Jamie Carragher expects Liverpool to miss out on Champions League football for next season and that might leave it very difficult for Arne Slot to maintain his job as manager.
The Reds’ Premier League title defence has gone horribly incorrect after huge investment in the summertime as they spent £446m on seven recent players.
A 2-1 defeat to Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday was their eighth league lack of the season and leaves them sixth within the table, 17 points behind leaders Arsenal.
Their title challenge was over way back, but now they face a scrap simply to qualify for the Champions League again.
It is rather likely that a top five finish can be enough for any team to qualify for the Champions League, but Carragher doesn’t think Liverpool will have the ability to leapfrog the likes of Chelsea or Manchester United to attain that.
‘No. At once I don’t,’ the Reds legend told Sky Sports on whether he sees Liverpool making the Champions League places.
‘They might must have an enormous upturn in form. And those above them are in great form.’
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‘I feel it might be difficult to defend the manager’
Carragher feels that failure to complete in the highest five, as defending champions, could and maybe needs to be enough to see Slot lose his job in the summertime.
‘I feel it might be difficult to defend the manager or for him to remain in a job should you miss out on Champions League football, having won the title the season before,’ he said.
Liverpool were on track to win the sport on Sunday when Dominik Szoboszlai opened the scoring on 74 minutes with a shocking free-kick.
Nonetheless, 10 minutes later Bernardo Silva equalised and in stoppage time Erling Haaland converted from the penalty spot to place City back inside six points of Arsenal.
‘It’s a foul one,’ Carragher said of the Liverpool loss, which leaves them 4 points behind fifth-placed Chelsea. ‘If you have a look at the league for Liverpool, it looks like a protracted solution to get into the highest five Champions League positions.
‘There’s a niche now. You may make that up but Liverpool can have to do well within the two cup competitions to avoid wasting the season. It looks a great distance back.’
The previous England defender thinks Slot is getting his selection incorrect, with an aggressive front 4 on Sunday of Mo Salah, Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike leaving the pair of Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister unable to regulate midfield.
‘I just don’t see how they will make the Champions League positions’
While the end-to-end football this creates will work of their favour sometimes, Carragher cannot see it being reliable enough to repay within the long-term.
‘The manager has one other decision to make on the front 4,’ he said.
‘If Liverpool proceed the way in which they’re, with a front 4 and the games end-to-end, I just don’t see how they will make the Champions League positions.
‘But irrespective of what Arne Slot does, the make-up of this squad and team isn’t right. It never looks stable, they’re never on top of things.
‘There may be a protracted road ahead for Liverpool to make the Champions League places.’
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