Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol has picked his best XI for the Reds right now, and it involves one Reds star changing position
08:58, 21 Oct 2025
Arne Slot has overseen four successive defeats(Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool great Steve Nicol has come up with a radical solution to Liverpool’s defensive woes – picking Conor Bradley at left-back.
The Reds have lost four successive games in all competitions for the first time since November 2014, with Arne Slot seeing his new and expensively assembled squad struggle for cohesion after a summer of spending.
One of those new faces, Milos Kerkez, has come in for huge criticism due to his performances at left-back, and former Reds full-back Nicol – who won four league titles and the 1984 European Cup with the cub – says a switch there is necessary, although he wouldn’t turn to Andy Robertson.
OPINION
“As much as the actual team as a whole is a bit of a shambles, there’s no question that the back four totally is,” Nicol told ESPNFC. “And one of the biggest problems is trust. They can’t trust each other.
“Kerkez for me is affecting the rest of them way, way too much, and I say that both from a defensive point of view and from a position of possession as well. He’s not contributing either side.
“So I absolutely 100% would pull Bradley over to left-back because I don’t think Andy Robertson right now is ready to start. I would put Bradley there and I would tell Bradley that your first job and foremost job is to a) defend, and back up (Cody) Gakpo on the left hand side.
How Liverpool should set up according to Steve Nicol(Image: ESPNFC)
“I don’t need you running past Gakpo, I don’t need you making runs in the middle of the park. I need you to be solid. And I’m bringing (Jeremie) Frimpong in (on the right) because Frimpong would give everybody a lift.
“He has an energy that’s infectious. Right now Liverpool need a spark to get everybody going, and I think Frimpong would do that. “
Nicol also added that he would keep faith with Mohamed Salah in the side for now despite several calls to drop him, including from Reds great Jamie Carragher.
“I think Salah is the big question,” continued Nicol. “There’s no doubt (Hugo) Ekitike should have started against United. I would have him starting.
“Gakpo has to start. And Salah, right now, just has about enough money in the bank that he deserves a couple of games, and if he produces what he’s given Liverpool from the first game of the season until now, then he has to sit (on the bench).”
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