Carragher: Slot's Tactical Approach Was Woefully Inadequate

According to Jamie Carragher, Arne Slot's tactical decisions were 'massively wrong', and Virgil van Dijk will likely implore him to avoid using a back five again after Liverpool's dismal performance against Paris Saint-Germain. The 2-0 loss in the Champions League quarter-final first leg could have easily been a more substantial deficit, Carragher noted. Despite Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scoring for Luis Enrique's side, Liverpool's poor season continued, with Carragher expressing alarm at the significant gap in class between the two teams. 'It was like watching a team from a lower division,' he remarked, highlighting the 'startling' difference from last season. Carragher felt that Slot's decision to switch to a back five and use man-to-man marking backfired, leaving Van Dijk exposed alongside the struggling Ibrahima Konate. 'The manager has tried something, but he's got it massively wrong tactically,' Carragher stated, emphasizing that the back five made Liverpool more vulnerable than they would have been with a back four. Van Dijk, at 34 years old, was forced to cover a lot of ground, which Carragher believed was unsustainable. While criticizing the system and tactical approach, Carragher also acknowledged that Paris Saint-Germain were 'absolutely out of this world', comparing them to Pep Guardiola's Barcelona. Slot concurred that Liverpool were fortunate not to have lost by a more significant margin, attributing their relatively narrow defeat to luck. He expressed relief that the tie was still alive and looked forward to bringing Paris Saint-Germain to Anfield, where the home crowd could make a difference. Slot explained that his team had tried to press high but struggled to create opportunities, and he justified his decision to leave Mohamed Salah as an unused substitute, citing the need to conserve his energy for upcoming games.