Jamie Carragher has reiterated his thoughts that Liverpool should have signed a defensive midfielder in the summer, expressing doubts over whether Emre Can is suited to the role yet.
“I don’t think Emre Can is ideally suited yet to the holding midfield role,” he told the Liverpool Way podcast this week.
“Watching him over the summer for Germany under-21s he’s someone who likes to go forward, powering through midfield.
“If Liverpool play the same way they did at Stoke then you wonder where he fits in.”
Carragher told how there is a “feeling within the club that he’s a classy player with a big future.”
But right now, the 37-year-old says it was a surprise Brendan Rodgers didn’t sign a defensive midfielder.
“I look at Henderson and Milner as a midfield two and they’ve got great energy and I like both players. They’ll both get goals, but neither is that defensive minded and I think that might cause a problem in the coming weeks.
“And if he wants to go to a holding midfielder then where does Coutinho fit in? Where does Firmino fit in? I think it’s going to be really interesting how Brendan Rodgers sets his side up over the coming months.”
It’s here where Carragher expressed concerns over Philippe Coutinho being pushed into a wider role in the front three.
“I think Liverpool have a slight problem in the coming weeks and months.
“If you play a holding midfielder behind Milner and Henderson, then that’s your midfield three and unless you play a diamond formation then Coutinho is going to end up in a wide role in a 4-3-3.”
On Coutinho, he said: “He doesn’t feel comfortable there [out wide] and I just feel he has to play in a central role. So he almost has to be one of those three, and if he is then that means either Henderson or Milner isn’t if you play with that holding midfield player.”
Carragher also discussed Rodgers’ selection of Dejan Lovren ahead of Mamadou Sakho, saying that “I don’t think either of them have covered themselves in glory since they’ve come here and I’m looking for a lot more this season from both players.”
Listen to the full discussion with Carragher on the Liverpool Way podcast:
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