Liverpool's Right-Back Gamble Exposed

Liverpool thought they had been smart. Two defenders through the door, a back line refreshed, the numbers looking fine on a squad list. On paper, the window made sense.

On the pitch, it’s exposed a glaring hole.

Jeremy Jacquet arrived from Rennes, Ronald Araujo came in on loan from Barcelona, but neither was signed as a specialist right-back. In a system that demands so much from that side of the pitch, Liverpool have walked into the new season with a structural weakness they created themselves.

Calvin Ramsay has been sent out on loan. Conor Bradley is still working back from a serious knee injury. Strip it all away and Jeremie Frimpong stands as the only senior natural right-back in the squad.

For a club chasing titles, that is not depth. That is a gamble.

Carragher Calls It Out

Jamie Carragher did not bother dressing it up. Speaking on Stick to Football, he went straight for the decision-making.

"Conor Bradley got his chance and got a bad injury. My problem with it is, he's a good young player who's done really well, but if someone gets a bad injury, he's not that good that you don't replace him.

"You'd wait for Trent to come back and you'd wait for Andy Robertson to come back. Unfortunately I don't think we should be waiting for Conor Bradley to come back. You go and buy a right-back because Frimpong isn't one.

"When Conor Bradley comes back, he's then got to fight for his place and I think that's fair; but this thing of 'we've got to wait for Conor Bradley to come back' – no. We're Liverpool, one of the biggest clubs in the world.

"You can't wait for Conor Bradley. We've got to get him back and good luck to him, but they've made a massive mistake."

Strip away the emotion and the argument still stands. Bradley is talented, energetic and gave Liverpool’s right flank a jolt when he broke through. But building an entire season around the successful and timely recovery of a young full-back was always a high-wire act.

Bradley’s Absence, Frimpong’s Burden

Serious injuries do not end when a medical report says “available”. Players return, but sharpness lags. Timing is off. Confidence takes time. Liverpool cannot realistically expect Bradley to step straight back in and hit his previous level after months out.

That reality piles pressure onto Frimpong.

He offers pace, direct running and attacking thrust, and when Liverpool are on the front foot he looks a natural weapon. The doubts live in the other direction. His recent displays have not fully convinced defensively, and at Liverpool the right-back is not just a winger in disguise. The role demands width, recovery speed, and constant positional discipline.

There is another layer of risk. Frimpong’s own fitness record last season was not spotless. Any setback, even a minor one, would leave Liverpool scrambling again, forced into those uncomfortable compromises that saw midfielders shunted into the back line during stretches of 2025/26. Everyone at Anfield remembers how little that solved.

Cover Isn’t the Same as a Solution

This is where frustration bites hardest. Liverpool did act in defence. They did bring in reinforcements. But they never went straight at the most obvious problem.

Araujo can operate across the back line and offers flexibility, yet there is a clear difference between “cover” and a specialist who lives and breathes the right-back role over a full Premier League campaign. The club chose versatility over certainty in a position where the margin for error is thin.

Andoni Iraola now walks a tightrope. He needs Frimpong fit, confident and improving quickly. He needs Bradley’s recovery to be smooth, his reintegration handled carefully, not rushed out of desperation.

Because right now, Liverpool’s right-back depth looks like a decision, not an accident. A decision that could shape their season long after the window has closed.