Liverpool's season dipped to a startling low last night, being on the end of a 4-1 thumping at the hands of Napoli in their Champions League opener.
While there have been some concerning signs early in the campaign, this performance hammered home the issues that have plagued them in recent weeks. The midfield was all but non-existent, while the defence was repeatedly caught out in behind as the lack of pressure from the middle third allowed the opposition to pick out some easy passes relatively unchallenged.
In truth, the scoreline probably slightly flattered Jurgen Klopp's side.
Jamie Carragher gave an interesting breakdown of the team's problems on CBS Sports last night, saying that some will feel the club's lack of spending in the summer is now coming back to bite them.
"It's the actual performances probably more than the results that is worrying me right now..."@Carra23 thinks Liverpool's high-risk style is working against them. pic.twitter.com/B8HBzY1SAA
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) September 7, 2022
Liverpool made one high priced acquisition during the summer, with Darwin Nunez joining from Benfica for a fee worth up to £85million.
However, they failed to strengthen greatly in midfield despite it being an obvious area of concern, only moving to sign Arthur Melo on loan on deadline day after they suffered a spate of injuries in the position. In all, their net spend totalled only around £12million or so.
Jamie Carragher has war of words with Danny Murphy
While many Liverpool fans had concerns entering the season, few would have predicted just how lacklustre they have looked so far. However, not all feel that their transfer policy is playing a part.
Speaking on talkSPORT, former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said that people are now just using the lack of transfers in the summer as an excuse for their poor form. He includes Jamie Carragher in that group.
🤔 “I don’t remember anyone talking about what Liverpool were lacking.”
💷 “They spent £85m on Nunez! Where haven’t they backed Klopp!?”
🤦♂️ “@Carra23’s looking for some excuses, not looking at the obvious.”
Danny Murphy says #LFC’s owners can’t be blamed for the club’s form. pic.twitter.com/yE3wxbzmZk— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) September 8, 2022
A few people have jumped on this about the transfer policy this summer. I don't remember anybody doing any articles, talking on our show or a tv station saying they were lacking in defence or midfield.
They brought in [Ibrahima] Konate to help with [Joel] Matip, Joe Gomez, and Virgil van Dijk. There's four.
They're brought in fullbacks to cover the two they've got. They've spent £85million to try and fill the void left by Sadio Mane's goals and assists, which they're going to miss.
Where haven't they backed him? Yeah ideally you give him money to go and get another one, but that stunts the growth of somebody like Harvey Elliott or Fabio Carvalho...
Do you want Liverpool to become Man City? They can't, they have to do it a different way. It's all good being wise after the event...
I think [Carragher] is looking for some excuses or reasons at not looking at the obvious, which is a simple mindset change and players becoming complacent.
They're thinking they're better than they are and need to get back to some basics.
Carragher did not welcome the comments from his former teammate.
He took to Twitter to call out those who appeared on the segment for misrepresenting what he had said, saying that everyone knew Liverpool had attempted to sign a midfielder in the summer but then did not move to alternative targets when those players became unavailable.
Not once said Liverpool got it massively wrong in the transfer market & I’m not being wise after the event! Everyone knew LFC needed/wanted a midfielder, Klopp, club, fans. They tried for Tchouameni & couldn’t get Bellingham right now. Keep up with the click bait 💩 https://t.co/F3EyfSKmWJ
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) September 8, 2022
Not once said Liverpool got it massively wrong in the transfer market & I’m not being wise after the event!
Everyone knew LFC needed/wanted a midfielder, Klopp, club, fans. They tried for Tchouameni & couldn’t get Bellingham right now.
Keep up with the click bait.
Liverpool will be hoping that the return of some of their injured players will result in an uptick in form, with the likes of Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota now available once again.
However, those who have featured in recent games will certainly have to up their levels of performance if the club are to experience any success this season.
SEE ALSO: Free Agent Loris Karius On Verge Of Newcastle Move
