Carragher Tears Into Liverpool’s Setup—and Konaté—After Paris Punishment

• Carragher says Liverpool’s back-five plan left them wide open
• Konaté labelled the weak link as PSG win first leg 2-0
• Reds “lucky” to escape Paris only two down, with Anfield to come

Paris was punishing and Liverpool were second best by a distance. PSG’s 2-0 first-leg win—via an early deflected strike from Désiré Doué and a second-half finish from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia—left the Reds staring at a mountain. And Jamie Carragher didn’t mince his words: the system stank, and one defender, in particular, is dragging standards down.

Manager Arne Slot even admitted Liverpool were fortunate to get out with only a two-goal deficit. For those tracking the narrative as closely as the odds, our guide to football betting sites UK has all the angles as the tie swings back to Anfield.

The Back-Five Gamble That Backfired

Slot rolled the dice with a back five, placing Virgil van Dijk between Ibrahima Konaté and Joe Gomez rather than sticking with his usual four. Carragher’s take? The tweak made Liverpool more exposed, not safer—man-for-man all over the park, three centre-halves asked to defend the full width, and chaos whenever PSG switched play.

Van Dijk, now in his mid-thirties, was left covering spaces no centre-back wants to see, looking unusually uncomfortable at the heart of that line. Carragher argued the shape did him no favours and suggested the captain will be urging Slot to bin the experiment sharpish.

Konaté Under the Microscope

While some aimed blame at Van Dijk, Carragher firmly pushed back, insisting the skipper has been one of Liverpool’s better performers this season. His criticism landed instead on Konaté, whom he accused of costly lapses almost every game—the sort that unsettle any defence. In Paris, those glitches were magnified by the risky setup and PSG’s ruthless movement.

Beyond the individual errors, Carragher was alarmed by the sheer gulf in class on the night—particularly stark when he contrasted it with last season’s visit to the Parc des Princes, which he recalled as a narrow Liverpool win and a tight return at Anfield. He also pointed to the club’s heavy outlay—around £450m—as a reason supporters will be asking how the gap has widened, not closed.

There’s still a pulse in the tie, but it’s faint. Anfield can turn the mood, yet Liverpool will need a near-perfect second leg—and, crucially, a return to a back four that restores structure and settles nerves. Otherwise, PSG’s holders will cruise through, and Carragher’s warning about standards slipping will feel painfully prophetic.

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