Jamie Carragher slammed Andoni Iraola’s tactics as Liverpool scraped a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United in their opening Premier League clash.
Following emotional pre-match tributes to the late Kevin Keegan, Newcastle were the better side at St. James’ Park on Sunday, taking an early lead through Anthony Elanga.
Cody Gakpo equalised after the break, only for the home side to hit back immediately with Joe Willock scoring just seconds after coming off the bench.
The Magpies were on course for victory until the 96th minute when Lewis Hall fouled Victor Munoz in the box, with Dominik Szoboszlai scoring the resulting penalty to share the points.
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The Reds looked incredibly vulnerable in Iraola’s first game since replacing Arne Slot in the dugout, with Newcastle consistently overrunning their midfield of Ryan Gravenberch, Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz.
Liverpool legend Carragher was left incensed by Elanga’s goal on the counter-attack, immediately posting on Twitter: ‘LFC Midfield all bombing forward happened all pre-season, madness!’
And after Willock’s goal occurred in similar circumstances, Carragher posted: ‘Again! This midfield cannot work, I said it before a competitive ball was kicked.’
Former Liverpool forward Daniel Sturridge concurred with the former defender, urging Iraola to sign a new No.6 before the transfer window closes on September 1.
‘I think the team needs a defensive midfielder personally,’ the former Chelsea and Manchester City star told Sky Sports. ‘We’ve been talking about the defensive midfielder at Liverpool for the past three years.
‘Gravenberch coming into the team, playing consistently and Liverpool winning the Premier League changed that philosophy. But if you actually analyse the midfield, they’re all naturally more attacking players.
‘If you look at Brentford, they bring in [Mamadou] Sangare and you look at his stats, they jump out. Third in interceptions, third in tackles, third in possession recovered.
‘£39million, that’s not a load of money for someone like Liverpool. I’m not suggesting he was the man [they should’ve signed] but the stats jump out and Liverpool don’t have that profile of player right now.
‘Trey Nyoni, I really, really like him as a player, I think he’s brilliant. He’s more of a ball playing six or eight, he’s not a destroyer, he’s not someone who’s going to strike fear into the opposition like a Sangare or an N’Golo Kante can.’
Liverpool have not been heavily linked with a new defensive midfielder, with the club instead focusing on a new winger to replace Mohamed Salah.
The Reds have seen two bids for Yankuba Minteh rejected, with Brighton reportedly seeking £70m for the Gambia international.
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