It may come as a surprise to many that Liverpool’s net outlay this summer actually eclipsed the spending of the previous campaign, with the club ploughing in over £200 million in new signings. Yet, despite this financial firepower, Andoni Iraola concludes the transfer window with more questions than answers about the balance of his roster. "The squad doesn’t look balanced at all," former Liverpool stalwart Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports. "They’re thin at full‑back and probably lack a genuine midfield option as well." His succinct assessment captures the unease that lingers even after the £123 million acquisition of Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint‑Germain.
Barcola’s arrival, however, highlights the same structural issue that has plagued the Reds for months: a lack of equilibrium across the pitch. Liverpool have lost what many consider the finest left‑footed right‑winger in Premier League history – Mohamed Salah – and have attempted to compensate by loading the opposite side with a mirror image of talent, creating a seemingly one‑sided attack. "Liverpool don’t have a true out‑and‑out right‑winger," Carragher continued. "There’s no left‑footed player on the right side like Mo, and I’m disappointed.
I’m not sure what the plan is for that wing at the moment." Barcola is a versatile attacker, but the size of his fee suggests he should be deployed in his preferred position, which is on the left. Placing him on the right would be a stretch.
So far, Cody Gakpo has occupied the left flank, a role previously filled by Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike during their spells at the club. Rio Ngumoha, who broke through on the left last season, has been trialled on the opposite wing in pre‑season, while Victor Muñoz – signed after a solitary top‑flight season as a left winger – also appears a candidate for that side. These positional puzzles do not, on their own, condemn Liverpool’s recruitment policy. They are more a source of curiosity than a catastrophe.
The real worry for fans is that the squad appears over‑stocked in certain areas while glaringly thin in others, creating a patchwork rather than a cohesive unit. When Jeremie Frimpong was brought in last summer, the club stressed that he was not intended to replace Trent Alexander‑Arnold at right‑back. Ironically, the Dutch international has been fielded in that very position in the opening two league fixtures. With Conor Bradley sidelined through injury, Frimpong is the most natural fit for the role, though some have suggested Dominik Szoboszlai as a makeshift solution.
Shifting a centre‑back into a full‑back slot is far from ideal, especially given how crucial the wide‑backs are to Iraola’s high‑pressing, high‑tempo system. The importance of full‑backs in Iraola’s blueprint is underscored by the sprint statistics: both Frimpong and Milos Kerkez rank among the top three Premier League players for distance covered in a single match, with only Adrien Truffert – a former Bournemouth player under Iraola – ahead of them.
This emphasis on relentless wing‑back runs places a heavy burden on the midfield to shield the defence when the full‑backs surge forward. Comparing Liverpool’s average player positions in the first two games of the season with those from the title‑winning campaign under Arne Slot reveals a stark contrast. In Slot’s side, the full‑backs often stayed deeper, allowing midfielders to maintain a compact shape.
By contrast, Liverpool’s wing‑backs now bomb forward simultaneously, forcing midfielders to cover the space left behind. That tactical shift could become a serious liability. Ryan Gravenberch was instrumental in helping Slot clinch the Eredivisie, but Liverpool’s midfield lacks the same physical presence that Alexis Mac Allister has lost over the past 18 months. Without a true holding midfielder to sit in front of Virgil van Dijk and the back four, the team may struggle to cope with swift counter‑attacks.
Iraola’s preferred approach at Bournemouth was to press aggressively, with players expected to win the ball high up the pitch. As Alex Scott noted, the side was "very aggressive" out of possession, and Tyler Adams echoed the sentiment, saying the squad believed they would recover possession quickly. Early signs suggest that this aggressive philosophy may be stretching the squad beyond its limits.
"I don’t think the midfield can function with the personnel we have," Carragher warned. "It’s not just about the players; it’s the structure the manager is asking for." In the opening Premier League match, Liverpool’s defence was exposed within the first five minutes. With the full‑backs pushing high and the centre‑backs sitting deep, a void emerged between the lines, which Newcastle ruthlessly exploited to find the net.
Given the modern full‑back’s propensity to surge forward and van Dijk’s growing tendency to sit back, this structural gap is unlikely to disappear without tactical adjustments. Consequently, Iraola now commands the most expensive squad Liverpool has ever assembled – and arguably 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 sacrifice the attacking fluidity, the numbers in the final third, but we were punished early on, especially for the first goal. We didn’t lock the midfield down properly.
There has to be a balance." He added that the solution lies in situational awareness: "You can’t have everyone sprinting forward all the time. Some players are instinctively good at reading danger – ‘I can’t risk going forward now, I need to stay back.’ Recognising those moments is key." For now, a couple of high‑scoring draws may be an acceptable outcome for this Liverpool side.
Whether their attacking strengths will outweigh the defensive frailties remains to be seen. The team is undeniably exciting, but it is also imperfect and uneven – a squad with dazzling potential that could be undermined by its own structural flaws.