“There are a few reasons why they don’t do this job.”
Jurgen Klopp has questioned Jamie Carragher after the Sky Sports pundit underlined the importance of bringing in another central defender to Liverpool.
Discussing the fallout from the long-term knee injury picked up by Virgil van Dijk in Saturday’s Merseyside Derby, Carragher appeared to suggest his former club should have moved for another central defender before the start of the season.
With Dejan Lovren departing for Zenit St Petersburgh after the last campaign, Van Dijk’s absence – along with injury concerns surrounding Joel Matip – leaves the Premier League champions short of options in central defence.
“Dejan Lovren went and they didn’t replace him so they only have three centre-backs and one of those, Joel Matip, is always injured,” Carragher commented.
“There are question marks now about Joe Gomez. So there is no doubt that Liverpool had to go big in the transfer market.”
Speaking ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League opener away to Ajax, Klopp defended the decision not to bring in an extra defender, appearing to aim a dig at Carragher in the process.
“We went into the season with three centre-backs plus Fabinho as cover and some youngsters,” Klopp told reporters.
“It’s hard to have four world-class centre-halves. If anyone wants to tell us we made a mistake, I think Carragher mentioned already.
“There are a few reasons why they [pundits] don’t do this job.”
Ahead of the game in Amsterdam, Georginio Wijnaldum admitted Van Dijk’s injury had unsettled his Liverpool teammates so much that some had experienced trouble sleeping in the wake of the game at Goodison Park.
