Liverpool have endured a tough season in the Premier League as defending champions and the club's failures have appeared to take root in the transfer market
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer still believes Arne Slot should remain at Liverpool(Image: Rest is Football)
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Alan Shearer could only shake his head in agreement as Micah Richards rattled off Liverpool's biggest issues this season. The former Manchester City defender identified four signings that have not worked out so far under Arne Slot, claiming the Reds have lost the characteristics they earned under Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool fell to their 11th Premier League defeat of the season against Manchester United, but remain on course to qualify for the Champions League. A hapless first-half performance saw Slot's men fall 2-0 behind before they fought back to level terms through Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo, only for Kobbie Mainoo to score a winning goal for United.
The manner of the Reds' opening period performance against their rivals offered as much worry as the club's season as a whole, just 12 months on from a dominant Premier League title win. Richards believes that Liverpool have taken a step back despite their significant spending last summer.
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"I think where the scrutiny comes is the signings. They've not worked," Richards said on the Rest is Football, as Shearer quickly shook his head.
"Isak has been injured, Wirtz has not been at the level we all expect, Frimpong is your right winger, your right-back, it's not really working out.
"Kerkez has been a shadow of the player who was at Bournemouth," he continued, prompted by Shearer. "I don't know if that's pressure or if that's the system.
"Liverpool are too slow, too passive, they're too easy to play against. What you normally associate Liverpool with is being aggressive, hard to beat, work-rate, especially under Klopp and they're none of those things. I'd like the manager to get a chance to turn those things around."
Shearer also believes that Slot should be afforded the opportunity to return his team to the top. "I think so," he said.
"I think in terms of what he did last season and winning the league, manager of the season. With the issues and the problems they've had at Liverpool this year, then yeah, I do. If it were my choice, I would have him as manager, yeah."
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has concerns about the team's trajectory, however and raised concerns over the profiles the Merseyside club targeted in the summer. He said: "Am I worried about where Liverpool are going? Yeah, I am.
"I think it will be really interesting who Liverpool buy in the summer, what the profile of player will be. Going for just good players hasn't worked, it's blown up in their face. There's a lack of physicality.
"So it's on the manager's shoulders," he continued. "And I go back to last year when Liverpool didn't sign anybody, but the one player he wanted was Martin Zubimendi again, another technical footballer.
"I'm not saying that doesn't work. The most successful team in the Premier League over the last 10 years have been a technical football team, but we're going away from what Jurgen Klopp was, because this manager wants that.
"This is where he's taken this team. And that's the worry for me, is this actually going to go more of the other way?
"Or are we thinking Liverpool needs to go back to last season? Or is Arne Slot thinking, 'No, we actually need more technical footballers?'"