Jamie Carragher, the ex-liverpool defender, delivered a damn assessment after the loss of Galatasaray, and insisted that the problems “come since the day” “
Structural cracks have been visible since the opening day. Two defeats in four days have removed the illusion of control and Arne Slot handed his first real test as Liverpool manager.
Liverpool shocked the field in Rams Park after a 1-0 defeat against Galatasaray, not with the anger of injustice, but with the unmistakable appearance of a team that knows that it has serious problems.
Victor Osimhen’s first half Penalty was enough to condemn the Premier League champions until their second defeat in four days, but the score hardly told the full story. The side of Arne Slot looked incoherent, defensively vulnerable and emotionally flat. In a city that contains such good memories for the club after their famous Champions League triumph from 2005, this was a sobering memory of how fast momentum can shift.
Jamie Carragher Sugarcoat doesn’t. “I don’t watch a top team,” he told CBS Sports and shook his head unbelieving. “Liverpool does not play football, they play basketball. And I told Slot during the first match of the season against Bournemouth.”
“They clearly have a fantastic manager. Laverpool last season was a top team, but also an active team, on which they scattered a little Stardust in terms of the transfers they have brought in. And they have received nothing in the future, but they have lost a lot of defensively.”
Carragher, never anyone to avoid uncomfortable truths, has been warned since August that something about this Liverpool team did not feel good. The defeats in Crystal Palace and Galatasaray have only dragged the problems to daylight.
Liverpool started the season with seven victories of seven in all competitions and was clearly at the top of the Premier League table. Everything looked good on paper. The figures told a different story.
In Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace has carved seven big opportunities that have created the most games against a Premier League team this season. Newcastle, with 10 men, bullyed Liverpool in the second half of their meeting earlier this month. Even in the victory, the control that Slot debut campaign never really appeared.
The assessment of Carragher was just as blunt as it was accurate: “They are not the losses, they are not the defeats, it is the performances. And this is from the first day. Liverpool was damaged by Newcastle in the second half of that match, and Newcastle had 10 men. That cannot happen.”
Opponents have repeatedly found joy that attack the space behind their full-backs, while the midfield too often lacked compactness and aggression that Slot’s Liverpool made such a formidable unity last season.
Slot’s Liverpool should evolve in 2024–25, not unravel. The first year of the Dutchman in England was defined by a compact, organized 4-2-3-1 system that combined tactical discipline with attacking flair.
This season the tweaks have tilted the balance too far. In an attempt to integrate Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike into the start XI, Liverpool often committed too many players in possession too early, which exposed the double pivot. Full-backs push high at the same time, while the tendency of Wirtz to roam centrally, has omitted the holes wide.
The result is what Carragher “basketball” football called football hectic, end-to-end exchanges that expose the back line to repeated pressure waves. Liverpool does not check games, they survive them.
Galatasaray could easily have scored more than once. Alisson was forced to be injured after refusing Osimhen one-on-one. It was the kind of disorganization that Liverpool thought they had left years ago.
The success of last season was built in a midfield that, although not glamorous, offered structure and security. This campaign, the injection of “Stardust” as Carragher said, has upset that balance.
The Wirtz adjustment struggle has worsened things. The young German still has to find a consistent role in the Syste System, which often float between lines without defensive support or to offer a persistent attacking threat.
The knock-on effect is that the Liverpool press has become incoherent, their counter-pressing less synchronized and their defense line is increasingly exposed. Good teams punish that relentless. Palace and Galatasaray did that.
Carragher’s message was noted:
“I think he now really has to earn his money for the manager. He did last season by winning the Premier League, but there are few problems he has to solve. It will be very interesting how he does, because he has spent a lot of money on certain players. At the moment the team’s balance is not the same.”
Slot is no stranger to tactical adjustments. His reputation was built on adaptability. But this moment feels different. This is the first real enchantment of turbulence since he took the lead, and how he responds will form Liverpool’s season.
Returning to the principles that they made champions, it can be the obvious starting point: restoring the stability of midfield, sharpening the defensive structure and the removal of players who are not yet fully integrated. That probably includes Wirtz, who has chosen Carragher:
“The obvious that stands out is Florian Wirtz, who is not at all on the races. He is a young boy who comes to a new competition and has enough time to go. But at the moment he has to come out of the team.”
The journey from Liverpool to Stamford Bridge on Saturday suddenly feels more than just a competition match.
Slot is now confronted with the kind of tactical and psychological challenge that defines eras. His first season was a triumph. His second could be formed by how quickly he repairs what is broken.
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