Liverpool’s Full-Back Conundrum: Murphy Questions Frimpong and Araujo

Liverpool’s rebuild under Andoni Iraola is throwing up an awkward truth: the full-backs are no longer driving the team’s success. And Danny Murphy believes that’s a problem the club can’t ignore for much longer.

The former Liverpool midfielder, speaking to GOAL in association with Snabbare, accepts that Ronald Araujo is being closely monitored as a potential long-term pillar of the defence. But the idea of the Uruguayan being signed permanently next summer and simply slid across into Virgil van Dijk’s role? Murphy isn’t convinced that’s the plan.

“I think the club will be assessing Araujo game-in, game-out, week-to-week,” he said. “I don't think they'll be necessarily thinking he's the one to come in and take Van Dijk's place because of his age. I think they'll always be open-minded to what else is out there.”

The bigger issue, in his eyes, sits out wide.

Full-backs no longer setting the tone

Murphy didn’t sugar-coat it. Liverpool, he argued, have lost one of the key weapons that underpinned their most successful recent years.

“What Liverpool's success has thrived on over a long period is having two full-backs who are wonderfully good going forward,” he explained. The system was built around them. They attacked, the midfield covered, the whole side tilted to let them bomb on. Everyone knew the script, and it worked.

That script has changed. And not for the better.

“The full-backs at the moment aren't good enough with the ball and that's a real problem when, in a lot of games, Liverpool will dominate the ball,” Murphy said.

The modern game, he pointed out, is crammed in the middle of the pitch. Teams pack central areas, turn it into a traffic jam, and dare you to play around them. That pushes the ball wide, again and again. Full-backs become playmakers by default.

“Generally, the space will come in wide areas and teams will defend the middle of the pitch. So, the full-backs are getting lots and lots of the ball, the numbers tell you that. And the end product of Frimpong and Milos Kerkez is certainly not up to the level Liverpool need.”

Frimpong out of position, Kerkez under scrutiny

Murphy’s verdict on Liverpool’s current full-back duo is blunt.

“And there is an argument also saying, are they good enough defensively to sacrifice that forward quality, if you like, and the answer is no. So, it is a problem. Both of them have failed, in terms of so far, let's say, in their Liverpool career.”

That’s a harsh line, but he does carve out some sympathy for Jeremie Frimpong. The Dutchman has built his reputation as an attacking wing-back, not a traditional right-back in a back four.

“Now, the argument for Frimpong, he never really did play as a right-back, so what was the thinking behind that? That's a fair argument and I feel for him a little bit at times. I'm not just digging him out,” Murphy said.

Frimpong arrived off the back of the best season of his career, thriving in a different role. Then he was dropped into a new league, one of the most demanding in the world, and asked to do something else.

“He's played the best season of his career in a different position than he's been asked to play when he's come to one of the hardest leagues in the world.”

Kerkez, on the opposite flank, hasn’t escaped criticism either. For Murphy, neither full-back is delivering the technical quality on the ball Liverpool need, and neither is strong enough defensively to justify that shortfall.

Araujo steady, but not the answer out wide

Amid all this, Araujo has been a rare source of calm. Comfortable defensively, strong in duels, and already producing one standout attacking moment – that deft flick to set up Dominik Szoboszlai against Atletico – he has shown he can cope with the demands of Iraola’s system.

But Murphy is clear: that doesn’t suddenly turn him into the kind of rampaging full-back Liverpool’s structure once relied on.

“I don't think, although Araujo does it really comfortably because he's got a defensive mind and I know he had the wonderful flick against Atletico for Szoboszlai for his assist, but generally you wouldn't class him as a marauding full-back who's going to whip crosses in and create goals.”

So while a permanent move for Araujo and a shift inside might make sense on paper, it doesn’t solve the glaring issue out wide.

“I think it's a definite area for Liverpool to look at, even in January.”

That’s the challenge now. If Iraola wants Liverpool to dominate the ball and suffocate opponents the way they once did, the full-back positions can’t just be patched up. They need to be rebuilt.