Liverpool: Arne Slot has a 'really difficult' task to try and win Reds fans back says Jamie Carragher
Liverpool were booed off at Anfield after drawing 1-1 with relegation-threatened Tottenham on Super Sunday; that result followed a 2-1 defeat to Wolves; 'Once you lose that crowd, it's really difficult to get them back,' said Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football
Tuesday 17 March 2026 09:11, UK
Liverpool boss Arne Slot will find it "really difficult" to get the Reds fans back on side, according to Jamie Carragher.
Slot's team were held to a 1-1 draw by relegation-threatened Tottenham at Anfield on Super Sunday, with former Everton forward Richarlison scoring the all-important equaliser in the 90th minute.
As a result, Liverpool were booed off at the final whistle. It was their second league game without a win, following the shock 2-1 defeat at Wolves on March 3.
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"It's worrying, in terms of what Liverpool do this season," Carragher said on Monday Night Football.
"The bigger point is how worrying it is for the manager. I think there's a difference with most support in terms of what we see online compared to the match-going fans.
"For a lot of this season, when people have turned on Arne Slot, the match-going fans have stuck with him. Even on the back of what happened with Mo Salah, the next game was away in the San Siro and the fans were chanting for Arne Slot.
"It's not easy for a Liverpool crowd to turn on a manager who has won a title less than a year before, but I felt there was a big shift on Sunday in terms of how the crowd felt about the team and the manager.
"The booing at the end, that was proper booing from a disgruntled and unhappy fanbase.
"I think it's going to be really difficult now for Arne Slot to get them back. Once you lose that crowd, it's really difficult to get them back."
The result against Spurs left Liverpool 21 points behind leaders Arsenal.
It's not easy for a Liverpool crowd to turn on a manager who has won a title less than a year before, but I felt there was a big shift on Sunday in terms of how the crowd felt about the team and the manager.
Carragher said the blame did not lie solely at Slot's feet, however.
"Something really special could happen - a Champions League, winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Champions League, but a lot of fans have gone this week," he added.
"One point from Wolves and Tottenham, losing the first leg against Galatasaray. I'm not that confident about going through in the Champions League either.
"The style of football hasn't helped, but I keep going back to the fact there's players who have come into the club this season for big money, talented players, but are they Liverpool players?
"I'm not just going to throw all this on the manager. He will have been involved in the recruitment, so yes he's accountable for bringing them in, but is he like Jurgen Klopp in terms of pressing all over the pitch? No. He wanted a bit more control, but we saw that with the right players he had last season, they could still win the league.
"Now he's got a different profile of player, and it's not equipped to do what they need to do in the Premier League.
"But as we know with every team, the manager carries the can."
'Liverpool are not a team - they are a team of individuals'
Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football:
"There's lots of things wrong with this Liverpool team. Nothing's working or functioning going forward or defending. But the biggest thing that stands out for me that Liverpool have lost is the press.
"And pressing, for Liverpool, was not just a Jurgen Klopp thing; he took it to a completely different level than what we've seen Liverpool teams do in the past, there's no doubt about that, but the whole point of people saying it's tough going to Anfield is not because Liverpool are always amazing on the ball or have got the best players in the world, it's because it's a tight pitch, the crowd are on top of you and Liverpool get after you.
"That is something that is sorely lacking. For me, that is the biggest problem with Liverpool right now.
"I've been asking myself all season: is this down to the manager or is it the profile of the player?
"I think Liverpool's hierarchy will be sat there thinking 'We won the league last season, and when we recruited, we think we recruited better players than we had before'. You could argue that, talent-wise, but Liverpool are not a team - they are a team of individuals.
"Quality players, yes, but they've just been dropped in. There's no cohesion. That's what they've lost, and that is the most important thing for Liverpool.
"I never think of Liverpool as this fancy team with superstar players; it's always been about top players, but being a team."
'Wirtz has made Liverpool more into a possession team'
Meanwhile, Paul Scholes believes the £116.5m arrival of Florian Wirtz last summer has turned Liverpool into a more possession-based side, and as a result Anfield has lost its fear factor.
"Anfield was always the toughest place to go," the former Man Utd midfielder said on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast.
"Jamie Carragher mentioned it loads of times, you had the fans on top of you and the players on top of you. They've lost that determination to stop the other team. It's just not there any more. They've become almost a possession-based team. Florian Wirtz is a brilliant, brilliant footballer but I think he's made them more into a possession team.
"I think under Klopp and probably under past managers as well at Liverpool, the last thing they're thinking about at home is playing football.
"They're just thinking about kicking the s*** out of you and steamrolling you and stopping you from playing. Now this last year and a half it's become probably one of the easiest places to play and you'd never say that about Anfield.
"They won the league, brilliant, they won it quite early last year. Naturally, you are going to drop off a bit but the signs were there towards the end of last year they've lost the determination to stop the opposition. They're still good, they still want to be a nice pretty football team - but you've got to stop the other team.
"When we talk about philosophies of managers and football clubs - how many times did we speak about Ruben Amorim coming to United with his own philosophy playing the way he wanted? Man Utd had their own philosophy, I think it's almost a similar way for Liverpool.
"Liverpool isn't a possession team, they're just not - they're all over you like a Jurgen Klopp team. Now he's [Slot] trying to do it a little bit different and I just don't think it suits Liverpool."
