Jamie Carragher has pinpointed a major issue involving Liverpool during their Community Shield loss - and one of Arne Slot's new signings was mentioned.
The Premier League champions were beaten on penalties by FA Cup winners Crystal Palace in the curtain-raiser, having drawn 2-2 in 90 minutes of action at Wembley.
New signings Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong were on target in the first half, with Jean-Philippe Mateta and Ismaila Sarr finding the net for the Eagles.
Palace won 3-2 on penalties, with Mo Salah, Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott all missing as substitute Justin Devenny scored the decisive spot-kick.
Advert
Liverpool looked devastating going forward at times, particularly in the first half when record signing Florian Wirtz was at the heart of everything.
However, they did then look extremely vulnerable at the back when Palace bypassed their press. Van Dijk gave away a penalty in the first half and the Reds didn't get their offside trap right when Sarr got in behind and slotted home.
Legendary defender Carragher expressed his concerns with the state of Liverpool's backline, observing that Milos Kerkez struggled to get to grips with the system deployed by Slot.
"LFC looking great going forward but susceptible defensively, as we’ve seen all pre season," Carragher wrote on X.
"A lot of the goals conceded by LFC have come from going man to man really aggressively & leaving space in behind. Today Kerkez is getting dragged inside with Sarr leaving Gakpo chasing WB (wing back)."
Having let Jarell Quansah leave for Bayer Leverkusen and with Joe Gomez struggling with injuries, Liverpool continue to be linked with Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi - who was forced off late on at Wembley.
Slot was seen shaking hands with Guehi in the tunnel pre-match, prompting a priceless reaction from Van Dijk.
But the Liverpool skipper feels Liverpool need to look elsewhere as speaking in the mixed zone, he called for his team to add another striker after letting Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez move on.
“After Darwin and Lucho left, we need a new striker for sure this summer," Van Dijk told Alex Crook of talkSPORT.
Many perceived the comment to be a plea for Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, who Liverpool bid £110 million plus add-ons for but saw the offer knocked back.
Liverpool kick off the defence of their Premier League title against Bournemouth at Anfield on Friday.
Topics: Jamie Carragher, Liverpool, Community Shield, Crystal Palace
Josh Lawless