Jamie Carragher was unimpressed with three Liverpool players during the Reds’ 2-2 draw with Fulham
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher speaking on Sky Sports(Image: Sky Sports)
Jamie Carragher was unimpressed with Liverpool’s defenders as he called out three of Arne Slot’s backline during the Reds’ 2-2 draw with Fulham. The reigning Premier League champions had looked set to clinch a stoppage-time victory after Cody Gakpo converted Jeremie Frimpong’s low cross.
But a 97th minute thunderbolt from Harrison Reed earned the Cottagers a 2-2 draw, after Florian Wirtz had cancelled out Harry Wilson’s opener.
Both Wilson and Wirtz’s goals were initially ruled out for offside before the on-pitch decisions were overturned following VAR review. And while Carragher later admitted he thought it was the wrong decision to allow Liverpool’s equaliser, he called out both Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk for their part in the Fulham opener.
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“I’m sick of seeing it, not just with Liverpool, right throughout the Premier League, what centre-backs do in this situation,” Carragher said on Sky Sports. “Remember Konate at Leeds, twice, he didn’t fill that space.
“The ball’s in the centre. I have no problem with one striker, two centre-backs in the middle. As soon as the ball goes to one side, you have to shuffle across.
“It’s lazy defending, or it’s a tactical instruction I don’t like. Konate has to come across, and Van Dijk then takes the position of Konate.
“You fill the space, and then this guy here, Harry Wilson, won’t run into the space. I’m sick of seeing it all the time, lazy defending from centre-backs. Not just Liverpool, right throughout the Premier League.
“Harry Wilson does not make that run if Konate’s across and Van Dijk’s across. Whether that’s come tactically from the manager, or they just want to sit in their armchairs in the middle of the pitch and let midfield players do their running for them.”
Carragher would also take aim at Milos Kerkez as he insisted the Hungary international needed to improve after making an unflattering comparison between the left-back and former Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez.
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“No (rotating hasn’t been good for Kerkez), but I think it’s working for Liverpool in that I don’t think he should be playing every week,” Carragher said. “You’ve got too good a player in Andy Robertson who needs to play games as well.
“I think when Andy Robertson’s played, he hasn’t played as much as Kerkez, I think you’d probably say Andy Robertson’s performances have been better than Kerkez’s.
“He’s found it tough, it’s been a struggle for him. He’s a young man, but he will have to improve in the second half of the season, there’s no doubt about that.
“It’s funny watching him [Kerkez] play. I always remember speaking about Trent Alexander-Arnold, who Liverpool have missed enormously of course, and said it’s like having Kevin De Bruyne at right-back. Sometimes when you watch Kerkez, it’s like having Darwin Nunez at left-back, it’s just a bit mad.
“There’s no real thought process, what’s he doing with the ball, how’s he connecting with other players, it’s just head down, run. He never gets his head up and actually plays passes.
“He’s got to improve, he’s a young man, we’ve seen that with a few left-backs, Andy Robertson being one actually who didn’t have the greatest start to his Liverpool career, but he needs to improve.”
