Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool: Jamie Carragher urges Arne Slot to fix "mess" with ex-captain calling for superstar signing to be dropped

Former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher has said that Reds head coach Arne Slot has to "earn his money" and navigate the Premier League champions through a difficult period.

The Merseyside giants were beaten 2-1 at Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday before suffering a 1-0 loss to Galatasaray in the league phase of the Champions League on Tuesday.

Liverpool's performances have been below-par for much of the season, but they still sit top of the Premier League table, picking up 15 points from six matches.

Carragher has said that his former side are not currently "a top team", and he has expressed his concerns over the set-up, with Slot looking to change his playing style this season.

"I'm not watching a top team," Carragher told CBS Sports. "Liverpool aren't playing football at the moment, they are playing basketball. It is just end to end and I don't think top teams play like that.

"I expressed that to the manager early on, he'll know that a lot better than me. He is obviously a fantastic manager. But right now Liverpool went from, I would call them a workmanlike team last season, and they have sprinkled a little bit of stardust on it terms of the transfers that they have brought in.

Carragher worried by lacklustre Liverpool

"And they haven't gained anything going forward but they have lost a lot defensively. I think for the manager now, last season was such a smooth ride for them, he's now got to really earn his money.

"He did last season, won the Premier League, unbelievable. But there's a few problems there that he has got to fix and it'll be really interesting how he goes about it. because he's spent a lot of money.

"Liverpool got battered by Newcastle in the second half of that game. Newcastle had 10 men. That can't happen. Crystal Palace created seven big chances at the weekend. That's more than any team has conceded in the Premier League all season. Liverpool are the champions.

"This has been coming. This is not a shock. And the manager needs to fix it."

Carragher: 'Slot must drop struggling Wirtz'

Carragher has also called for Slot to drop summer arrival Florian Wirtz due to the Germany international's struggles since arriving at Anfield.

"Right now I don't think the balance of the team is right and the obvious one that stands out is Florian Wirtz," Carragher said.

"He's just not at the races at all. He's a young boy coming into a new league - he has got plenty of time to go as a Liverpool player but right now I think he needs to come out of the team, Liverpool go back to what they were last season and then go from there and build some confidence, build some defensive solidity.

"Because right now it is a mess. It's not the losses, it is not the defeats. This has been coming from day one."

Wirtz is yet to score a goal or register an assist in eight appearances in the Premier League and Champions League since his £116m arrival from Bayer Leverkusen over the summer.

Liverpool will be bidding to bounce back from successive losses when they head to Chelsea on Saturday, before the small matter of a home fixture against Manchester United after the international break.