Liverpool's Full-Back Dilemma: Murphy's Insights
Liverpool’s defensive puzzle is getting more complicated, not less, and Danny Murphy believes the full-back positions are fast becoming a problem Jürgen Klopp’s successor cannot ignore.
The focus has recently fallen on Araujo, impressing on loan and already prompting a bigger question: could he be brought in permanently next summer and eventually shifted into the role currently owned by Virgil van Dijk at the heart of Liverpool’s defence? That move, in theory, would free up Andoni Iraola to go hunting for another specialist full-back.
Murphy, speaking exclusively to GOAL in association with Snabbare, doesn’t see it as that simple.
“I think the club will be assessing Araujo game-in, game-out, week-to-week,” the former Liverpool midfielder said. “I don't think they'll be necessarily thinking he's the one to come in and take Van Dijk's place because of his age. I think they'll always be open-minded to what else is out there.”
Where he is far less equivocal is on the current full-back situation.
Full-backs no longer driving Liverpool
For years, Liverpool’s rise under Klopp was powered by dynamic, technically sharp full-backs who lived in the opposition half and trusted the midfield to cover behind them. That structure underpinned everything: the width, the pressing, the overloads, the constant wave of attacks.
Murphy doesn’t see that same quality now.
“There’s a problem at Liverpool with the full-backs,” he said. “What Liverpool's success has thrived on over a long period is having two full-backs who are wonderfully good going forward and the team suited their style and they had midfielders who filled in for them when they bombed on and all those things we know.
“The full-backs at the moment aren't good enough with the ball and that's a real problem when, in a lot of games, Liverpool will dominate the ball.”
The modern game only sharpens that issue. With teams cramming bodies into central areas and blocking the middle of the pitch, the ball naturally funnels wide. That puts full-backs on the ball constantly – and under pressure to deliver.
“Generally, the space will come in wide areas and teams will defend the middle of the pitch. So, the full-backs are getting lots and lots of the ball, the numbers tell you that. And the end product of Frimpong and [Milos] Kerkez is certainly not up to the level Liverpool need.”
Frimpong and Kerkez under the microscope
Murphy’s verdict on the current options is blunt.
“And there is an argument also saying, are they good enough defensively to sacrifice that forward quality, if you like, and the answer is no. So, it is a problem. Both of them have failed, in terms of so far, let's say, in their Liverpool career.”
Frimpong’s case, he admits, is more nuanced. The Dutchman built his reputation further up the pitch, not as a conventional right-back.
“Now, the argument for Frimpong, he never really did play as a right-back, so what was the thinking behind that? That's a fair argument and I feel for him a little bit at times. I'm not just digging him out. He's played the best season of his career in a different position than he's been asked to play when he's come to one of the hardest leagues in the world.”
It is a pointed question: did Liverpool sign a wing-back and then try to turn him into something he isn’t, in the most demanding league around?
Araujo not a Trent-style creator
Araujo, by contrast, carries a defender’s instinct. He has already produced moments of quality going forward – Murphy highlights the “wonderful flick” against Atletico that set up Dominik Szoboszlai – but he doesn’t see him as a natural heir to the marauding full-backs that defined Liverpool’s peak years.
“I don't think, although Araujo does it really comfortably because he's got a defensive mind and I know he had the wonderful flick against Atletico for [Dominik] Szoboszlai for his assist, but generally you wouldn't class him as a marauding full-back who's going to whip crosses in and create goals.”
That distinction matters. Liverpool once relied on their full-backs as primary playmakers. Right now, they don’t have anyone in those roles consistently delivering that level of attacking output.
For Murphy, the conclusion is unavoidable.
“So, I think it's a definite area for Liverpool to look at, even in January.”
The window is not far away. If Liverpool want their wide defenders to drive another title challenge, the next move in this rebuild may have to come from the flanks.
