Carragher spreads Slot blame across Liverpool hierarchy, squad and recruitment

Jamie Carragher has spread responsibility for Liverpool’s failed Premier League title defence across the club’s hierarchy, recruitment department and playing squad, while admitting the timing of Arne Slot’s sacking caught him off guard.

Slot was relieved of his duties on Saturday, less than a week after Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Brentford on the final day of the season — a result that secured Champions League qualification but capped a campaign in which the club suffered 20 defeats across all competitions. The Dutchman had won the Premier League title in his debut season at Anfield.

“I was surprised,” Carragher told Sky Sports. “A lot that has been coming out of the club was that the manager was saying — Arne Slot was saying in his press conferences he was close to appointing a coach, so there’s no way the club has sanctioned that if he thought he wasn’t going to be in charge. I think it’s sudden, caught everyone off guard including Arne Slot.”

Carragher was careful not to place the blame solely on Slot, pointing instead to systemic failures. “I was torn on Arne Slot, I must say — I would’ve backed any decision and I can see both sides of the argument, but an elite football manager finds a way to fix Liverpool to make it better,” he said. “But he wasn’t helped with recruitment — have any of them done well? You could put that on the manager, does he need to get more out of them? Should them 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.”

Andoni Iraola has emerged as the leading candidate to become Liverpool’s 23rd permanent manager. The Spaniard is expected to leave Bournemouth when his contract expires next month, having guided the Cherries into European competition for the first time in the club’s history during a remarkable second-half-of-season run.

Carragher praised Iraola’s work at Bournemouth but stopped short of a full endorsement, flagging concerns about how his high-intensity approach would hold up across a congested fixture schedule and against sides defending in deep blocks. “He’s done a brilliant job,” Carragher said. “There are still huge question marks — the football is something Liverpool want to get to, high-intense football, but it’s not all about that when you’re Liverpool manager. That was what worried me. Liverpool off the ball were so poor. He’s fantastic at that, but with the ball, dealing with low blocks.”

The comparisons between Iraola’s attacking philosophy at Bournemouth and the style traditionally associated with Anfield have drawn widespread attention, though Carragher’s comments suggest the appointment would not be without risk.