Carragher: Liverpool not playing like 'top team'
Liverpool's perfect start to the season ended against Crystal Palace, and they followed that up with another disappointing loss in midweek.
Jamie Carragher has called on Arne Slot to "fix the issues" at Liverpool as he believes the Reds are not playing like a top team after back-to-back defeats.
Liverpool followed up a last-gasp 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace in the Premier League – which ended their 100% start to the campaign – with a 1-0 loss to Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Slot's side have had defensive struggles this season, with Galatasaray's goal coming from the penalty spot after Dominik Szoboszlai tripped Baris Yilmaz.
Liverpool have kept just two clean sheets this season in all competitions and have conceded 11 goals, and Carragher has questioned Liverpool's performances this term.
"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 in 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.
"This has been coming. This is not a shock. And the manager needs to fix it."
Carragher believes one change that could benefit Liverpool's balance would be to take Florian Wirtz out of the side.
He did not start in Liverpool's 2-1 Merseyside derby win over Everton but returned to the side against Palace.
Wirtz has registered just one assist since joining Liverpool, but has created 21 chances, the joint-most by a player for a Premier League club in all competitions (level with Jack Grealish).
"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."
