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JAMIE CARRAGHER CALLS OUT STRUGGLING LIVERPOOL PLAYERS AMID FORM CONCERNS

Jamie Carragher says Liverpool have "too many small players" who can't cope with the Premier League's physicality. The Reds have lost four games in a row after defeat to Man United.

Jamie Carragher Calls Out Struggling Liverpool Players Amid Form Concerns
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot shakes hands with Jamie Carragher. (Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Legendary Liverpool player Jamie Carragher has acknowledged that some of the team's players do not seem to be able to handle the way the Premier League is now being played.

Following Liverpool's unexpected 2-1 home loss to Manchester United today, the analyst speculated on Sky Sports that this Reds team may have too many little players.

The game is currently seeing a phase of longer balls and set pieces than we have seen in a while, and it appears like Arne Slot's team is finding it difficult to handle that style with their current roster.

Carragher's study, which can be found below, identifies diminutive players like Florian Wirtz and Alexis Mac Allister as not being suitable for attacking or defending set pieces.

Indeed, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong are not the biggest or most physically strong defenders, and Carragher also implied that the new full-backs are not handling things too well.

Liverpool's losing streak now stands at four games.

After losing four straight games in all competitions, Liverpool is currently on a terrible run of form following their loss to Manchester United.

After winning the Premier League title with relative ease the previous season, LFC was the clear favourite to win it again this year, but their performance has drastically declined.

They were still giving up a lot of goals even at the beginning of the season when they were starting to get results, and it is now seriously hurting them.

It is difficult to see Liverpool going on a winning streak so soon after losing 2-1 to Crystal Palace, 1-0 to Galatasaray, 2-1 to Chelsea, and now 2-1 to United today.

Due to these outcomes, Slot's team is now four points behind league leaders Arsenal, and they have given up 11 goals to the Gunners' three.

THE KONATé CROSSROADS: WHY ARNE SLOT IS DESPERATE TO KEEP LIVERPOOL’S DEFENSIVE PILLAR

Arne Slot confirms ongoing contract talks with Ibrahima Konaté! Read Virgil van Dijk's "world-class" verdict and transfer updates.

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Arne Slot Confirms Ongoing Contract Talks To Keep Ibrahima Konaté

Liverpool is trying to lock down Ibrahima Konate on a new contract, and Arne Slot has made it pretty clear he wants the defender to stick around.

Right now, there’s a real risk they lose Konate for nothing next summer. He cost them £36 million, but his contract runs out soon, and if they don’t sort things out, he could just walk away.

Meanwhile, Liverpool haven’t been sitting on their hands. They brought in Giovanni Leoni last summer for £26 million, and they’ve already lined up Jeremy Jacquet for an initial £55 million. He’ll join up after the season ends. So, yeah, they’re planning for the future in that backline.

Still, Virgil van Dijk isn’t shy about what he thinks. After Konate’s standout performance in Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Sunderland, Van Dijk called him “world class” and said, “Obviously, I want him to stay.”

Slot says the club’s working on it: “We’re in talks with him, so you can see what we want. We want him here. It’s ongoing, so we’ll see where it ends up. We wouldn’t be negotiating if we didn’t want him.”

Liverpool went through all this last year too: Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all heading into the last stretch of their deals. The club managed to keep Van Dijk and Salah. Now Slot’s basically saying it’s Konate’s turn to decide.

Konate has played 33 times this season. Last month, after his father passed away, he even cut short his compassionate leave to face Newcastle. That says a lot.

And with all the injuries Liverpool have had, Slot’s just glad Konate and Van Dijk are still healthy. “He’s been as important as Virgil,” Slot said. “There’s a bit of an age gap, and that matters sometimes. Ibou’s had a good run with lots of strong games, even if earlier in the season, one mistake cost us a goal, and people judged him for that. But his partnership with Virgil has been really solid since I arrived. Both have stayed fit, touch wood. We need them, not just for their quality but because, honestly, we don’t have many options behind them.”

INJURY BLOW: WATARU ENDO RULED OUT FOR "CONSIDERABLE PERIOD" AFTER SUNDERLAND HORROR INJURY

Wataru Endo is out for a "considerable period." Discover Arne Slot’s latest update on the Liverpool injury crisis and right-back woes.

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Endo joins Frimpong and Bradley on Liverpool’s growing injury list

Arne Slot said that Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo will be out for a while.

The 33-year-old midfielder seemed to get seriously hurt during the second half of their 1-0 win against Sunderland on Wednesday.

Endo, who was playing his first Premier League game of the season, was filling in at right-back. He got hurt when his foot was pinned under him while he tried to clear the ball. The Japanese international tried to keep playing, but he soon collapsed in pain and needed oxygen as he was taken off the field.

Liverpool is having a lot of injury problems at right-back, and Slot said that Endo is the latest player to get hurt in that position.

Before the FA Cup game against Brighton on Saturday, Slot said, We still need to check things out, but he'll be out for a considerable period.

Endo was playing right back because Dominik Szoboszlai was sent off in the loss to Manchester City on Sunday. Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong are also out with injuries. Giovani Leoni and Alexander Isak are also injured for an extended time.

But there was good news for Slot, as Joe Gomez played for the first time in three games, replacing Endo on the right side of the defence.

Slot's update comes after he said, after the Sunderland gam,e that he wasn't sure how bad Endo's injury was, but he called it serious.

"We don't know how serious it is yet because we need to check it out, but it doesn't look good," Slot added.

I'm not sure if it's his ankle. It's his foot, but we have to check if it's his ankle or his foot. I think he'll be out for a really long time. It's hard to say exactly how long right now.

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