Carragher Critiques Liverpool's Milos Kerkez as Full-Back Gamble
Jamie Carragher has torn into Liverpool’s new left-back Milos Kerkez, branding him the “Darwin Nunez of full-backs” and questioning whether the club have blundered badly in a key area of the pitch.
The 20-year-old has started both of Liverpool’s opening Premier League games under Andoni Iraola, chaotic 2-2 draws with Newcastle and Nottingham Forest that have left the new era on Merseyside stuttering rather than surging. Two points, four goals scored, four conceded – and the spotlight already burning on the full-backs.
Carragher’s brutal verdict
Carragher, never shy of a strong opinion on defensive standards at his old club, was scathing about Kerkez’s game intelligence and composure.
“Their understanding of the game is really, really poor. You’re watching the game and thinking, ‘Why has he done that?’” he said on The Overlap, grouping Kerkez with Jeremie Frimpong in his criticism.
He then reached for a comparison that will sting.
“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 a £40 million signing, that is a damning assessment. Carragher’s issue is not the talent. It is the reliance on raw pace and energy instead of positioning, timing and control – the traits that define top-level defenders in a team with title ambitions.
Liverpool’s left-back gamble
The context makes the criticism even sharper. Liverpool have effectively handed Kerkez the shirt. Andy Robertson has moved on, another left-back has gone out on loan, and Iraola arrived with prior knowledge of Kerkez from Bournemouth. The club’s internal logic seemed clear enough.
“They've brought in Kerkez for £40million,” Carragher said. “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… He's our left-back, let him have another year’.”
That is exactly what Liverpool have done. They have doubled down. And they have done it while spending heavily elsewhere.
Money everywhere but full-back
The summer outlay has been enormous. Bradley Barcola arrived for £106m. Jeremy Jacquet cost £55m. Four more signings followed. The squad looks deeper, more explosive, more expensive.
Yet the full-back positions – so central to Liverpool’s identity in recent years – were left untouched. No new competition for Kerkez. No alternative to Frimpong. No safety net.
Gary Neville cannot get his head around it.
“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.
“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?”
Early warning signs
Two games into the new campaign, the warnings feel less theoretical and more immediate. Both Newcastle and Nottingham Forest exposed space in wide areas. Both found joy running at Liverpool’s flanks. Kerkez and Frimpong have offered plenty going forward, but their defensive lapses are already feeding a familiar narrative.
This is not a debate about potential. Kerkez is young, aggressive, fearless, and Iraola trusts him. It is a debate about timing and risk. Liverpool are trying to reset under a new manager while competing at the top end of the Premier League. That is a brutal environment in which to let a raw defender learn on the job.
Carragher’s “Darwin Nunez of full-backs” line captures the dilemma perfectly: chaos can be thrilling in the final third; at the back, it can be fatal.
The window is closed. The money has been spent elsewhere. Liverpool have nailed their colours to these full-backs. Now the question hangs over Anfield: will that conviction look bold in May, or reckless?
