Carragher's Harsh Critique of Milos Kerkez

Jamie Carragher has torn into Liverpool left-back Milos Kerkez, branding him the “Darwin Nunez of full-backs” and accusing the youngster of playing with chaos rather than control.

Kerkez has started Liverpool’s first two Premier League games of the season under Andoni Iraola, but back-to-back 2-2 draws with Newcastle and Nottingham Forest have already turned the spotlight harshly onto the defence. Two points from two games, four goals conceded, and a new back-line already under heavy fire.

Carragher’s brutal verdict on Kerkez

Speaking on The Overlap, Carragher made it clear he sees a fundamental problem in Kerkez’s game.

“Their understanding of the game is really, really poor. You’re watching the game and thinking, ‘Why has he done that?’”

He said, lumping Kerkez in with Liverpool’s other full-back issues.

He then revived a comparison he’d made before.

“I described Kerkez last season – and it was his first season, maybe it was a bit harsh at the time – he's the Darwin Nunez of full-backs. It's just like ‘head down and run’, everything Kerkez does is 100 miles an hour.”

For Carragher, the problem is not talent. It’s temperament and intelligence. The £40 million signing, he argued, leans almost entirely on his speed rather than reading the game or positioning himself smartly.

Liverpool had effectively doubled down on Kerkez this summer. Andy Robertson has moved on, another left-back departed after a loan, and Iraola arrived from Bournemouth with first-hand knowledge of the player. That, in Carragher’s eyes, made the club’s decision clear.

“They've brought in Kerkez for £40million. He’s had his first season, it wasn't amazing, but right, you go: ‘OK, Iraola’s come in from Bournemouth, he knows him, he's still our left-back… so we're probably not going to spend another £40million on another. He's our left-back, let him have another year’.”

That “another year” has started badly.

Full-back gamble under the microscope

Kerkez is not alone in the firing line. Jeremie Frimpong, on the opposite flank, has also been hammered for his defensive work. Both full-backs have been exposed in Liverpool’s open, front-foot approach under Iraola, and pundits are already asking the obvious question: did the club misread their own squad?

Liverpool poured money into other areas in the summer. Bradley Barcola arrived for £106m, Jeremy Jacquet for £55m, with four more signings on top of that. Yet the full-back positions – already viewed as fragile last season – were left untouched.

Gary Neville cannot get his head around it.

“The two full-backs, it was quite clear at the start of last season when you watched them for five or six matches, that defensively they weren’t going to be quite at the level to do it,” he said.

Neville drew a sharp parallel with another title contender’s big decision.

“I'm stunned. We talk about ‘will Arsenal regret not bringing in a forward’ – will Liverpool regret not bringing in a couple of full-backs?”

Two games in, the answer feels uncomfortably close.