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Jamie Carragher believes there is cause for significant concern at Liverpool following the Reds' second defeat of the week at the hands of Galatasaray — with a trip to Chelsea coming up next.
Arne Slot's men lost dismally at Crystal Palace at the weekend in the Premier League. It then followed that up with an error-strewn showing in Turkey in the Champions League, where Alisson Becker and Hugo Ekitike went off with injuries.
"Yeah, it is concerning, but the last two games are not concerning — I think Liverpool's full nine games this season have been very concerning," Carragher insisted while working as a pundit on CBS Sports.
"I was worried about Liverpool very early on, and I expressed that to the manager on the side of the pitch against Bournemouth in the first league game, where Liverpool ended up winning 4-2.
"I don't feel like I'm watching a top team. Liverpool aren't playing football at the moment, they're playing basketball, and it's just end-to-end, and I don't think top teams play like that.
"And as I said, I expressed that to the manager early on. He'll know that a lot better than me. He's obviously a fantastic manager. But right now, Liverpool went from a... I would call them a top team, but a workmanlike team, I would say, last season.
"They've sprinkled a little bit of stardust on it in terms of the transfers that they brought in. And they haven't gained anything going forward, but they've lost a lot defensively.
"So I think for the manager now, last season was such a smooth ride for him. He's now got to really earn his money. He did last season, won the Premier League. Unbelievable.
"It's not the defeats. It's the performances, and this has been coming from day one. Liverpool got battered by Newcastle in the second half of that game.
"Newcastle had 10 men. That can't happen. Crystal Palace at the weekend created seven big chances.
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"That's more big chances any team has conceded in the Premier League all season, and Liverpool are the champions. So this has been coming. This is not a shock for me in the last couple of games, and the manager needs to fix it."
Defensively, Ibrahima Konate was shaky again in the game against Galatasaray. Mohamed Salah was put on the bench, but Jeremie Frimpong struggled to make an impact in his place.
With Florian Wirtz yet to ignite and Alexander Isak still getting up to speed, Liverpool looked disjointed. Where once there was control, there is now frustration.
In time, those issues should be possible to iron out. Right now, though, it does feel a little as if Liverpool is building the plane while flying it.
English (US) ·