Jamie Carragher has said that he’s ‘torn’ on Liverpool’s decision to relieve Arne Slot of his duties and that he could ‘see both sides’ of the argument as to whether or not it was the right call.
The Dutchman lost his job as the Reds’ head coach on Saturday after two years at the helm, winning the Premier League title at the first attempt but then overseeing a calamitous slump to fifth in the table, with fans at Anfield ultimately unable to hide their restlessness.
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While some pundits have unreservedly criticised the decision to dispense with the 47-year-old, the ex-LFC defender was rather more balanced with his verdict.
Carragher on the fence over Slot sacking
Carragher told Sky Sports: “I was torn on Arne Slot. I would have almost backed any decision and I could see both sides of the argument, but it is a shock.
“I think an elite football manager, the absolute crème de la crème, probably finds a way of fixing Liverpool last season at some stage and making it better, but he wasn’t helped with recruitment.
“You look at those players – have any of them done well? There’s only [Hugo] Ekitike who’s played well; none of the others have done well. You could put that on the manager – does he need to get more out of them?
“Should those players have done more? A lot more, yes. Should the people above them have given them a better squad going into this season? Yes.
“There’s a lot of people to point the fingers at where Liverpool were last season, and also the players who were there the year before, a complete contrast in their performances.”
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Slot partially but not entirely to blame for Liverpool’s awful season
Carragher is right – Liverpool’s underachievement in 2025/26 is a collective failing and shouldn’t be pinned on any one group or individual.
To be fair to FSG, they backed Slot with an unprecedented transfer window spend of £446m, but the gamble on waiting until the last minute to move for Marc Guehi backfired horribly and had damaging repercussions throughout a season in which the Reds conceded 53 Premier League goals.
On the pitch, too many of the players failed to come anywhere close to the standards they’d shown in previous campaigns, whether that was for LFC or their previous clubs, and the head coach can’t legislate for some of the inexcusable on-field mistakes.
However, the Dutchman bears ultimate responsibility for the team’s turgid style of play, ill-advised tactical decisions (no more midfielders at right-back, please!) and substitutions which were curious, to put it politely.
This season was always going to be extremely difficult at Liverpool following the death of Diogo Jota, the impact of which should never be dismissed, but there are certainly some crucial lessons to be learned from the past few months in the hope that they won’t be repeated in the post-Slot era.
Carragher doesn’t sit on the fence with other managers at other clubs though does he.
He’s getting paid a fortune to say the truth, not to sit on the fence.
One question for carragher who still thinks FSG are brilliant owners.
Are FSG to blame for anything?
Who appointed Michael Edwards who then appointed Richard Hughes who sold Diaz and wasted most of the 450 million on lightweight injury prone players.
Did FSG play any part in this shambles. Did FSG have the final say over the appointment of slot.
Did they bring Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool.
FSG have made a complete mess at the Pittsburgh penguins, the Boston red Sox and now at Liverpool football club. Why are they completely blameless at Liverpool.
One thing is for certain, Jamie carragher will never ever criticise charlatan owners FSG, bo matter how bad things get.
Is he on the FSG payroll? Makes you wonder.
Keep sitting on the fence Jamie carragher. Everything you say about Liverpool football club is irrelevant.
Joukkueet pelaa managerinsa näköistä peliä, ja se mitä. Liverpool pelasi oli vanhaa Hollantilaista tylsää tyyliä jolla ei pärjää valioliigassa. Potkut oli ainoa oikea ratkaisu.
Talking Gibberish mate, just like Jamie carragher.
A message to carragher, when you are a co commentator on sky please put the microphone nearer to you , speak a bit louder, stop mumbling so much. Couldn’t hear a word you were saying on the Aston villa v Liverpool game. There were loads of complaints.
Jamie carragher says that an Elite coach would have fixed the problems a Liverpool last season.
We all agree with that, that’s why Liverpool supporters were calling for slot to go last December.
So if slot was Never an Elite coach why was he given the Liverpool job? No doubt Manchester United thought they were getting an Elite coach in Erik ten hag straight out of Dutch football.
The the million dollar question is this, is Andoni Iraola an Elite coach. Surely an Elite coach is recognised by winning trophies at the highest level. LUIS ENRIQUE for example is an Elite coach.
A manager from Bournemouth who’s got them promoted an has finished 6th in the premier league , has won nothing, with the worst set piece record, is now the criteria for the Liverpool manager’s job.
This is how high FSG set the standards for Liverpool football club.
We should aiming higher than that, with more Ambition.
When klopp had injuries, he made full use of his squad including academy players and even dipped into the market for free transfers. A good manager needs to be flexible and has the football intelligence to make the right changes to adapt to different situations. He needs to be able to motivate his players to work for him. Jamie carragher will never be a good manager, just like Gary Neville. If you are forever on the fence, you can go get certified to be a referee. It is more suitable for you.