Criticism of Florian Wirtz: club legend sees a completely different weak point at Liverpool

For the former England international Danny Murphy (49), Liverpool’s fluctuating performances are not due to the displays of the outrageously expensive new signings Florian Wirtz (23) and Alexander Isak (26).

The two attackers joined the then Premier League champions in the summer of 2025 for a combined 270 million euros, but they have not lived up to the huge expectations. Murphy, who spent five years at Liverpool and won the UEFA Cup with the club, does not see Wirtz and Isak as the reason for Liverpool's inconsistent performances.

His view is that the pair not being particularly good in the press is "not a big issue", especially at home, given the Reds' usually high share of possession. One thing is clear for Murphy instead: "The bigger problem at Liverpool is that the full-backs are not good enough."

Murphy was referring to Milos Kerkez (22) on the left and Jeremie Frimpong (25) on the right. Liverpool signed them too just over a year ago for big fees. "They are not getting any better either, they do not have it in them," Murphy continued on talkSPORT: "They work hard, but the level of their crossing and their decision-making in the final third are weak."

Compared with the long-serving full-back pairing of Andy Robertson (32, Tottenham Hotspur) and Trent-Alexander Arnold (27, Real Madrid), the drop-off is stark: "Those are two of the very best when it comes to assists, quality and playing the decisive pass. Now they have brought in two full-backs who cannot keep up there."

At the back, both are "okay" and "travelling at 100 miles per hour", but they have major shortcomings going forward. Murphy believes that will become a long-term problem for new coach Andoni Iraola (44): "The best teams in the world have excellent full-backs because opponents close down the centre and then space opens up on the flanks. The full-backs have the ball so often, but Frimpong and Kerkez do not have the quality to break down other teams."

How expensive were Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong for Liverpool?

Murphy is far from the first to criticise the two players. His former team-mate Jamie Carragher (48) only recently tore into Kerkez and, because of his at times headless-looking style of play, called the Hungarian "the Darwin Nunez of full-backs". Former Premier League striker Gabriel Agbonlahor (39) had already advised Iraola to move the regular midfielder Milos Kerkez (25) over to the right for Frimpong. Former coach Arne Slot (47) had already done that several times last season.

Kerkez made his breakthrough under Iraola at AFC Bournemouth and cost just under 47 million euros. Since then, he has two goals and two assists in 51 appearances for Liverpool. Frimpong's numbers since his 40 million euro move from Bayer Leverkusen are hardly any better: the creator who was so productive in the Bundesliga (77 goal contributions in 190 matches) has two goals and two assists in 37 games.