Slot on course to win the title in his first season
Jamie Carragher believes there are ‘four or five players’ in the Liverpool squad Arne Slot ‘doesn’t rate’ and will seek to replace at the end of the season.
Liverpool took a commanding step towards the Premier League title after their 2-0 victory over Manchester City on Sunday at the Etihad.
After Arsenal’s slip-up against West Ham United, it leaves the Reds 11 points clear at the summit of English football.
Winning the title would seal a remarkable first season in charge for Slot, brought in last summer with the unenviable task of replacing Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool have signed just one player under the Dutchman in Federico Chiesa for a modest fee of £10million with the Italy international playing a bit-part role, starting just three matches all season.
Off the field, their priority from now until the end of the season will be tying Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah down to new contracts with the trio entering the final six months of their current deals.
But club legend Carragher believes the manager has already identified the players he will want rid of this summer, believing three new additions are needed for the first team.
Carragher believes there will be big changes this summer
‘What I would say is, and it is an exciting thing for Liverpool, Slot hasn’t bought anyone really,’ Carragher told Sky Sports following the 2-0 win over City.
‘They bought Chiesa last minute to cover Salah if he was injured. He is going to know this squad a lot better going into next season and if I’m being honest, he only ever used 14 or 15 players.
‘There are probably four or five players in the squad he doesn’t rate. I am not being critical but he is probably thinking now I know what this team needs.
‘While this team is going to go on and win the league title , I still think there’s three positions in this team that can be improved quite a bit.
‘I think Liverpool, could bring a left back in, a centre forward in and an attacking midfielder, players coming into the team then maybe certain areas of the team.
Liverpool now 11 points clear at the top
‘That’s pretty exciting because you would imagine Liverpool have money to spend.’
While Arsenal have a game in hand, injury woes for Mikel Arteta’s side threaten to undermine any hopes of closing the gap on Liverpool.
The Reds have dropped points away to Everton and Aston Villa over the last two weeks but remain firmly in control.
‘Three days ago we had a draw at Villa and people told me we weren’t in a good place and then three days later we win and it changes again. We work every single day to achieve this and it is three months of very hard work to maintain this,’ Slot said.
‘There is no secret. We are 11 points clear but Arsenal has one game in hand. The best attack we had didn’t end in a goal. You always have to adapt to the challenge you have. A week ago we experienced how difficult Wolves at home was. They will always be difficult games, like today.
‘It is easier for us to not get excited because we know what we have to put in. This result was more about defence than attack. It is normal for fanbases to be positive and it is important to understand why we are where we are.’
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