Jamie Carragher gives damning verdict on Liverpool over 'Real Madrid-like' spending after Man United loss
Liverpool have now lost four games in a row
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Jamie Carragher has ripped apart Liverpool’s summer spending as the team suffered their first loss at Anfield to Manchester United in almost a decade.
Bryan Mbeumo put the Red Devils ahead within the first two minutes of the game, before Cody Gakpo finally levelled the game after hitting the post on three previous occasions, before Harry Maguire sank Arne Slot into a world of trouble with a thumping header to seal the win.
Carragher, 47, pointed to the summer transfer window, in which Liverpool spent over £400million on new players, as part of the issue for the Premier League champions.
He revealed: “Every Liverpool supporter has been having sleepless nights trying to work out what system they should play and players they should use.
Jamie Carragher has claimed the amount of money spent by Liverpool has cost them this season
|GETTY
“Liverpool's business didn't feel Liverpool-like, it felt Real Madrid-like in terms of buying the most expensive players.
“Ekitike has been Liverpool's best signing, on the bench. And Wirtz, on the bench. When you spend that type of money, the people who spent it want to see them on the pitch.”
The Reds have now lost to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and Chelsea before suffering the embarrassing defeat to United.
In the summer, Slot brought in new talent to his side, with Alexander Isak (£125million), Florian Wirtz (116million), Hugo Ekitike (£79million) and Milos Kerkez (£40million), all being brought in as part of Liverpool’s record breaking transfer window, but with so many star players the Dutchman is struggling to find places for the players in his starting eleven.
Carragher continued: “I was one of the few who weren't big on Isak coming in. It is not good for Isak having Ekitike on the bench - he knows if he doesn't do something in the first 60 minutes, then he could be off.”
Slot has been trying different approaches to his attacking line up, with both Isak and Ekitike starting up front, while Wirtz has been in and out of the side as the former Bayer Leverkusen man has struggled for form on Merseyside.
Arne Slot is on his worst run as a manager following Liverpool's loss to Manchester United
|REUTERS
“I think Slot has to find a way of getting both of them on the pitch,” he continued of Isak and Ekitike. “I am trying to wrack my brain.
“At some stage, he has to try and make that work. It was a real Madrid summer - I think he now has to be a Madrid manager.
“Wirtz cold play left tucked in, it is about getting the money on the pitch. Ekitike at times and Isak off him, could that get Kerkez higher?
“The game is now about getting the front five up there. When you have spent big money, you have to find a way of getting these players on the pitch. Carlo Ancelotti was the master of that.
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“Liverpool's summer has always been about planning. When you look on paper at the end of the game yesterday, it was a mess.”
After the loss on Sunday, Slot revealed: “I think as a manager you face constant challenges. When I just started, you face the challenge of being a new manager and then you need to win games.
“Then, when you do well, you go to a bigger club and people are like, 'Oh, let's see how he does over there.' Then you go to be the successor of Jürgen Klopp and people say this is the biggest challenge you ever faced.
“Now we have lost four times in a row and that's also a challenge. So, the life of a football manager is an ongoing challenge. If you win games you want to keep winning, if you lose games you want to start winning again.
Liverpool will need an immediate response in the Champions League on Tuesday
|REUTERS
“Do we lose confidence? I cannot see it yet, because every single game we've lost, we were able to create in the second half an unbelievable amount of chances. If you look back at all the three games we've lost in the Premier League, if you just put all the highlights [next to] each other, you would say it's hardly possible that they lose this game.
“So if we can keep producing what we are doing and do a few things a little bit better, then there is every reason to expect that we start to win football games again.
“But I cannot promise you that on Wednesday evening we are again able to create eight, nine or 10 open chances. I hope so, and with the players we have, then it will lead in the end to us scoring more goals.”
Liverpool will face Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday as they aim to bounce back after four straight losses.
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