‘It’s a mess’ – Carragher tells Slot to drop one player after Liverpool lose to Galatasaray

Liverpool’s season is only weeks old but already the cracks are showing, already the noise around Anfield is loud, already people are questioning the decisions of Arne Slot. And when the voice of Jamie Carragher is added to the criticism, it carries extra weight. Carragher, who bled for the Liverpool shirt for years, who knows the culture of the club better than most, did not hold back after watching his beloved Reds fall to yet another defeat. This time it was Galatasaray in Istanbul, a night that should have been about resilience and fight but instead became another reminder of Liverpool’s weaknesses.

Victor Osimhen’s penalty was the difference, but the result told a deeper story. Liverpool looked unbalanced, wide open, a team without defensive stability, a team that Carragher compared to a basketball side, just running end to end without any real control. For a club that built its modern identity on pressing, on structure, on compactness and defensive strength, that kind of chaos is unforgivable. Carragher’s words cut straight to the heart of the issue: Liverpool have lost their solidity, and unless they fix it fast, this season will slip away.

Slot was brought in to continue the winning legacy, to build on Klopp’s foundation, to bring fresh ideas. But Carragher sees a team that has gone backwards, a team that once was workmanlike and balanced, and is now sprinkled with expensive signings that don’t seem to fit. Florian Wirtz is the one being singled out, the £116 million signing from Bayer Leverkusen who was meant to be a superstar but so far has not registered a single goal or assist. Carragher’s verdict was simple: drop him. Not because he is a bad player, not because his future is gone, but because right now Liverpool cannot afford passengers. They need solidity, they need balance, and Wirtz, a young boy in a new league, is not ready to provide that.

For many Liverpool fans, hearing Carragher speak so bluntly about Wirtz was painful. The German arrived with so much excitement, hailed as one of the brightest attacking talents in Europe, a player who could define a generation. His vision, his touch, his creativity were all supposed to elevate Liverpool to the next level. But the Premier League is unforgiving, English football is ruthless, and right now Wirtz looks lost. He looks like a boy struggling to adjust to the physicality, the speed, the pressure. His body language betrays him, his lack of confidence is obvious. Carragher knows the Anfield crowd will back him eventually, but he also knows the present demands something different.

The defeat to Galatasaray was not an isolated disaster. It came just days after losing to Crystal Palace, and before that there were warning signs against Newcastle, even when the result went Liverpool’s way. Newcastle, with ten men, tore them apart in the second half, creating chances at will. Palace created seven big chances, the most any team has created against a Premier League champion in years. These are not blips, these are patterns. Carragher said it best: this has been coming since day one.

Slot has decisions to make, big decisions. He has tried to integrate Wirtz into the attack, tried to give him freedom, but in doing so he has disrupted the balance of the team. Liverpool’s midfield is open, their defense exposed, their structure gone. Carragher’s advice is harsh but clear: take Wirtz out of the firing line, rebuild the team’s defensive solidity, and then bring him back when confidence has returned. It is not a permanent exile, but a necessary pause.

For Slot, the pressure is enormous. He knew when he accepted the job that every result would be magnified, every performance judged. Klopp left behind a winning machine, a fan base addicted to trophies, and the expectation that Liverpool should always be competing for the biggest prizes. Being top of the league after six games might look good on paper, but Carragher and others see through it. They see the cracks, the lucky escapes, the performances that lack control. Points might have been won, but the foundations are weak.

Liverpool’s defense is the biggest concern. Ibrahima Konate has been inconsistent, Virgil van Dijk is still commanding but cannot cover everything, and without proper full-back balance the flanks are constantly exposed. Slot tried to fix problems by throwing players into unfamiliar roles, but those experiments have backfired. Against Galatasaray, the lack of structure was brutal. Wirtz floated, the midfield was bypassed, the defense was under siege. For Carragher, it was painful to watch.

“It’s not the defeats, it’s the performances,” he said. And that sentence sums it all up. Fans can forgive losing if the fight is there, if the team looks like itself. But this Liverpool does not. They look like strangers, like individuals, like a group of stars who have not yet found chemistry. The identity that defined them under Klopp, the suffocating press, the fearless energy, the defensive wall—they are all gone. Instead it is chaos, end-to-end basketball, a team trying to outscore opponents rather than control them.

Wirtz is not the only issue, but he has become the symbol of it. He was the glamour signing, the expensive jewel, but right now he is a liability. Carragher, who has seen dozens of great players come and go at Anfield, knows the weight of expectation can crush young talent. He does not want Wirtz destroyed by being thrown in too soon, by being asked to carry too much. Better to protect him now, better to let him breathe, better to focus on making the team solid again before asking Wirtz to sprinkle the magic.

And that is where Slot’s challenge truly lies. He must find solidity, he must make Liverpool hard to beat again. Because history shows us that champions are built from the back. You can have flair, you can have goals, but without defensive strength you win nothing. Carragher knows it, the fans know it, and deep down Slot must know it too.

But can he do it? That is the question. Can he make bold choices, can he sacrifice star names for the greater good, can he put the system above individuals? Klopp did it. He built a machine where the system made the stars shine, not the other way around. Slot must rediscover that formula or risk watching the season unravel.

The mood among Liverpool fans is one of worry, mixed with frustration. They still love Slot’s ambition, they still want to believe, but the warning signs are there. Two defeats in four days, leaking chances, looking vulnerable—it feels like a storm is coming. The Premier League will not wait. The Champions League will not forgive. If Slot does not act now, Liverpool could be chasing shadows.

Carragher’s words will echo because they come from love, from a man who gave everything for the shirt. When he says it’s a mess, he is not being dramatic, he is being honest. He sees a team drifting, he sees danger ahead, and he is begging Slot to wake up before it is too late. Drop Wirtz, find defensive solidity, rebuild the identity—that is his message. Whether Slot listens could define Liverpool’s season.

Because Liverpool are still top, still in the fight, still with everything to play for. But they are also a team on the edge, a team that could either click into gear or collapse under pressure. The next few weeks will be decisive. And for Wirtz, for Slot, for the fans, for the whole club, the future hangs in the balanc