Carragher believes that Liverpool manager Arne Slot must speak to vice-captain Szoboszlai and permanently establish him in the right-back position.

Szoboszlai signed a new contract worth £350,000 per week this summer. He excelled in midfield last season and was named Liverpool's Player of the Season. For the Reds, it was one of the few bright spots under Arne Slot.

Although established in midfield, the Hungarian player has also been deployed as a right-back. He played sporadically in that position last season and returned to the right flank in the second half of Liverpool's 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Carragher believes that after a difficult start under Slot, Szoboszlai could be permanently moved to right-back. So far, Slot's team has failed to win in their first two Premier League matches.

With Conor Bradley still injured and Frimpong's form inconsistent, the right-back position has become a problem for Liverpool following Trent Alexander-Arnold's departure to Real Madrid last summer.

Carragher fears that Liverpool's failure to strengthen at full-back during the transfer window was a "huge mistake," but he believes Szoboszlai could provide a solution for Slot.

Carragher said on the "Stick to Football" podcast, hosted by Disney+, "The most obvious problem for him (Slot) is the same thing that happened last season and last weekend: Szoboszlai is back at right-back. I never thought Szoboszlai was a central midfielder."

"Now he's signed a new contract, and I can only imagine that during those negotiations, the club really wanted to keep him, and he almost said, 'I want to play in midfield.' His position constantly changes, and he also started this season in midfield. I don't think he's suited to that role.

"In my opinion, in midfield, he's like Henderson—the type of player who runs a lot, is aggressive, and has goal-scoring threat. But Liverpool don't play that way, and he's not a true number 10. Actually, his best position could be right-back. There, he can touch the ball a lot, run, and almost play the Alexander-Arnold role at that position.

"But he absolutely doesn't want to play there because he just signed a new contract worth £350,000 per week. You've just done something massive, and he's still vice-captain. I just think Slot needs to speak to him because midfield isn't working right now, and he's part of the problem in midfield."

Liverpool signed Luis Díaz from Paris Saint-Germain for £49 million this summer and Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia for £29 million on loan, both attacking players. Jarek Srooka and Leny Yoro also joined the team on permanent and loan deals respectively, strengthening defence, but the club did not sign any full-backs or central midfielders.

Neville said, reviewing Liverpool's transfer window, "I'm shocked."

"Those two full-backs (Kerkez and Frimpong), it was clear after seeing them play five or six matches early last season that they weren't at that defensive level. I'm genuinely shocked. Will Liverpool regret not strengthening in that position?"

Carragher added: "Their game understanding is really poor. You watch the match and think: why is he doing that? I described Kerkez early last season as the 'Núñez' of full-backs—he charges in headfirst. Everything he does is at 100 miles per hour."

"Liverpool spent £40 million on Kerkez, and he played one season. It wasn't brilliant, but giving him another chance might be fair. Slot came from Bournemouth and knows him, okay. So he's our left-back this season.

"The right-back position is a mess. What Liverpool did after Alexander-Arnold left, I was fine with it at the time—they didn't buy a direct replacement for Alexander-Arnold. Conor Bradley played fairly well when he was fit, and the club signed Frimpong not to compete directly but hoping he could cover the right-back role somewhat and get playing time there.

"Bradley got his chance and got injured, and honestly, he didn't play well last season. My issue is that Conor Bradley is a good young player, but if someone suffers a serious injury, he's not good enough that you shouldn't bring someone in.

"You'd wait for Alexander-Arnold and Robertson to return, but unfortunately, I don't think you should wait for Conor Bradley. You should go and buy a right-back.

"We're Liverpool, we're a big club, we can't wait for Conor Bradley. We hope he recovers, good luck to him, but I think that would be a huge mistake."

Traduit par IA.

Le site web d'AF est désormais en ligne ! Actualités complètes, commentaires, détails des matchs et statistiques sur votre ordinateur. Visitez : www.allfootballapp.com