‘When I look at them’: Carragher doesn’t think Liverpool pair are ‘Jurgen Klopp players’

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Jamie Carragher doesn’t believe one Liverpool pair are Jurgen Klopp players. He wants the Reds to do things differently.

Jamie Carragher had some stern words about Liverpool after their awful 3-1 loss at Brentford on Monday. The former Reds is particularly worried about the midfield.

Things were once again too easy for Liverpool’s opponents as they consistently found ways to expose the defence. It wasn’t quite on the level of Leicester City literally running through the middle of the pitch but Brentford did manage to score three times.

And Carragher feels that’s down to Liverpool constructing the wrong midfield. Gone are the days of a physical, fighting midfield, with things now looking too technical.

He pointed to two youngsters as examples of things heading in the wrong direction.

“What I’m talking about is someone like a Harvey Elliot or a [Fabio] Carvalho comes in,” Carragher told Sky Sports. “These are players, when I look at them, great technical players but in my mind they don’t look like Jurgen Klopp players.”

He went on to explain that Fabinho is getting on in years, Jordan Henderson lacks the energy he once had, and James Milner is certainly at the tail-end of his career. Liverpool’s midfield needs work.

Jurgen Klopp players

We do know what Carragher means – he built his success at Liverpool on hard-working, jack-of-all-trades midfielders who protected the defence and created a base for attacks. Things have gradually moved away from that.

But Elliott is a work in progress. Liverpool clearly believe he can become a more solid midfielder over time. There’s also a need for him in the team when Darwin Nunez is there, given the Uruguayan doesn’t drop back to play the False 9/No.10 role. You need someone more advanced in midfield when that’s the case.

As for Carvalho, Klopp does use him more as a winger than a midfielder. He’s a last resort through the middle, really.

We do get where Carragher is coming from, though. These two aren’t the typical type of Klopp midfielder but there’s an unfortunate level of pressure on them right now. That’s largely because Liverpool don’t have players in their prime years in midfield, other than Naby Keita.

There are exhausted veterans and then inexperienced youngsters. That’s what Liverpool have and it’s not good enough.