Jamie Carragher has repeated his criticism of Liverpool's midfield after Newcastle repeatedly caught them on the counter-attack in a 2-2 draw, insisting the current setup "cannot work" with the players selected.
The Reds needed a last-minute penalty to rescue a point at St James' Park, having trailed for most of the match. Both Newcastle goals came from fast, direct counter-attacks that cut through Liverpool in transition.
Carragher's pre-season warning repeated
Andoni Iraola started Florian Wirtz as his number 10, with Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai behind him. Liverpool have lacked a natural defensive midfielder for several years, and their vulnerability to quick breaks has been evident since last season.
After Anthony Elanga put Newcastle ahead after four minutes, Carragher posted on social media: "LFC midfield all bombing forward happened all pre-season, madness!"
Yoane Wissa was allowed to travel almost half the pitch before setting up Joe Willock for Newcastle's second, prompting Carragher to post: "Again! This midfield cannot work, I said it before a competitive ball was kicked."
Comparison with Klopp era
During Liverpool's Premier League and Champions League-winning seasons under Jurgen Klopp, the midfield of Fabinho, Georginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson provided the balance the team needed. All three have since left Anfield, and Carragher has long argued that Liverpool no longer have a more defensively minded midfielder in that mould.
Instead, he has highlighted the number of attacking players in the starting XI, claiming top teams do not play the end-to-end style often seen in Liverpool games.
"Liverpool have too many attacking players on the pitch, they just want to bomb forward," he said on the Overlap before the season began. "And it's the same in pre-season at Liverpool this season - it's just a basketball game. No top team plays football like that. I don't believe it."
