Carragher blames recruitment failures and Salah's public posts for Slot's Liverpool exit

Jamie Carragher has attributed Arne Slot’s dismissal as Liverpool manager to a combination of poor recruitment, dressing-room unrest, and Mohamed Salah’s public criticism — warning that whoever takes charge next will face the same structural pressures that undermined his predecessor.

Speaking on Sky Sports, the former Liverpool defender said he was conflicted over the decision to sack Slot, who won the Premier League title just twelve months before his departure. “An elite football manager finds a way to fix Liverpool to make it better, but he wasn’t helped with recruitment — have any of them done well?” Carragher said. “You could put that on the manager, does he need to get more out of them? Should those players have done more? Yes. Should the people above him give him a better squad? Yes. There’s a lot of people to point fingers at.”

Carragher reserved particular criticism for Salah’s conduct on social media, suggesting the Egyptian’s public posts — including clapping emojis in response to commentary critical of Slot — damaged the manager’s authority and may have influenced the club’s decision. “I didn’t like Mo Salah’s post, I didn’t think he should come out publicly,” he said. “Who does get on with every manager? Players have lots of different managers, but you don’t go out on social media and do it publicly. That probably tells you what’s going on in the Liverpool dressing room right now.”

The pundit acknowledged that supporter sentiment had also played a role, arguing that the fanbase’s growing disillusionment — coming so soon after a title win — was unfair on Slot but ultimately contributed to an untenable atmosphere. “There is no doubt that he lost supporters. I think that was harsh on the back of what happened 12 months before,” Carragher said. “When you talk about player power, that can’t have helped with Salah. I don’t ever want Liverpool Football Club to have player power to speak out about a manager who won the Premier League.”

Looking ahead, Carragher expressed concern that the demands of modern football — particularly the volume of fixtures clubs now face — could prove a stumbling block for the candidates reportedly being considered for the role. Liverpool’s next manager will be expected to compete for the title immediately, yet Carragher questioned whether any of the names in the frame can maintain high-intensity pressing football across a schedule that allows little recovery time between matches.

Slot becomes only the sixth manager Liverpool have sacked since the start of the 21st century, a statistic that underlines how significant his departure is for a club that has historically prized managerial stability.