Gerrard's Warning: Liverpool's Flawed Squad Needs a No. 6
Steven Gerrard has fired a pointed warning at Liverpool’s hierarchy, insisting the squad remains structurally flawed without a specialist holding midfielder – and that the issue could undermine Andoni Iraola’s debut season in the dugout.
The former Liverpool captain, now a prominent voice on TNT Sports, did not soften his assessment as he looked ahead to the Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest.
“There’s one area that hasn’t really had much focus, only really in the last week since the Newcastle game. I believe they need a specialist in the No. 6 position, that’s my opinion,” Gerrard said.
Fabinho void still looming large
Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle United has clearly sharpened the debate. The Reds escaped St James’ Park with a point, but the performance left scars. They were repeatedly exposed on the counter, wide open whenever they lost the ball in the middle third, and never looked truly secure without a natural screen in front of the back four.
For Gerrard, the failure to replace Fabinho properly still hangs over the squad.
“I think that position’s been sorely missed, I don’t think they’ve got a specialist in that position,” he explained. “That can allow your [Dominik] Szoboszlai’s and your [Ryan] Gravenberch’s and your [Alexis] Mac Allister’s to go and join attacks, to make the back four secure. I think they miss that position badly.”
The message is clear: without a genuine No. 6, Liverpool’s attacking midfield talent cannot be fully unleashed, and the defensive line remains exposed.
Iraola inherits a costly puzzle
The pressure on Iraola is already intense. He has walked into a dressing room reshaped at huge expense under Arne Slot, but without the reward of a title defence to show for it.
Last summer, Liverpool poured around £250m into a major rebuild. Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and youngster Giovanni Leoni were among the headline arrivals. The investment was supposed to keep Liverpool at the summit. It didn’t.
Slot’s reign ended without back-to-back Premier League titles, leaving Iraola to solve a jigsaw assembled by someone else. To complicate matters, senior figures Ibrahima Konate, Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson have all departed on free transfers, stripping away experience at both ends of the pitch and on the flanks.
So while the squad looks deep and expensive, Gerrard’s view is that it still lacks the one specialist piece that holds everything together.
Centre-back ranks swelled – but one big question
Not every area of the pitch worries him. At centre-back, he sees progress in sheer numbers after the summer reshuffle.
“I think in terms of numbers now, they’re better than they were last year,” Gerrard said. “Konate has moved on, we wish him luck, he’s done a great job. We’ve now got four or five centre-backs, so volume, I think they’re secure. I think the key is: is Jacquet going to be good enough?”
That final line lingers. Liverpool may have bodies at the back, but whether Jacquet can step into the void left by Konate – and anchor a defence still searching for protection from midfield – could define how far Iraola’s first season really goes.
