Carragher Slams Liverpool's Milos Kerkez as 'Darwin Núñez of Full-Backs'
Jamie Carragher has torn into Liverpool left-back Milos Kerkez, branding him the “Darwin Núñez of full-backs” and accusing the £40 million signing of playing with his head down and his brain switched off.
Kerkez has started Liverpool’s first two Premier League games of the season under Andoni Iraola, but while the club has stumbled to back-to-back 2-2 draws against Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, the spotlight has burned brightest on the full-backs. Both Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong have been hammered for their defending, and patience outside the dressing room already looks thin.
Carragher’s brutal comparison
Speaking on The Overlap, Carragher didn’t bother softening the blow when he assessed Kerkez’s game intelligence.
“Their understanding of the game is really, really poor. You’re watching the game and thinking, ‘Why has he done that?’” he said, referring to Liverpool’s full-backs.
He then doubled down on a comparison he’d already made last season.
“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 talent. It’s control. He believes Kerkez leans far too much on his pace and power and not nearly enough on positioning or composure, a damaging flaw in a side trying to play on the edge under Iraola.
Liverpool’s gamble at full-back
Carragher also highlighted the context of the signing. Liverpool paid £40m for Kerkez, committed to him early, and then doubled down on that decision.
“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. Andy Robertson moved on, we had another left-back on loan, so we're probably not going to spend another £40million on another. He's our left-back, let him have another year’.”
That logic shaped the window. Liverpool threw huge money at other areas of the pitch, with Bradley Barcola arriving for £106m and Jeremy Jacquet for £55m, plus four more additions. The flanks at the back, though, were left untouched.
As the goals fly in at both ends, that decision already looks like a major roll of the dice.
Neville questions Liverpool’s strategy
Gary Neville is just as unconvinced. Watching the same defensive patterns repeat, he admitted he cannot understand how Liverpool went into another season with the same full-backs and the same flaws.
“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,” Neville said.
“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, two points, four goals conceded, and already two of the club’s most high-profile former defenders asking the same question: did Liverpool leave their title hopes exposed out wide before a ball was even kicked?
