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Jamie Carragher has explained why he thinks Arne Slot and Liverpool ‘got it wrong’ with their approach to the summer transfer window. Having overseen minimal incoming activity in his first few months at Anfield last year, the Dutchman brought in almost £450m worth of new players in 2025 as he sought to capitalise on the Reds winning the Premier League in his debut season. However, the recruitment hasn’t had the desired effect as of yet, with new signings such as Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz being heavily criticised and the defending champions finding themselves eight points off leaders Arsenal after losing five top-flight games already this term. Carragher: Liverpool ‘got it wrong’ with attack-minded approach Speaking on the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate, Carragher believes that Slot’s idealistic approach of trying to make Liverpool a more enterprising team has backfired at a time when many Premier League teams are favouring greater pragmatism. The former Reds defender said: “They’ve tried to take the team of last season that won the league, but in Slot’s eyes, he wanted it to be more sexy, more goals, more entertaining. “He’s always speaking about Paris Saint-Germain. He loves Pep [Guardiola]. You hear him speaking about Pep before the game. His hero is Pep, so you know he’s trying to move that team towards more football and more goals, and the league has moved [the other] way. “The league’s gone [more] powerful, set pieces, long throws, almost like a throwback to the 2000s, and Liverpool have been left behind. They’ve almost just got it wrong in terms of where the game’s going, and I think that’s been a big problem for them.” Liverpool had to reinforce their attack in the summer There’s been plenty of revisionism about Liverpool’s transfer policy over the last couple of months. As the season started, many pundits spoke glowingly about the Reds’ aggressive approach in the market, whereas now plenty of them are saying that they changed too much and bought badly. To be fair to Carragher, he did warn prior to Alexander Isak being signed that it would be a luxury addition with Hugo Ekitike already through the door, although it was undeniable that Slot needed to reinforce his forward line this summer. The needle was moved significantly by the tragic loss of Diogo Jota, while the exits of Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz necessitated the attacking purchases which were made. Where the Sky Sports pundit does make a fair point is in mentioning the notable shift towards set-piece goals, something that the Liverpool head coach candidly admitted was an issue within his team after the defeat to Brentford last month. In a utopian world, Slot can continue to play idealistic attacking football which wins matches every week. Unfortunately, with the Reds having lost seven of their last 10 games in all competitions, a more pragmatic approach might have to be considered if it’d help to turn the tide and prevent us from falling even further off the pace set by Arsenal, who are widely regarded as the market leaders in the prevailing tactical trend. You can watch Slot’s full post-Man City press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube:
