It has been a tough start for Liverpool’s defence this season, which cannot seem to find its form.
Yesterday’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United at Anfield saw two goals conceded from poor defensive decisions, which now leaves the Reds in fourth, four points behind Arsenal, in the Premier League.
Arne Slot’s backline has been plagued with issues, but the two main problems have been in both full-back positions with Conor Bradley and Milos Kerkez struggling to adjust to this team.
The Hungarian has been the main issue, given his mistakes and generally poor displays, which have seen Kerkez branded a ‘nervous wreck’ by two former players, Jamie Carragher and Jamie Redknapp.
However, after the United performance, Bradley has also found himself with the same label from Micah Richards, who believes the right-back has looked a shadow of himself so far this season.
Micah Richards says Conor Bradley needs to stop thinking about replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold
The former Manchester City defender spoke highly of the Northern Irishman’s ability on the pitch, which he has showcased for his country and last season for Liverpool.
Despite this, Richards has explained that the poor performances of the 22-year-old are down to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure affecting his mindset of what a right-back for the Reds should be.
READ MORE: Virgil van Dijk told he is completely to blame for Milos Kerkez’s poor run of form for Liverpool
Speaking to The Rest Is Football, the 37-year-old explained how he can actually get out of this rut to become the man on the right-hand side.
He said: “I watched Conor Bradley, and I watched him last season, and he was filling in for Trent. Every time he came into the team, he was excellent. He was energetic. He could tackle one versus one. The Liverpool fans were really buying into what he’s doing. I watched him for Northern Ireland against Slovakia and again he was outstanding.
“Conor Bradley was superb tackling, leading it, captain up and down, doing skills. He’s a shadow of the player this season in the Liverpool side. When he goes forward, he’s always like in his head. He’s thinking, ‘Oh, I need to release the ball to somebody’. He can do it. And he’s playing within himself at the moment.
“I think I’ve been there a couple of times in my career where you’ve got better players in the team and you think you’re in a team for a certain role. What he needs to get out of his head.
“He’s not there to replace Trent because he can’t. Trent was a one-in-a-million player that Liverpool had. But the way Liverpool play, he can be effective with the timing of his runs, the low cross across the box he can put in.
“He looks like a nervous wreck. He really does. And I’m a believer he can turn it right. But when you’ve got a midfielder coming in to replace you at right back, he just needs to do more. And I think he can do more.”
Conor Bradley needs more freedom and confidence
There seems to be an issue with both full-backs seemingly lacking the freedom to do more going forward.
Despite seeing them run down the flanks often, they are seemingly stuck to one method of play or releasing balls early to the wingers, instead of trying an overlap.
They also seem to be told to stay back more often which, if anything, is causing more issues.
For Bradley, he needs the freedom more than anyone to make more frequent runs and have more choice in terms of decisions going forward.
Only then will he get his confidence back and play similarly to how he did in his performances taking over from Trent.
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