Jamie Carragher suggests Takumi Minamino isn’t an attacker

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Pundit Jamie Carragher has told Sky Sports (21/06) that he feels Takumi Minamino shouldn’t be played in Liverpool’s front three.

Liverpool took on local rivals Everton on Sunday afternoon, marking their return to Premier League action after three months away due to the global pandemic.

The Reds unsurprisingly couldn’t quite hit top form in their first game back, and had to settle for a 0-0 draw at Goodison Park.

Jurgen Klopp’s side didn’t quite have their attacking fluency, and part of that may have been because of Mohamed Salah’s absence; the Egyptian was only fit for the bench, and he didn’t come on.

That meant a rare chance for January signing Minamino. Signed from Red Bull Salzburg at the beginning of the year, Minamino has been settling in slowly at Liverpool.

The Japanese international was given a start in Salah’s right-wing role, and showed some promising signs. He was better when coming centrally though, and didn’t look totally comfortable on the right.

Minamino was substituted at half time in favour of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and pundit Carragher has given his view on the Liverpool attack.

Carragher feels that Minamino simply isn’t part of the front three, seemingly believing that he was played out of position on Sunday when he’s more of a midfielder or number 10.

Carragher added that Liverpool need to bring in another attacker in order to truly cover for the Reds front three, with Minamino better elsewhere.

“The front three are as good as anyone in Europe but whenever one of them is out, there is a massive drop off,” said Carragher. “When Liverpool dropped points at Manchester United, Salah wasn’t playing. That’s why Liverpool need to strengthen the front three.”

“Divock Origi is a legend for Liverpool as he’s scored big goals at big moments but doesn’t have quite the quality. Is Minamino part of the front three? Not for me. The front three are very robust and don’t miss many games but if Liverpool were to lose one of them, especially the two wide players, for a lengthy amount of time they could have a real problem next season,” he added.