Arne Slott has a week to keep his job at Liverpool, according to Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher.
Liverpool are in their worst run of form for 71 years since Wednesday’s 4-1 Champions League defeat to PSV at Anfield, giving Slott’s side their ninth defeat in 12 games.
The Premier League champions, who sit 12th in the table after 12 games, travel to West Ham on Sunday (live on Sky Sports) before games against promoted teams Leeds and Sunderland.
Former Liverpool defender Carragher warned in a column for the Telegraph: “Anything less than seven points would make an already untenable situation untenable.”
“Arn Slott has a week’s work to do,” Carragher wrote in a scathing review of his former club.
“No matter how well-intentioned the manager may be, Liverpool Football Club cannot tolerate the decline in standards that we have seen over the past three months.
“No one knows better than me how much this reality hurts everyone associated with my old club. Liverpool are not willing to sack a coach, especially one who has brought them great success.
“After Slott won the Premier League in his first season, it seemed like he too was destined for a long stay on Merseyside. Now, just six months later, he’s hanging on.”
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Carragher accused Slott of making tactical adjustments this season that had taken the title winners in a direction “that is not in Liverpool’s winning tradition”.
The former Reds defender said the Reds were trying to dispel the “myth” that the Reds were “supposed to be an all-out attacking team” without “fearing the consequences of being gung-ho”, citing the fact that Liverpool’s great teams were built on strong defence.
“It felt strange on the first day of the season and that’s what has led to the confusion we have now,” Carragher said of Slott’s tactical changes that resulted in Liverpool losing three games in a row by three or more goals for the first time since December 1953.
Carragher is in disbelief that Liverpool spent around £440m in the summer to field an “unbalanced squad” and believes they made a mistake in signing Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike for big sums.
“It’s like betting on two horses in the same race,” he added. “You don’t buy a striker for £80m and then two weeks later buy another striker for £125m, because if you’re competing for the same position, only one of you can win. That doesn’t work.
“That mistake was compounded by their failure to pay the money needed to sign Marc Guehi. Liverpool could lose more than £100m to gain another £10m, as they will not be able to play in next season’s Champions League unless they sign at least one centre-back in January.”
“If Slott is still in command by then, he’ll have started some recovery.
“As for the next opponent, he could not have chosen a better match order to regain his confidence and save himself. But if the situation worsens further and the manager cannot find an answer, the club will have no choice but to find someone else who can do it.”
Cara: Liverpool glimpse future without key trio
Immediately after the PSV defeat, Carragher said Slott’s position was not untenable, but warned that Liverpool could still see glimpses of their future without Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson.
“Liverpool are not a club to make redundancies,” Carragher said as a pundit for CBS Sports.
“Liverpool is different from almost every club in European football where the manager is king and the manager gets time. Liverpool have never sacked a manager who won the league. Never in their history. They’ve been gone for a few years and then resigned.”
“When I spoke to Liverpool supporters after losing at home to Nottingham Forest at the weekend, I couldn’t believe people were talking about the manager’s job and that’s only going to increase now.”
Alexander Isak (left) has had a nightmare start to life at Liverpool after making a British record summer move.
“I’m always the guy who follows the manager because I’m angry with the players, I’m really angry with the players. But when you get to the point where I always use the word ‘intolerable’ with any manager at any club, I feel like I can’t go on anymore.
“Personally as a manager I’m not there yet, but I know a lot of our supporters will be.”
This season, Liverpool’s aging spine was exposed when Van Dijk conceded a penalty for a handball against PSV and Salah failed to score or assist again in the absence of goalkeeper Alisson.
Carragher believes other players in the squad have not stepped up.
“This is probably a snapshot of Liverpool’s future when Mo Salah leaves, Virgil van Dijk leaves and Alisson leaves,” he said.
“In 2018, Liverpool began their journey to becoming a great team under Klopp, and Slott arrived seven years later.
“The catalyst for Liverpool right from that start was Alisson, Van Dijk and Salah. Alisson hasn’t played much now because he’s had a lot of injuries. But what you’re looking at now is Van Dijk, he’s not the same player. And Salah seems to have lost his footing.”
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“I don’t like to criticize them, and I think some of the criticism they’ve had of them as players this season has been harsh. You always look for the leaders of your team to step up when things aren’t going well.
“Now I’ve been criticizing Salah off the pitch. I want him to come out tonight and give an interview and tell the Liverpool supporters about what the players are going to do, what’s going on in the dressing room and give the supporters hope that things will get better. I don’t like criticizing them on the pitch because what they’ve done is definitely legendary and especially with Salah he just lost his legs.”
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“Van Dijk can’t help other players right now. He has to help himself. That means he’s an ordinary centre-back, like I was at a certain stage. So maybe he’s not superhuman now, but they’ve been that good for the football club.”
“I’m watching the other players too. Step up. Are you only going to play well when they’re playing well, or only when they’re carrying you? Their last season was substandard, and the other players were enjoying wins in the league. And they’re all league champions.”
“They’ve put it on their resume, which is great, but where are they when they’re not there? Where are the other players? Where are the other players? That’s why I’m angry about talking about the coach, but it’s inevitable and anything can happen.”
“However, given the players and their current performance, that is not acceptable to Liverpool Football Club.
“I thought a little bit last season, are some of them good enough players to win the biggest trophy for Liverpool? I saw them at Newcastle in the Carabao Cup. I saw them away last season against PSG. It was a terrible performance and they have been carried by some of the best players in the club’s history.”
