Jamie Carragher took aim at several Liverpool players after their 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, including Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Ibrahima Konate.
Arne Slot’s side struggled to cope with PSG at the Parc des Princes as goals in each half from Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia sealed a deserved win for the Champions League holders.
Liverpool failed to register a shot on target and had just 26 per cent possession, while Slot admitted after the game that his side were more focused on ‘surviving’ PSG’s onslaught in the second half.
Slot opted to play with a back five against PSG but Carragher believes Virgil van Dijk was hampered by an ‘poor’ performance from Konate.
‘He [Slot] went about it with the back five all wrong and they were actually more open with a back five than they would be with a back four,’ Carragher told CBS Sports.
‘Because they went man-to-man all over the pitch and your three centre-backs had to cover the width of the pitch and for Virgil van Dijk watching him tonight in a middle of a back three… normally when you get to a certain age you feel in the middle of a back three is perfect, everyone’s in position, getting a bit of protection. This was different.
‘Defenders were jumping into midfield, there was no one to mark and Virgil van Dijk at 34 years of age was having to run in there and he was having to run across. He couldn’t do it.
‘People have criticised Van Dijk for his performances this season but I think it’s been harsh. I think he plays every game, the fella next to him has been awful all season and poor again tonight, Konate, makes a mistake every game, so that’s not easy to play alongside, so I still think he’s been one of Liverpool’s better players, Virgil van Dijk.
‘But tonight in that back three I have never seen him [Van Dijk] so uncomfortable in a Liverpool shirt in my life.
‘I think he will be pleading with Arne Slot to never play that system ever again because he found it so tough.
‘But, what I must also say, it’s not just the system of Liverpool and getting it wrong tactically, PSG were absolutely out of this world. The biggest compliment I can give them was it was like watching Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.’
Carragher was also critical of Liverpool’s three marquee signings – Ekitike, Wirtz and Isak – who cost a combined £320 million last summer and claims that the trio are not working hard enough out of possession.
‘Listen, what I would say about Virgil van Dijk… he’s always been a true leader on the pitch and he is a true leader, for me, off the pitch,’ Carragher said.
‘He gets questioned a little bit when Liverpool don’t do well by supporters, his leadership on the pitch, but that always happens when team’s aren’t winning, you’re always pointing fingers.
‘For me, he’s been a fantastic captain and a fantastic player for Liverpool and he always comes out and speaks and I respect that because not everyone does right now.
‘I said at the start of the season, and nothing’s changed in that, what you’re seeing here at Liverpool, and there are lots of different things that are wrong, but you’re watching three all-time greats, the goalkeeper, Alisson, he’s always had injuries but he’s having more now, he’s not the same goalkeeper, Virgil van Dijk as we know is not quite the same, who is at 34? Mo Salah is the same, who is at 33 as an attacking player?
‘I’m never going to criticise those players, the legends, they’ve done so much for the club and they’ve carried players. That’s not criticising the other players because that’s Thierry [Henry] at Arsenal, you always have four or five great players who carry the rest with them.
‘So what you’re watching here now is Salah and Van Dijk, who were absolutely out of this world last season, carried Liverpool to the title, they’re not the same players and the others are not quite good enough to step up.
‘And then you’ve also got new players coming into the team and I think they’ve got away with quite a bit of criticism actually, the new signings, because we’ve almost said they’re new signings, they’re getting up to speed.
‘Ekitike was really poor tonight, I said before the game, and I include Wirtz and Isak in this, to be a top player for Liverpool as an attacking player, you need to be arrogant on the ball but humble off the ball, they’re not humble off the ball, they don’t do enough off the ball and that’s why it’s easy to play against Liverpool right now.
‘Three legendary players come to the end of their careers, new players come in and not knowing what exactly they need to do to play for Liverpool right now.
‘I include Isak who came on, Ekitike and Florian Wirtz who has got to do a lot more, an awful lot more.
‘The best way you can describe Florian Wirtz right now, he’s got £125 million, is that he’s neat and tidy.’
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