Liverpool's Midfield Concerns Ahead of New Season
Jamie Carragher has sounded the alarm over Liverpool’s midfield, warning that Andoni Iraola’s new-look side is nowhere near ready to mount a Premier League title challenge.
With the 2026/27 season just over a week away, Liverpool are trying to reset after a chaotic year that saw Arne Slot sacked and Champions League football salvaged only by a fifth-place finish. Twelve months on from a title win, they are starting again under a new head coach, and Carragher does not like what he sees in the middle of the pitch.
New era, old problem
It has been a restrained summer at Anfield. Victor Munoz and Ronald Araujo have come through the door, while Jeremy Jacquet is on his way after a deal with Rennes was tied up back in February. Liverpool are still hunting for a winger to help fill the void left by Mohamed Salah, with Bradley Barcola a key target.
Yet for Carragher, the real concern lies behind the forwards.
“The midfield issue for me is still a huge problem for Liverpool,” he said on the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet.
Last season’s frailties in that area were obvious: gaps, transitions, opponents streaming through the centre. Carragher has watched Iraola’s side in pre-season, and his verdict is blunt — nothing has changed.
“I haven’t watched all the pre-season games, but I watched the last two against decent opposition – it was Leeds and then Monaco. And the problem Liverpool had last season was there was space everywhere in Liverpool’s midfield. That has not gone away at all.”
Too much talent, not enough balance
Iraola appears ready to lean into an aggressive, high-energy midfield. Dominik Szoboszlai, who many see as a natural No.10, is being used deeper, almost as a central midfielder alongside Ryan Gravenberch. On paper, it is a thrilling, box-to-box combination. On grass, Carragher sees danger.
“That’s only going to get bigger with the deployment of [Dominik] Szoboszlai in midfield – it looks like they’re going to play him, rather than as a number 10, almost as a central midfield player alongside [Ryan] Gravenberch and that is just pure box-to-box.
“I look at that midfield three and I worry about Liverpool. When you name six or seven of Liverpool’s players, you can’t say they’re not top players – you can’t say Gravenberch is not a really good player, or [Florian] Wirtz, or Szoboszlai.
“But as a midfield three, I look at that and think, oh no – there’s almost too much quality, but they all want to go and play and run. And even in pre-season, the space is coming through the middle.”
The individual names impress. The collective shape does not. For Carragher, Liverpool are stacking technicians and runners, but leaving themselves exposed in exactly the area that cost them last season.
And unless Iraola and the club move quickly to fix that imbalance, the former defender is convinced the title is out of reach before a ball has even been kicked.
