Murphy Slams Liverpool's £69.5m Full-Back Buys After Wolves Shambles

Liverpool's unbeaten run came crashing down at Molineux on Tuesday evening as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Wolves in the Premier League. The loss leaves the defending champions three points adrift of Aston Villa in fifth place, with Emery's side holding a game in hand.

The performance proved particularly galling given the opposition's plight at the bottom of the table. Rob Edwards' side are staring down the barrel of Championship football, yet still managed to outclass Arne Slot's outfit.

Danny Murphy, analysing the match for talkSPORT, pulled no punches in his assessment. The former Liverpool midfielder zeroed in on the full-back department as a major weak point.

Jeremie Frimpong, signed from Bayer Leverkusen for £29.5million last summer, cut a subdued figure at right-back. The Netherlands international lacked his trademark pace in the opening period and appeared to run out of steam as the match progressed, hampered by ongoing injury concerns since his arrival.

On the opposite flank, Milos Kerkez—a £40million acquisition from Bournemouth—struggled to contain Wolves' attacking threat. The left-back was particularly vulnerable to the pace of forward Mateus Mane and inexplicably spurned a straightforward finish from two yards.

Murphy's verdict on the pair was withering. "The full-back areas are a problem," he stated. "Frimpong is not as good as Trent, Kerkez can't do what Robertson could do."

The criticism extended beyond the defensive line. Cody Gakpo has drawn concern for his dwindling output, with Murphy suggesting the forward has dramatically lost form compared to last season. Despite registering six goals and three assists across 23 starts and four substitute appearances in the league this term, the Netherlands international appears a shadow of his former self.

"Gakpo has fallen off the cliff," Murphy remarked, before pointing to the absence of cutting edge across the team. "They don't look like scoring from open play very often."

The broader picture troubled the pundit further. Mohamed Salah, despite an overdue goal, continues to labour in general play. The creative void left by Luis Diaz's injury, combined with Alexander Isak's fitness troubles, has left Liverpool bereft of attacking impetus.

Not everything drew Murphy's ire, however. He identified Dominik Szoboszlai's emergence as a genuine bright spot, alongside striker Hugo Ekitike's contributions to the campaign. These two represented the silver linings in an otherwise disappointing season so far.