slot, Jamie Carragher has told the Dutchman that he may have to copy Real Madrid to solve his current problem at Liverpool.
Slot points out “small margins” in Chelsea defeat
Last-gasp defeat against Crystal Palace saw the cracks begin to appear, but that could have been put down to a bad day at the office rather than a pending problem. Defeat in midweek against Galatasaray then sparked some uncomfortable questions, before Chelsea’s late winner handed Slot his biggest problem yet as Liverpool manager.
After spending £400m in the summer, the Reds have looked a shadow of the Premier League champions that they became last season. Milos Kerkez, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong have all endured particularly slow starts, whilst long-term stars such as Ibrahima Konate, Mohamed Salah and Alexis Mac Allister have failed to reach the levels they’re known for at Anfield. It has been an exposing seven days for Liverpool.
“Last season we lost against Chelsea as well. Stamford Bridge is always difficult. We were very close to a result. Small margins. As I said at Galatasaray, we had a one-vs.-one then they get a penalty. We concede in extra, extra time against Palace. And then today they score a goal that could go at either end.”
“After we scored 1-1 it went our way and I think I was waiting for us to score the second. Decision-making could’ve been better, last 10-15 minutes was end-to-end.
“We arrived in their 18-yard box with [Andy] Robertson, we couldn’t control the ball but again it’s fine margins like it’s been for as long as I’ve been here.” (Slot on Chelsea defeat)
It’s now a big couple of weeks for Slot, who must solve his side’s current problems in the international break before welcoming Manchester United to Anfield. To do exactly that, Carragher has told the former Feyenoord boss that he may need to copy Real Madrid.
Carragher tells Slot to copy Real Madrid as problem emerges
Having his say on Liverpool’s current form, Carragher told Slot that he may have to copy Real Madrid to solve the “problem” of getting all his star men in the same, thriving team. The former centre-back even suggested that the Dutchman could need to become the “ultimate Real Madrid manager” after the Reds’ Galactico-esque summer.
Carragher said on The Overlap: “Because it’s being a Real Madrid summer in terms of buying big players, does Slot almost need to be like the ultimate Real Madrid manager? And I always think of Ancelotti, and I feel like Ancelotti every summer, you’d almost be thinking, ‘what’s he going to do with that?’
“Even last season there was, ‘how can he get Mbappe and Vinicius in the same team?’ But even go back to his AC Milan teams, or his Real Madrid teams, that was his greatest strength as a manager, he’d find a way whatever system, and he’d just get the best players on the pitch where they wanted to play and almost do it for the players.”