Gary Neville has urged Arne Slot to make big changes defensively at Liverpool after they lost their fourth Premier League game in a row against Brentford
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville.(Image: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Gary Neville has urged Arne Slot to drop Milos Kerkez and Conor Bradley, insisting he will not be able to turn around Liverpool’s flailing fortunes if he persists with both full-backs. The Reds fell to a 3-2 defeat away at Brentford on Saturday as they suffered their fourth Premier League defeat in a row.
With Arsenal beating Crystal Palace on Sunday, the reigning champions now trail the league leaders by seven points. Meanwhile, victories elsewhere for AFC Bournemouth, Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland and Manchester United saw Liverpool drop to seventh in the table.
The Reds had sat top of the Premier League table heading into October, having won their opening five matches. But they have not been at their best all season long.
READ MORE: Arne Slot to hand new Liverpool debut as wild card option weighed upREAD MORE: Liverpool star sold for £25m who wanted return rubs salt in wounds after transfer collapse
Liverpool have now lost five of their last six matches in all competitions and continue to struggle defensively. They have shipped an eye-watering 21 goals from their 14 outings so far this season, with their defeat to Brentford already the eighth time they have conceded twice or more.
A number of Slot’s players have come in for criticism, while the majority of the Reds’ summer signings are yet to show form after a £450m transfer spending spree.
Milos Kerkez in particular has struggled following his £40m move from Bournemouth, while the likes of Ibrahima Konate have also faced scrutiny, with the Frenchman now within the final 12 months of his contract.
And Manchester United legend Neville has urged Slot to drop Kerkez and make changes at full-back at least if he wants to reverse the rut at Anfield.
“Early on in the season, I felt their full-backs weren’t right, maybe Ibrahima Konate at times wasn’t right,” he said on the Gary Neville Podcast. “And Virgil van Dijk was holding them together and Alisson was in goal.
‘You’ve got two world-class performers there in Van Dijk and Alisson, but the virus is catching. It’s not just going now into the left-back.
“The left-back is becoming a worry. He [Kerkez] scored last night but watching him, he has to be taken out I think.
Gary Neville has urged Arne Slot to drop Milos Kerkez(Image: Robin Jones/Getty Images)
“I’m worried about the right-back. [Jeremie] Frimpong isn’t a right-back. Conor Bradley has been given his head and I’m supportive of that because I think there’s a lot of talent there, but it’s difficult when your team are conceding goals and the pressure is on.
“If he carries on playing Kerkez at left-back and he carries on playing Bradley at right-back, and they carry on being as exposed as they are in midfield, you’ll keep getting the same results.
“Every single game you’ll be flipping a coin and thinking, “Are we gonna win or are we gonna lose?”, and that can’t be what Liverpool are about with the way they’ve performed in these last 12 months.
“I like the manager a lot, I like his way of working, I like his manner in press conferences, it doesn’t look like there’s any panic there from him. But deep down, it looks like he’s going to have to interfere with this. It’s a pattern of what they have become in this first two months of the season. He cannot keep allowing the same things to happen each week.”
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
£49
£35
Sky
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.
He continued: “One thing you can guarantee with Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo, and the others they’ve got, is that they’ll score goals.
“So the seven plus the goalkeeper are responsible for making sure they’re solid and they’re not open or exposed all the time. It sounds quite defensive and it sounds like going back to base camp and starting from scratch, but sometimes you have to do that.
“When everything’s crazy, chaotic and mad, which it is for Liverpool at the moment, you just have to find a strong foundation and that means putting players in there that can keep a narrow back four, prevent spaces, win you duels, make sure you don’t give away easy goals, play it forward quicker than you have been and stop popping it through midfield.
“They must narrow that back four and be a bit more safe in the way they play. Don’t open up as much, don’t go forward as much, but allow that front three to win you games.
“Just be a little bit more direct, knowing that front three will win you games. That happened at United a lot and I just wonder whether it’s a time now for Arne Slot to simplify and pull it back.
“It’s not just a blip any more, it’s becoming a concern. They can’t be seven or eight points behind Arsenal.”