Liverpool's Left-Back Dilemma: A Problem That Persists

Liverpool’s summer of change already feels incomplete. The squad has been shuffled, big decisions have been made, and yet Wednesday night’s 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid underlined one uncomfortable truth: the left-back position is still a problem.

A new era, same old gaps

The club moved aggressively in the market last year, spending more than £450 million on new faces. Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz arrived as the headline acts, the kind of marquee signings meant to drag Liverpool into a new cycle of success.

It didn’t happen.

Under Arne Slot, the team slumped to fifth in the Premier League. The campaign was defined by a lack of clear direction and a worrying drop in intensity. Slot paid with his job, but the consequences of that misfire are still being felt around Anfield.

This summer brought more change. Ronald Araujo and Bradley Barcola came through the door, and expectations were that a full-scale overhaul would follow. It didn’t. Only four new players arrived. For a side coming off one of its worst seasons in recent memory, the squad looks more tweaked than transformed.

The biggest reset has come on the touchline with Andoni Iraola. His appointment promises a more aggressive, front-foot approach. Yet the win over Atletico showed that no matter how modern or energetic the system, it will creak if the personnel aren’t right.

Kerkez under the spotlight

Nowhere is that more obvious than at left-back.

Milos Kerkez was signed last summer as the long-term heir to Andy Robertson. Slot was a firm admirer and saw the Hungarian as his first-choice option. The pitch was simple: succession planning, fresh legs, a dynamic full-back to carry the position into the next era.

Reality cut through that idea quickly. Robertson, even with miles on the clock, kept his place more often than not because he was simply performing at a higher level. Some supporters even floated the idea of a new deal for the Scot, such was his continued importance.

That didn’t happen. Instead, Kostas Tsimikas returned to Anfield to act as back-up, leaving Kerkez as the man expected to grow into the starting role.

On Wednesday night, that plan looked optimistic at best.

Against Atletico, Kerkez’s defensive shortcomings were laid bare. His lapse allowed Marcos Llorente to escape and punish Liverpool. In a tight game against elite opposition, that kind of error stands out. It wasn’t just one moment either; his overall display carried the same erratic edge that has worried fans since he arrived.

As a wing-back, Kerkez offers plenty. He’s energetic, aggressive going forward, and comfortable in advanced areas. But Liverpool are set up to play with a back four this season. That demands a different profile: positional discipline, concentration, and a calmer defensive presence. Right now, at 22, he doesn’t look ready to shoulder that responsibility week after week.

January can’t be a luxury window

Liverpool’s squad still has obvious holes. The starting XI, on paper, is dotted with quality, but too many positions feel one injury or one bad run of form away from exposing old frailties.

If the club sit out the January window, they risk watching rivals stretch away again.

Transfer talk has already started to bubble. Ben Jacobs has even suggested that Liverpool are planning ahead to replace Alexis Mac Allister in 2027, a sign of the long-term thinking going on behind the scenes.

Long-term planning is fine. But the left-back issue is not a 2027 problem. It’s a now problem.

Kerkez’s performance against Atletico will only sharpen the debate. By the time January arrives, patience in the stands could wear thin if his inconsistency continues. The calls for a more experienced, defensively mature left-back will grow louder with every costly mistake.

Liverpool don’t need to abandon their faith in Kerkez as a project. They do, however, need to protect the team. An established left-back who can start immediately and guide a young talent from the training pitch rather than the treatment room or the bench feels less like a luxury and more like a necessity.

If Iraola is to drag this side back into the title conversation, he needs more than ideas and energy. He needs a back four he can trust. And right now, that trust on the left side of defence is hanging by a thread.