Jamie Carragher is never shy in pointing out Liverpool’s flaws – or defects of any other team, for that matter.
Last week he claimed that the runaway leaders at the top of the Premier League need to sign six players in the summer, one of which is a center-back. But speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, the ex-defender highlighted another area where the team is lacking.
In reviewing Fulham’s 3-2 win over Liverpool on Sunday, Carragher drew attention to how Virgil van Dijk, who plays as the left of the two centre-backs, was put under more pressure in possession, forcing him to pass with his weaker left-foot. In fact, according to Carragher, the absence of a left-footed center-back has been a problem for a long time.
“The reason why Fulham have pushed it to van Dijk is – and something Liverpool have always lacked – a left-footed center-back,” the pundit said, as he analysed Fulham’s second goal on Sunday, which was gifted to the team via three successive Andy Robertson errors.
“Now, the reason I think Virgil van Dijk probably goes to Andy Robertson is it’s the obvious pass, of course. It’s not a bad pass, but maybe a left-footed center-back with the quality of Van Dijk maybe could actually go there [and play a long-range pass].
“If it’s on the right side, he’s got that passing range in his locker. That’s why I think Fulham have pushed it this side, pushed Virgil van Dijk onto his left foot, because they know he can’t play that pass and he’s going to play the shorter pass.
“He goes to Andy Robertson and he’s just got to go back to the goalkeeper. He tries a cross-field pass, he gets it wrong and we know what happens. It was a nightmare scenario for him.”
In his detailed analysis, Carragher also claimed a gap between Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister in midfield was something that Fulham capitalized on. “There’s almost 30 yards between them now,” the 47-year-old pointed out, when reviewing Ryan Sessegnon’s goal.
That was partly achieved by Fulham overloading the left flank with left-back Antonee Robinson pushing higher up the pitch and Alex Iwobi cutting inside. It forced Gravenberch to pull out to right-back to help cover, especially with Curtis Jones – a midfielder at heart – operating in that role. “You know Mo Salah isn’t going to come back and that’s where the problems started, because of his [Robinson’s] position,” explained Carragher.
“A lot of it, for me, was Marco Silva and the position he put certain players in. They pulled Liverpool all over the place. Liverpool made big mistakes as well but they [Fulham] forced the mistakes becuase of how the team was set up.”
