Carra: Slot got it massively wrong tactically
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Jamie Carragher said Arne Slot got his tactics "massively wrong" and that Virgil van Dijk will be pleading with him not to use a back five again after Liverpool were outclassed by Paris Saint-Germain.Liverpool were left with a huge task to reach the Champions League last four after a 2-0 quarter-final first leg loss to the holders which, according to Carragher, could easily have been "five or six". Liverpool took Paris Saint-Germain to penalties at the last-16 stage last season but Carragher was alarmed by the extent of PSG's superiority a year later as the Reds' poor season continued.Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Liverpool - Match reportAs it happened | Teams | StatsChampions League results and fixturesLiverpool news & transfers🔴⚪ | Liverpool fixtures & scores Image: Hugo Ekitike shows dejection after Liverpool concede the second goal "That was like watching a team from a lower division," he said on CBS Sports Golazo.
How's it got that bad?"Slot switched to a back five in an attempt to contain the threat of the French giants but Carragher felt the decision backfired due to an insistence on using man-to-man marking which left Virgil van Dijk exposed alongside the struggling Ibrahima Konate."The manager has tried something but he's got it massively wrong tactically, how he went about it," Carragher continued."It's easy for me to say that, after the event, but that's what we do, we're pundits, we speak after the events in the game."They were actually more open with the back five than they would be with the back four because they went man-to-man all over the pitch and the three centre-backs and to cover the width of the pitch. Image: Arne Slot and Curtis Jones leave the field after Liverpool's 2-0 loss at PSG "Watching Virgil van Dijk tonight in the middle of the back three… Normally, when you get to a certain age, you think, middle of a back three, that's perfect for me, everyone's in position, you get a bit of protection in your back five."This was different.
He couldn't do it."People have criticised Van Dijk this season for his performances and I think it's been harsh. I actually think Van Dijk has been one of Liverpool's better players but tonight in that back three, I have never seen him so uncomfortable in a Liverpool shirt in my life."I think he will be pleading with Arne Slot to never play that system ever again because he found it so tough."But, what I must also say is that it's not just the system of Liverpool and getting it wrong tactically, PSG were absolutely out of this world.