Jamie Carragher has said that it is such a damning indictment on Liverpool’s lack of planning that they had to play Jordan Henderson as a centre-back last week, claiming it is ‘frankly preposterous’.
The Premier League champions held Manchester United to a 0-0 at Anfield six days ago in what was a top-of-the-table clash.
Joel Matip failed to make it back in time and as a result, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had to play Henderson and Fabinho in central defence.
By virtue of the fact that both of them are midfielders, you could say that the Reds have a crisis at the moment due to injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
Thing is, Liverpool knew for over two months that they’d be missing Van Dijk and Gomez for the long term and three weeks into the transfer window, there’s still no sign of Klopp or Michael Edwards signing a replacement for either player.
And club legend Carragher believes the fact that their captain had to play alongside his central-midfield partner in a much deeper role against the Red Devils speaks volumes.
He told The Telegraph on Friday: “Frankly, it is preposterous that with the transfer window now open, Jurgen Klopp felt compelled to use Jordan Henderson at CB against Manchester United. Although Fabinho has been outstanding, he would be more influential in midfield.”
Henderson, a £20 million signing in 2011, has been immense for Liverpool these past few years, as has Fabinho.
But it seriously affects the midfield balance when both are forced to play in defence and it’s no wonder that Klopp’s side look more in a top-four battle right now than a title one.
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