Jamie Carragher hit out at Liverpool’s “unbelievable” and “absolutely shocking” defending in their 4-2 win over Bournemouth – saying they will not retain their Premier League title if they continue with those standards.
Liverpool won on an emotional night at Anfield thanks to late goals from Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah – but they were given a real scare by the Cherries as Antoine Semenyo’s quickfire double cancelled out goals either side of half-time by Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo.
Both of Semenyo’s goals saw Liverpool caught out on the transition – with Bournemouth’s second goal seeing the young forward run nearly the length of the pitch before finding the bottom corner.
Carragher also hit out at Ibrahima Konate, who he felt was responsible for poor defending for both goals.
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Highlights from the Premier League match between Liverpool and Bournemouth
“It is unbelievable,” said Carragher on Friday Night Football after the game. “It’s fantastic from Semenyo – but Liverpool have had this problem.
“How many players were ahead of the ball – maybe eight players – when they were winning 2-1? That can’t happen. It’s absolutely shocking at this level.
“For Semenyo to run that far and get his shot away is incredible – but where Konate is going? He had a really, really poor night tonight at centre-back.”
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Antoine Semenyo’s solo strike brought Bournemouth level at Anfield
Carragher added that Liverpool’s defending has been poor during their pre-season campaign. There were similar goals conceded in the 4-2 defeat against AC Milan, while they also conceded twice against Athletic Club and Crystal Palace in the Community Shield.
The Sky Sports pundit was also critical of Liverpool’s defending at Wembley – and suggested on Friday night that it is too easy for teams to cut through Arne Slot’s side.
“That is not right. It’s not,” said Carragher. “It’s only game on top of the Community Shield – but I’ve watched enough football in my life. This idea that everyone bombs forward, it’s not for me. I don’t like it.
“At no time last week in the Community Shield did I ever feel Liverpool were in control of the game. You can draw 2-2 with Palace, that can happen. But it’s how easy Crystal Palace could get at Liverpool, how easy it was tonight.
“In the first half, Bournemouth should have been at least 2-0 up at one stage.”
So do Liverpool now need a centre-back?
Liverpool’s poor defending comes alongside the club’s pursuit of a centre-back during the final weeks of the window.
The Reds secured the £26m signing of Parma centre-back Giovanni Leoni on Friday – but they have also been strongly linked with a move for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi.
Parma’s Giovanni Leoni has joined Liverpool
There is also Konate’s situation – with the French international entering the final year of his Liverpool contract – amid rumours linking the defender to Real Madrid next season.
But Carragher believes that any new defender would not fix Liverpool’s overall problem of being too easy to attack against.
“There is definitely a problem that Arne Slot has to solve,” Carragher said.
“People say they need a centre-back – a centre-back doesn’t fix that. He just takes Konate’s place.
“It’s about the make-up of the team with two attacking full-backs and a No 10 who is more interested in getting on the ball than defending like [Dominik] Szoboszlai was last season.
“If Liverpool continue like that, I don’t think they will win the league.”
Slot responds to ‘worried’ Carra
Slot responded to Carragher’s comment, saying Liverpool are more vulnerable on the counter-attack due to the absence of Ryan Gravenberch, with Alexis Mac Allister also lacking sharpness in midfield.
“I do talk about a player who was not available last week and not this week. That’s Ryan Gravenberch,” said Slot. “Last season, he was very, very important in these moments.
“So with Alexis Mac Allister only being back two or three weeks in pre-season, we lost a little bit of that control in our midfield. But Ryan will be back next week and Macca will be fitter. And we will find a balance in taking risks because against Palace, we lost two or three simple balls to counter-attacks.”
And responding to Carragher’s comments about Liverpool throwing too many bodies forward, Slot said he has no plans to change his philosophy.
“That’s also who we were and who we are – and that’s why we see such a nice game if you watch Liverpool,” said the Reds boss. “We are not going to a low block to defend.”
Carragher replied: “That worries me a little, you saying that’s the team that we are, with bodies going forward.”
“You’re allowed to say this,” said the Liverpool head coach. “But then you need to support a team that plays 11 players in their own box. I prefer to see [what Liverpool did against Bournemouth].
“But I prefer even more to not see ourselves counter-attacked – that I agree on. But I like that our players like to play football – last season we were a joy to watch. Paris Saint-Germain do similar things to this.”
