After Liverpool's unbeaten streak was ended on the weekend by Bournemouth, Jamie Carragher fired a warning to Arne Slot and the powers that be at Anfield
Jamie Carragher speaking on Sky Sports
Jamie Carragher spoke some brutal honesty about Arne Slot(Image: Sky Sport)
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Jamie Carragher has warned Liverpool they must sack Arne Slot if they finish outside of the top five, or risk making the same mistake as Manchester United.
The Reds' 13-game unbeaten streak was ended by a dramatic 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth on the south coast. As a result of the loss, Chelsea's victory over Crystal Palace and United's triumph over Arsenal, Liverpool dropped down to sixth place.
Carragher insisted it's unacceptable for the defending Premier League champions to be out of the Champions League places this season. The former defender then warned the club they must make a ruthless decision regarding Slot if they find themselves in the same position come the end of the campaign.
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Carragher told the Athletic: "It’s difficult if you go from champions to not making the Champions League. You've got to believe that your manager is taking you somewhere.
"What you never want to do - and Manchester United have made this mistake a couple of times - is when you're thinking, 'I think we should change it, but I'm not 100%,' and then get to October and you think, 'We should have done it.'
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"I hate even talking about it, because I adore the manager. He won us the league, the football was amazing, but there is a lot of criticism out there from Liverpool supporters.
"If he gets into the Champions League and we see signs of progression, has a good run in the FA Cup or Champions League, I’d say, 'No, this is a collective thing. The players aren’t playing how they were, the manager hasn’t had his best season, the people above him have got to take a lot of responsibility.'
Arne Slot manager / head coach of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Bournemouth and Liverpool at Vitality Stadium on January 24, 2026 in Bournemouth, England
Slot was furious with the loss to Bournemouth(Image: 2026 Catherine Ivill - AMA)
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"But if you finish sixth, that's a major drop-off. It would be difficult to make an argument for (that)."
United chose to stick with Erik ten Hag after guiding United to eighth position as a result of his FA Cup triumph. But he was sacked and replaced by Ruben Amorim a matter of months into the 2024/25 campaign.
There were also doubts about Amorim when he could only steer United to a 15th placed finish, but the Red Devils chose to hang onto him, before sacking him at the start of 2026. For Slot, the picture is certainly not as bleak, but it's certainly below expectations, particularly after the unprecedented transfer spending of the summer.
Arne Slot, Manager of Liverpool, speaks to the media during a press conference at AXA Training Centre on January 27, 2026 in Kirkby, England
Arne Slot faces a vitally important few weeks(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
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But he can ease some pressure by beating Azerbaijani side Qarabag in Liverpool's final match of the Champions League group stage. Victory would see the club guarantee themselves a place in the round-of-16, while anything less could see them tumble into the play-off positions, depending on other results.
In his pre-match press conference, Slot warned the outside noise will only get louder if his team keep losing matches. He said: "I think it's going to be really difficult to quieten the outside noise with the position we are in in the league. Even if we win a few games, every loss or every disappointing result will start the noise coming back again.
"That's what you expect if you started the season as we did, not started but at a certain moment with so many losses. But it's impossible to shut down the noise at a club like this if you are not competing for the league."
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