"No top team plays football like that. I don't believe it." Jamie Carragher isn't soft-pedalling his concerns about Liverpool's preseason, and given what he's watched, it's hard to argue with him.
Five games. Nine scored. Nine conceded. Liverpool threw away two-goal leads against both Leeds United and Monaco and lost both matches. That's not a rough patch — that's a pattern, and it's exactly the kind of pattern that has Carragher publicly questioning where this team is headed.
Too Many Players Bombing Forward
Carragher's diagnosis is specific: Liverpool have too many attacking-minded players on the pitch simultaneously, with everyone wanting to push forward and nobody minding the shop. "It's just a basketball game," he said on The Overlap Fan Debate. At the highest level of European football, that's not a compliment.
New head coach Andoni Iraola inherited a squad already stripped of Mohamed Salah, Ibrahim Konate, and Andy Robertson this summer. That's serious squad depth departing — a prolific winger, a centre-back, and a first-choice left-back all gone. Rebuilding that kind of quality takes time. Rebuilding the defensive structure that keeps you competitive while you do it? That's the immediate problem.
The reason Iraola was hired is precisely what Carragher points to as the vision: high-energy, press-heavy football in the mould of Jurgen Klopp. His work at Bournemouth — keeping them organised, aggressive, and hard to play through — made him the profile Liverpool wanted. But translating that to a club of this size, with this much upheaval, is a different challenge entirely.
Iraola Gets a Pass — For Now
Carragher isn't blaming the manager. Not yet. His argument is that Iraola is delivering exactly the style Liverpool asked for, which means the onus shifts to the players. "If you don't do it, it's on you," he said plainly. "It won't be on Iraola."
That framing matters for how Liverpool's season will be judged — and how their odds should be read going into the Premier League opener. A team this porous at the back, even in preseason, is going to give points away against top-half sides. The attacking intent is there. The defensive discipline isn't. Until those two things find a balance, Liverpool are a team that could beat anyone and lose to anyone.
Carragher has seen this club at its best. Right now, he's not seeing it.
