Jamie Carragher believes Arne Slott’s job is in jeopardy if Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League this season.
Slott led Liverpool to the title last season, spending £450m in the summer, and started the season with five wins in a row, but their form plummeted with five defeats in their next six games, ending their hopes of winning the title.
Liverpool now face a battle for Champions League qualification after suffering their first defeat in 11 games against Bournemouth on Saturday, leaving them sixth in the Premier League table, one point behind fifth-placed Chelsea and two points behind fourth-placed Manchester United.
Carragher has major concerns about Liverpool’s ability to finish in the top five.
“If we won the league last season and spent as much money as Liverpool and we don’t qualify for the Champions League, I don’t think we have legs to stand on,” he said on Monday Night Football.
“What really worries me about Liverpool in terms of Champions League qualification is the three big things that stand out in the current Premier League: set-pieces, counter-attacking football and playing against low blocks.
“Liverpool can’t deal with any of them. What we’re looking at is a Premier League team that’s not fit for the Premier League.”
“When you start looking at Manchester United and Chelsea’s performance in recent weeks, you start to see that Liverpool could actually finish outside of the Champions League. I’m really worried about them.”
“When you start worrying about qualifying for the Champions League next season, that’s when you think there’s a completely different proposition when you’re talking about the manager’s job. That’s completely different for me.”
“If you’re talking about not winning the league, not being able to challenge for the league, it’s collective responsibility and Liverpool can’t win the league every year.
“Going from being champions to not being in the Champions League, spending £450m and having the highest wage bill in the Premier League, which is usually the biggest factor in determining where you sit in the league, I think you have serious doubts.”
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Premier League Bournemouth vs Liverpool highlights
Cara: Liverpool should sign a defender this month but don’t panic buy
Carragher said Liverpool should bring forward any potential summer signings for the defender into this transfer window, but should not buy in a panic.
Virgil van Dijk is the only senior centre-back available for the slot and will play alongside Wataru Endo after Joe Gomez was forced off injured in the first half against Bournemouth, while Ibrahima Konate has missed the last two games due to personal issues.
Liverpool missed out on signing Marc Guehi last summer and he has since joined Manchester City, leaving the Reds short on options.
“Liverpool’s policy has always been to wait for the players we want. We’re not going to panic,” Carragher said.
“Liverpool are lacking at the back and if they have to pay a little extra for the players they want in the summer then I would bring it forward.
“I’m not interested in signing a player that Liverpool aren’t completely convinced of.
“Apart from that summer, Liverpool’s track record in the transfer market over the last seven or eight years has been pretty good, but this summer it doesn’t look that good.
“I still support them to make the right decision and the right decision is to buy a defender. If Virgil van Dijk gets injured, the season will be cancelled.”
“Maybe they’re up to something, but I don’t want people to panic and buy.”
Slots: Liverpool have only themselves to blame – plus the wind, fixtures and injuries
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Gary Neville believes Liverpool are weakening both offensively and defensively and has warned they will lose the credibility they earned last season if results do not improve.
Speaking after the match, Liverpool manager Slott said that Liverpool had only themselves to blame for their 3-2 defeat against Bournemouth, citing wind, crowds and injuries as reasons for the loss.
The defeat came three days after the Reds defeated Marseille 3-0 away in the Champions League. Despite Slott saying in his post-match press conference that “we only have ourselves to blame”, the Reds manager was quick to criticize the short turnaround between games, which led to players “running out of energy” on Saturday.
“That probably sums up our season. Every time we do something special, no matter how we concede, we concede. We only have ourselves to blame,” he said.
Slott added: “I think it’s fair to say they could have made it 3-2 a little earlier. Some of our players ran out of energy, but you can’t criticize them for that.”
“Two days ago we had to play an away game in Europe. We are the only team to play the Champions League in two days.”
Slott also defended Van Dijk when asked about his mistake in scoring the opening goal, agreeing that the wind played a role.
He said: “It’s not entirely fair for Virgil to take the blame for the first goal. You could see throughout the game how big the wind was. He wasn’t the only one struggling with the wind.”
“The second goal was when we were down 10 points. After the first goal, Joe Gomez had to be sent off. He wanted to try and I thought he could, but he couldn’t.
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Jamie Redknapp doubled Bournemouth’s lead by criticizing the time Liverpool took to replace Joe Gomez while the defender was injured as “amateurish”.
“I tried to scream at them to throw the ball out, but we were very comfortable. When we lost, it was the other way around. But even if we were down by 10 points, the way we conceded that goal, especially not because we were down by 10 points.
“It’s just a winger who surprised the full-backs in a situation where he could have done better.”
Mr. Slott continued. “I have to give credit to the players. Even though we lost 2-0, we showed the mentality and fitness to turn things around against one of the fittest teams in the league. And they only have to play once a week.”
“That’s not an excuse. Clubs like Liverpool are used to playing three games a week, but we mainly play with the same players.
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Slott talks about why he wants to keep Andrew Robertson at Liverpool
“Last season we didn’t have three long-term injuries. As you can see in the lineup, I decided not to play Hugo (Ekitike). It’s not because I don’t like him.”
“That’s because we have a No. 9 that we can use in the coming weeks and months. We have to manage his minutes because there are so many games to play.”
