Liverpool news: Arne Slot warned players ‘don’t trust’ new signing as Reds dealt injury blow

Liverpool have another opportunity to end their dismal run of form as they return to Champions League duties

Arne Slot remains under pressure to turn around Liverpool’s grave run of form that hit news lows after they were beaten by Manchester United. The reigning league champions succumbed to a 2-1 home loss on Sunday which marked their fourth defeat in a row – the first time they’ve gone on such a run since 2014.

The Reds have now dropped to fourth in the Premier League table but even more worryingly is the consistently abject performances that Arne Slot’s side continue to churn out. The loss to the Red Devils followed similar league losses to Chelsea two weeks ago and Crystal Palace last month.

While the loss to Ruben Amorim’s would have left a bitter taste, the Reds have the opportunity to end their losing streak today as they take on Eintracht Frankfurt in their third Champions League game of the season.

Their last outing in Europe’s premier competition ended in a 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray – the same team the Bundesliga side hammered 5-1 in their opening league phase match before losing by that same scoreline against Atletico Madrid.

Mirror Football takes a look at all the latest news coming out of Anfield as one Reds great questions Milos Kerkez, the club face a key injury absence and Jamie Carragher offers Slot a solution.

READ MORE: Liverpool braced for Premier League contact after breaching rule in Man Utd clashREAD MORE: Arne Slot urged to take action as Liverpool stars ‘don’t trust’ new team-mate

Summer signing branded ‘untrustworthy’

It hasn’t been the best start to life at Liverpool for Milos Kerkez as he continues to struggle in the midst of the Reds’ terrible run of form. While he’s usurped Andy Robertson as the club’s first choice left-back, the Hungary international has done little to warrant his continued starting place.

In what was another troublesome performance against Manchester United where he struggled to contain Bryan Mbeumo and Amad, former Liverpool great Steve Nicol made the damning claim that Kerkez has not yet gained the trust of his team-mates.

Speaking on ESPN, he said: “The biggest problem I have, and one of the biggest reasons that I think Kerkez shouldn’t start is not just what it’s doing to the back-line and particularly Virgil van Dijk, but the rest of the team don’t trust Kerkez.

“Kerkez reacts to it by panicking, and then he goes scared, and then he doesn’t want to make a mistake, which is why he keeps turning back and playing an easy ball backwards. But it’s not just Virgil van Dijk – everybody in that team doesn’t want to give him a ball.”

Nicol insisted that Kerkez’s performances and impact he’s having on the entire team means Slot has no choice but to relegate him to the bench. “That is a horrible position for Kerkez, but it’s a position that Arne Slot has to understand is way, way worse for the team than just the fact that Kerkez isn’t having a particularly good time,” he added.

“The fact that Kerkez is affecting the whole team, again, is one of the reasons why you have to get him out, get somebody solid in that everybody trusts and knows what they’re going to get. Because then they are just playing the ball and not thinking about it. Right now, everybody looks up, sees Kerkez, and looks somewhere else. And by that time, it means teams like United or whoever it is can get into a defensive posture quickly.”

Brutal injury blow

Despite Liverpool’s poor form, they haven’t been decimated by injuries despite the key absence of Alisson Becker. Unfortunately for the Reds, Ryan Gravenberch is set to be added to the sidelines after he was forced off with an ankle injury in Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat to Manchester United.

The 23-year-old midfielder twisted his ankle when he challenged Bryan Mbeumo in the second half, and despite attempts to continue playing, he was eventually brought off after 60 minutes.

Ahead of the Reds’ Champions League trip to Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday, the Dutchman was absent from open training and will prove to be a costly miss given his importance to Slot’s philosophy.

Carragher offers solution

Among the issues plaguing Liverpool right now is Slot’s inability to fit Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike into the same starting line-up. The club forked out £320m on the attacking trio but have yet to start a game together several months into their Liverpool tenure.

Despite the new-look attacking arsenal the club now possess, many didn’t expect there to be teething problems given the overwhelming quality of the players. However, with the current issues, Jamie Carragher discussed options on how Slot could solve his forward solution – which includes taking Cody Gakpo out of the starting XI.

“I’m trying to rack my brains as a Liverpool fan about what they could do. I’ve took Gakpo out there – he played really well on Sunday – and (Dominik) Szoboszlai will find a place in the team, but we’re concentrating on the attack,” Carragher said on Monday Night Football. “Isak and Ekitike at some stage, he’s got to try and make it work.

“It goes back to what I was saying before about it being a Real Madrid summer. I think Arne Slot almost has to be a Real Madrid manager. He should maybe put himself in the shoes of Carlo Ancelotti, who every summer whether that was at Chelsea, Real Madrid or AC Milan, they would have a big money signing and he’d have to make it work, and he would alter it to suit it.

“The perfect example is he wins the Champions League a few seasons ago with Karim Benzema as the striker – Ballon d’Or winner. Benzema goes to Saudi and he ends up playing (Jude) Bellingham as a false nine. It’s a completely different way of doing things.

“Look at Wirtz in that position (left side), tucked in, because it’s about getting the money on the pitch. Wirtz, you can’t keep him on the bench forever. He plays in that left channel, where he plays for Germany, where he played for Leverkusen in that back three system, Ekitike at times there, with Isak playing off him there, and also playing Wirtz there, it could get Kerkez higher up the pitch.

“So maybe Wirtz comes inside, opens up the space for Kerkez, another signing, maybe (Mohamed) Salah and Frimpong on the that right side… I’m trying to think as a manager, when you’ve spent big money, you have to find a way of getting the players in the team, and Carlo Ancelotti was a master of this.”

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