Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool: Jamie Carragher says Arne Slot's side are not playing like a top team and calls for Florian Wirtz to come out of the side

Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool are not playing like a top team after back-to-back defeats in the Premier League and Champions League - and has called on Arne Slot to "earn his money" and "fix" the issues.

Liverpool were beaten 1-0 by Galatasaray in Istanbul on Tuesday night, which followed the 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The Reds showed a lot of the same issues from Selhurst Park in the Turkish capital - with high-profile mistakes at the back, defensive errors - and the situation was worsened by a double injury blow to goalkeeper Alisson Becker and striker Hugo Ekitike.

"I'm not watching a top team," Carragher told CBS Sports. "Liverpool aren't playing football at the moment, they are playing basketball. It is just end to end and I don't think top teams play like that.

"I expressed that to the manager early on, he'll know that a lot better than me. He is obviously a fantastic manager. But right now Liverpool went from, I would call them a workmanlike team last season, and they have sprinkled a little bit of stardust on it terms of the transfers that they have brought in.

"And they haven't gained anything going forward but they have lost a lot defensively.

"I think for the manager now, last season was such a smooth ride for them, he's now got to really earn his money.

"He did last season, won the Premier League, unbelievable. But there's a few problems there that he has got to fix and it'll be really interesting how he goes about it. because he's spent a lot of money.

"Liverpool got battered by Newcastle in the second half of that game. Newcastle had 10 men. That can't happen. Crystal Palace created seven big chances at the weekend. That's more than any team has conceded in the Premier League all season. Liverpool are the champions.

"This has been coming. This is not a shock. And the manager needs to fix it."

'Wirtz needs to come out the team, it's a mess'

One change Carragher would like to see to help fix Liverpool's situation is the removal of Florian Wirtz from the starting line-up.

Wirtz came out of the team for the 1-0 Merseyside derby win over Everton but was reinstated for the Crystal Palace game. He is yet to register a goal or an assist in the Premier League or Champions League for Liverpool.

"Right now I don't think the balance of the team is right and the obvious one that stands out is Florian Wirtz," Carragher said.

"He's just not at the races at all. He's a young boy coming into a new league - he has got plenty of time to go as a Liverpool player but right now I think he needs to come out of the team, Liverpool go back to what they were last season and then go from there and build some confidence, build some defensive solidity.

"Because right now it is a mess. It's not the losses, it is not the defeats. This has been coming from day one."

What Carra told Slot at the start of the season

As per the above, Carragher mentioned that he warned Slot about Liverpool's style of play after the opening game of the season against Bournemouth.

This is what the Sky Sports pundit said:

"Liverpool have had this problem. How many players were ahead of the ball - maybe eight players - when they were winning 2-1? That can't happen. It's absolutely shocking at this level.

"That is not right. It's not. It's only one game on top of the Community Shield - but I've watched enough football in my life. This idea that everyone bombs forward, it's not for me. I don't like it.

"At no time last week in the Community Shield did I ever feel Liverpool were in control of the game. You can draw 2-2 with Palace, that can happen. But it's how easy Crystal Palace could get at Liverpool, how easy it was tonight.

"In the first half, Bournemouth should have been at least 2-0 up at one stage.

"There is definitely a problem that Arne Slot has to solve. People say they need a centre-back - a centre-back doesn't fix that. He just takes Konate's place.

"It's about the make-up of the team with two attacking full-backs and a No 10 who is more interested in getting on the ball than defending like [Dominik] Szoboszlai was last season.

"If Liverpool continue like that, I don't think they will win the league."

Liverpool's issues in full

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