2 weeks ago
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Jamie Carragher has told Liverpool head coach Arne Slot that he must take a leaf out of Carlo Ancelotti's book as he looks to bed in all of his summer signings.
The Reds spent a lot of money during the transfer window, bringing in Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Giovanni Leoni and Giorgi Mamardashvili. Speaking on Monday, ex-Reds boss Jurgen Klopp offered his view on the massive summer spend.
The Reds committed over $100 million each to the signings of Isak, Wirtz and Ekitike, and Carragher likened the spree to the ones more familiarly seen carried out by Real Madrid over the years. Madrid has a reputation for signing at least one marquee player every year, often bringing in several of them in the same window.
Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, Carragher said: "Liverpool's transfer business was Real Madrid-like in terms of buying the best and most expensive players on the market. Arne Slot has to be a Real Madrid manager and put himself in the shoes of Carlo Ancelotti.
"Whether it was at Real Madrid, Chelsea or Milan, every summer there would be big-money signings and he had to make them work. Ancelotti was the master of that. The perfect example was winning the Champions League with Benzema and then the next year having Bellingham as the false nine.
"When you spend that type of money, the people who have spent it want to see those players on the pitch. That is a big problem for Liverpool.
"I wasn't big on Isak coming in because I thought it would be a problem after signing Ekitike. And it isn't good for Isak, looking over at the bench and seeing Ekitike. He can never relax.
"Arne Slot has got to find a way of getting the two of them on the pitch. He has to make that work.”
Isak has not hit the ground running at Liverpool, scoring just once in seven appearances for his new club, and that goal came against Championship opposition in Southampton.
Ekitike, contrastingly, has scored five times in 11 appearances for the Reds and his all-round game has generally looked far more dangerous than Isak's.
Former United striker Wayne Rooney gave his verdict on Isak's struggles on The Wayne Rooney Show, calling on Slot to selected Ekitike ahead of the Swede.
"It's so difficult when you don't have a pre-season," Rooney said of Isak, who did not play at all for Newcastle in pre-season for after going on strike to force through his move to Liverpool.
"He might've done stuff by himself but he's paying the price of it. On performances, he doesn't deserve to be playing ahead of Ekitike."
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