It may come as a surprise to many that Liverpool’s net outlay this summer actually eclipsed the previous year’s expenditure, with the club ploughing in more than £200 million on new signings. Yet, despite this financial firepower, Andoni Iraola’s first transfer window as manager has concluded with a host of unanswered questions about the balance of his roster. Jamie Carragher voiced his unease on Sky Sports, stating bluntly, “The squad doesn’t look balanced.
Liverpool are short at full‑back and probably also lack depth in midfield.” His observation rings true even after the club splashed £123 million on Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint‑Germain. Barcola’s arrival, however, highlights the very issue of equilibrium that critics are flagging.
Liverpool have lost the Premier League’s most prolific left‑footed right‑winger in Mohamed Salah and seem to be compensating by loading the opposite side of the pitch with players who may not naturally fit the role. Carragher noted, “Liverpool don’t have a genuine, out‑and‑out right‑winger. Nobody on the right footed side can replicate what Mo Salah offered. I’m disappointed and I’m not sure what the plan is for that flank at the moment.” While Barcola is a versatile attacker, the size of his fee suggests he will be deployed in his strongest position, which is on the left.
It would be a stretch to imagine him thriving on the right wing, a spot that has traditionally been occupied by the likes of Salah. Currently, Cody Gakpo has been operating on the left, a position previously covered by Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike during their spells at Liverpool. Rio Ngumoha, who broke through on the left last season, was even tried on the opposite wing in pre‑season, and Victor Muñoz—signed after a single top‑flight campaign as a left‑winger—also appears a potential option. These individual quirks do not, on their own, condemn Liverpool’s recruitment policy to disaster; they are more a curiosity than a catastrophe.
The deeper worry for fans is the emergence of gaps elsewhere in the squad. In effect, the team looks heavily stocked in some areas while glaringly thin in others.
When Jeremie Frimpong was secured last summer, Liverpool made it clear he was not intended as a direct replacement for Trent Alexander‑Arnold at right‑back. Ironically, Frimpong has been thrust into that exact role for the opening two league fixtures.
With Conor Bradley sidelined through injury, Frimpong is the nearest thing to a specialist for the position, though some have suggested using Dominik Szoboszlai as a stop‑gap, a compromise that would see a midfield player shifted into a full‑back slot—far from ideal given how crucial the full‑backs are in Iraola’s system. The importance of the full‑backs is underscored by the fact that both Frimpong and Milos Kerkez rank among the Premier League’s top three sprint performers this season, with only Adrien Truffert—who also played under Iraola at Bournemouth—ranking higher. Iraola’s approach relies heavily on full‑backs bombarding forward, often simultaneously, which forces midfielders to cover the space left behind.
That tactical demand could become a serious liability for Liverpool. Ryan Gravenberch was a key figure in Arne Slot’s title‑winning campaign at Bournemouth, but Alexis Mac Allister’s physical decline over the past 18 months raises doubts about whether Iraola now has the personnel to shield against swift counter‑attacks. It is unclear whether Iraola intends to employ a traditional holding midfielder; at Bournemouth he preferred midfielders to engage aggressively high up the pitch, a philosophy echoed by Alex Scott’s description of a “very aggressive” defensive posture and Tyler Adams’s comment that the players believe they will win the ball in advanced areas. Early signs suggest the midfield balance may indeed be problematic.
Carragher warned, “I don’t think the midfield can function with the players we have. It’s not just about the personnel, it’s the structure the manager is asking for.” Within five minutes of Liverpool’s opening Premier League match, their defensive shape was exposed. With the full‑backs pushing high and the centre‑backs sitting deep, there was a vacuum in the middle of the park that Newcastle exploited to score. Given the attacking tendencies of Liverpool’s full‑backs and Virgil van Dijk’s growing propensity to drop deeper, this structural weakness is unlikely to disappear quickly.
Consequently, Iraola now commands the most expensive squad in the club’s history, yet it also appears to be the most unbalanced in a decade. Finding a remedy may require compromises beyond the transfer market. Carragher summed up the dilemma: “You don’t want to lose the offensive fluidity, the numbers in attack, but we were punished, especially for the first goal.
We didn’t lock down properly.” He added that the team cannot simply flood the opposition with numbers all the time, nor should it retreat entirely and stifle its attacking instinct. “You have to recognise the situation,” he said.
“Some players are great at sensing danger and staying back when needed.” For now, a couple of high‑scoring draws seem a realistic expectation for this Liverpool side. Whether their attacking strengths will outweigh the defensive frailties remains to be seen. The squad is undeniably imperfect and lopsided, but it also promises an exciting brand of football that could still surprise opponents.