Jamie Carragher has questioned why Liverpool chose to spend over £180 million on Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike in the summer.
The Reds’ transfer window was one of their busiest in recent memory with the club spending a hefty chunk of change.
Many thought that the moves the Reds were making would make them close to unstoppable but in reality, it’s made them worse.
Some of Liverpool’s first-team squad still haven’t got used to how one another plays so it’s making it difficult for the Reds to string together a decent run of games.
And, although it’s nice to have two world-class players in each position, the fact that Arne Slot and Richard Hughes chose to spend most of their budget on Isak and Ekitike has left Carragher baffled.
Jamie Carragher doesn’t know how the dynamic between Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak will work at Liverpool
Isak is out injured at the moment, so, at the moment, Slot doesn’t have the conundrum of which striker to start each week.
Not only has this allowed Ekitike to have a decent run of games but it’s also proved that the Frenchman can’t be dropped.
He’s been one of Liverpool’s best attackers this season and without him among their ranks, things would have gone even worse at Anfield.
However, seeing as though Isak will be back in contention before the Manchester City game, it will be interesting to see how Slot handles the situation from then on.
With this in mind, former Liverpool legend Carragher has been left wondering how Slot is going to be able to deal with his striker conundrum throughout the rest of the season.
“I could totally understand it’s not easy, and this was always my reservation about buying two strikers for that much money who both play in the same position,” he said on Sky Sports.
“It’s very difficult to see a Liverpool team get two strikers on the pitch, it’s not easy to do that. So I understand trying to get Isak in the team even though Ekitike was doing well – because he’s a great player, he’s got to get him fit and he’s also paid a lot of money for him.
“My mind boggles going forward how this is going to work, but right now Ekitike’s got the shirt, he’s playing really well and it will probably do Isak a little bit of good if he’s out of the team to build his fitness up in training more.”
Liverpool may have some tough decisions to make over Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike as the season goes on
Slot has already tried out a fair few different formations to try and sort out Liverpool’s form this season.
He’s even tried to play with three centre-backs but that was a massive failure.
The Dutchman has also tried to use the 4-4-2 to get both Isak and Ekitike in their preferred positions but, that didn’t seem to stick either.
However, when he went back to last season’s formation against Aston Villa and used Ekitike as the focal point, Liverpool put in one of their best performances of the campaign.
Not only does this show that the Reds still have what it takes to compete in the Premier League but it also proves that the 4-3-3 is the best way to get the most out of Liverpool’s first-team squad.
As the season goes on and Isak gets fit, Slot is going to have to make some tough calls and even start players out of position to get the best out of his men.
Otherwise they’ll be left behind by their rivals and perhaps even end the season trophyless.
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