Jamie Carragher says Arne Slot’s position is not untenable yet but reckons Liverpool are potentially seeing a glimpse of their future without Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson.
Liverpool suffered another humbling home defeat on Tuesday night, losing 4-1 to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.
It was their ninth defeat in their last 12 games which has further heaped the pressure on head coach Slot although Sky Sports’ Carragher believes his time is not up yet.
“Liverpool’s not a sacking club,” Carragher said on CBS Sports.
“Liverpool are different from almost every club in European football, where the manager is the king, the managers get time. Liverpool have never sacked a manager who’s won the league. Never, in history. After a few years they’ve gone, they’ve resigned.
“I couldn’t believe at the weekend that people were talking about the manager’s job when I spoke to Liverpool supporters after losing a home to Nottingham Forest. It’s only going to amplify now.
“I’ve always been in the camp of you stick with the manager, because I’m angry with the players, I’m really angry with the players. But it does get to a stage with any manager at any club where I always use this word, untenable, where it almost feels like it can’t go on any longer.
“I’m not quite there yet personally, in terms of the manager, but I know a lot of supporters will be.”
Liverpool’s aging spine has been exposed this season as Van Dijk conceded a penalty for handball against PSV while Salah once again failed to score or assist, with goalkeeper Alisson absent.
Carragher reckons the other players in the squad haven’t stepped up.
“This is maybe a snapshot of the future of Liverpool when Mo Salah moves on, Virgil van Dijk moves on, and Alisson moves on,” he said.
“Liverpool in 2018, under Klopp, starts this journey of being a great team and then seven years later Slot comes in.
“The catalyst for Liverpool at the very start of that run was Alisson, Van Dijk and Salah. Alisson’s injured a lot now, so he doesn’t play so much. But you’re watching Van Dijk now, not the same player, and most Salah looks like his legs have gone.
“I don’t like criticising them, and I think some of the criticism of them this season as players, has been harsh. You’re always looking for your leaders in your team to step up when things are not going well.
“Now I’ve been critical of Salah off the pitch. I want him to come out and do an interview tonight and speak to the Liverpool supporters about what the players are going to do, what’s going on in the dressing room, giving the supporters hope that things are going to improve. I don’t like criticising them on the pitch, because they’re absolutely legendary what they’ve done, and the legs have just gone, especially with Salah.
“Van Dijk now can’t help other players. He needs help himself, and that just means that he’s a normal centre-back, like I was at one stage, so maybe he’s not superhuman right now. But they’ve been that good for the football club.
“I look at some of the others. Step up. Can you only play well when they play well, or they carry you? Their seasons last season were off the scale, and everybody else enjoyed that win in the league, and they’re all league champions.
Virgil van Dijk conceded an early penalty in Liverpool’s crushing defeat
“They got it on the CV, and great, but when they’re not there, where are they? Where are the others? Where are the other players? So that’s why I get angry about talking about the manager, but it’s inevitable and something could happen.
“But in terms of the players and the way they’re performing now, that is, I mean, not acceptable for Liverpool Football Club.
“I thought this a little bit last season, are some of them good enough for Liverpool to win the biggest trophies? We saw them at Newcastle in the Carabao Cup. We saw them against PSG away from home last season. Woeful performance and they’ve been carried by some of the greatest players the club have ever had.”
Gerrard: Liverpool not in crisis yet
Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard told TNT Sports, he believes the club is not in a “crisis” yet but each edging closer.
He said: “Each defeat, especially the manner of the defeat, you become closer to the crisis. I don’t like using that because a crisis to me is a club that needs years to get back to the top.
“I don’t think Liverpool are at that point at all. They’ve still got magnificent players. This is a squad or the majority of squad that won the league four months ago. I think crisis is too strong.
“That’s not good enough. There’s no excuses for that at this football club. I think everyone knows that. But crisis is a very strong word and disrespectful to some of the players that have delivered for this football club and for the manager that’s delivered three months ago.
“If this was six months down the line, a year down the line, and we’re further away from that success, then maybe you can use a word like that. But I won’t use that word just yet.
“But you can’t deny that this team is struggling massively. They’re on a terrible run. Confidence is at an all-time low. And they just keep bleeding. They keep conceding goals. They’re wide open. And unless the manager can find answers and stability in the team, it’s going to continue.”
