Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher next to the Liverpool badge - copyright F365
Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher
Jamie Carragher has hit out at the Liverpool bosses for creating a situation where Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha have shot to stardom under Andoni Iraola this season.
After his impressive full Premier League debut against Arsenal on Sunday, Nyoni was once again in the starting lineup for the Reds in their 3-2 defeat to Fenerbahce on Wednesday and was arguably their best player on a disappointing night.
Ngumoha ran him close with another dynamic performance that we’ve come to expect from the England international after he broke into the first team at the end of last season.
READ: Alisson and Jacquet pathetic in Liverpool defeat as Nyoni vs Kante battle decided
Reds fans will be delighted to see two young players thriving under Iraola, but Carragher believes their game time reflects badly on the Liverpool bosses and their recruitment.
Bradley Barcola was signed for £123m in the summer, becoming Liverpool’s third nine-figure signing after both Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz were signed the year before.
Isak has started the season in fine goalscoring form after struggling for form and through injury in his debut campaign, but the jury is still very much out on Wirtz, while Barcola is yet to really get going after his move from Paris Saint-Germain.
And Carragher believes it’s a “worry” for the Reds decision-makers that two young players have broken into the team and look set to stay there.
“The squad Liverpool have got is very expensive but not as good as it should be and not as balanced as it should be,” he said on CBS Sports.
“What’s a bit of a worry for the people who run the club is that Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha were the best players for Liverpool, and they were a week or so ago against Chelsea.
“But they also play in a position of players where Liverpool have spent big money. Barcola’s come in for £120m. He played up front tonight, didn’t play well, but the younger players are playing better than him.
“With Trey Nyoni in midfield, Liverpool haven’t spent expensively on a player as such, but they’ve given big contracts this summer to Ryan Gravenberch – who was left out at the weekend for Trey Nyoni – and Szoboszlai, who played tonight and didn’t play particularly well.
“It doesn’t matter the figures, but you can imagine the type of figures they will be on. When a young player in midfield is playing ahead of them, that causes a problem about where you’ve spent your money. You basically haven’t spent your money well enough.”