Liverpool is without up to four options at right-back against Sunderland. But Arne Slot has rather bluntly waved away suggestions that Calvin Ramsay could step up.
11:50, 10 Feb 2026
Calvin Ramsay of Liverpool arriving before the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield on February 08, 2026 in Liverpool, England.
Chances for Calvin Ramsay have been minimal despite a right-back crisis at Liverpool.(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool right-back Calvin Ramsay would not have gone into the season expecting many first-team chances, if any. Yet he has found himself the subject of some unlikely clamor as injuries have piled up in Arne Slot's squad.
The Scot was handed 90 minutes against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup, and was relatively impressive despite the 3-0 defeat. And so as the likes of Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong and Joe Gomez have fallen like flies, plenty have wondered whether we might see Ramsay again.
Slot confirmed that Gomez is due to return to training today, but that will be cutting it fine for a start against Sunderland. Even so, it seems Ramsay should not expect much of a look-in.
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"In general, if you don't win a game, the players who don't play become better," Slot bluntly told a pre-match press conference. "That is the same everywhere in the world, this is an example of that.
"I want to protect my players and I have chosen a lot of players until now. That's what I am going to do tomorrow."
The implication is clear. As someone who watches the players every day, Slot plainly believes that Ramsay is simply not as good as the somewhat makeshift options he has been picking.
With the suspension for Dominik Szoboszlai, those options will be cut even further. But Slot referenced Curtis Jones and Wataru Endo as potential options, skimming over the former Aberdeen right-back.
Curtis Jones of Liverpool warms up prior to the Premier League match between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Anfield on January 31, 2026 in Liverpool, England.
Curtis Jones could step in at right-back against Sunderland.(Image: Kate McShane/Getty Images)
Nor is this the first time that Ramsay has found himself essentially catching strays from his manager. The Liverpool manager is not known for mincing his words, and he savagely declared that he has " better options" when asked about the 22-year-old.
Of all the criticisms facing Slot, this one is probably the most unavoidable. What reason could there possibly be for repeatedly punching down on Ramsay?
In the very next breath, he said he wanted to protect his players. But even though the manager cannot pick and choose what questions he is asked, Ramsay has been left out to dry.
Obviously, Slot is well within his rights to make these assessments behind the scenes. But his answers will be doing absolutely nothing for Ramsay's confidence, nor his resale value for that matter.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot attends a press conference after the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD3 match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Liverpool FC at Frankfurt Stadion on October 22, 2025 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Arne Slot's press conference manner could perhaps use some refinement. (Image: Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty Images)
In any case, the upshot is that an unlikely career revival for Ramsay at Anfield is still not on the cards. Signed as a potential Trent Alexander-Arnold alternative in 2022, he has not had the platform to showcase any of the similarities that the recruitment team first spotted.
Injuries derailed his first season at Liverpool. After that, he saw Bradley breeze past him in the pecking order, and the Northern Irishman has never really looked back.
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Of course, Bradley has had injury issues of his own, and is now facing a long spell out. But Slot has made it abundantly clear that the ship has sailed for Ramsay, and the next big question for him is where he might land in the summer.