Jamie Carragher Slams Milos Kerkez as Liverpool's Full-Back Woes Continue

Jamie Carragher has torn into Liverpool left-back Milos Kerkez, branding him the “Darwin Nunez of full-backs” and questioning whether the club have backed the wrong project in a key area of the pitch.

The Hungarian has started Liverpool’s first two Premier League games of the season under Andoni Iraola, both chaotic 2-2 draws against Newcastle and Nottingham Forest. Two points from six, four goals conceded, and a storm swirling around the full-backs already.

“Head down and run”

Carragher, speaking on The Overlap, did not bother to sugar-coat his view of Kerkez’s game intelligence or composure.

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

He said, grouping Kerkez with Jeremie Frimpong as defensively suspect.

He then reached for a comparison that will sting at Anfield.

“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 issue isn’t just form. It’s profile. A £40 million defender, he argued, cannot still be playing purely on raw pace and adrenaline.

He believes Kerkez leans far too heavily on his speed, with little of the positional calm and decision-making required in a back line that wants to compete for the title.

The left-back bet

Liverpool’s decision to double down on Kerkez is at the heart of the criticism. The club allowed Andy Robertson to move on and saw another left-back depart after a loan spell. The message was clear: Kerkez would be the man.

“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,’”

Carragher said, outlining the logic.

The thinking inside the club, he suggested, would have been simple: with Iraola familiar with Kerkez from Bournemouth and a big fee already committed, Liverpool were unlikely to invest another £40m in that position. Kerkez would get another year to grow into the role.

The problem? The early evidence this season looks worryingly familiar to last.

Money everywhere but full-back

Liverpool did not hold back in the transfer market. They just spent their money elsewhere.

• Bradley Barcola arrived for £106m.
• Jeremy Jacquet followed for £55m.
• Four more signings came through the door as the club reshaped Iraola’s squad with serious investment.

The full-back positions, though, were effectively left untouched. No new competition for Kerkez. No alternative to Frimpong. No obvious safety net if the experiment failed.

Gary Neville, analysing the same defensive issues, admitted he could not understand the strategy.

“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 comparison with another contender.

“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?”

A calculated risk or an avoidable flaw?

Two games into the season, Liverpool already look like a side trying to outscore their own weaknesses. Kerkez and Frimpong offer thrust and energy, but every overlap seems to carry a warning label.

Iraola has backed players he knows and a structure he trusts. The club have backed him with serious money. But they have also backed Kerkez and Frimpong to grow up fast in the most unforgiving league in Europe.

If Carragher and Neville are right, and the problems were obvious a year ago, the question now is brutal in its simplicity: are Liverpool chasing the title with a defence that everyone else can see coming?