Jamie Carragher 'sick of seeing' Liverpool's 'lazy' defense as pair slammed

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Jamie Carragher laid into Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate after the pair played a big part in Liverpool falling behind to Fulham in the Premier League clash at Craven Cottage

Jamie Carragher laid into Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate after Fulham's goal against Liverpool(Image: Sky Sports)

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has slammed Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate for their part in the Reds falling behind at Fulham.

Liverpool gave itself plenty of work to do after going 1-0 down at Craven Cottage in its first Premier League away game of 2026, with Harry Wilson coming back to haunt his old side.

The Wales international's goal was initially ruled out for offside, but was eventually awarded after a VAR intervention, with replays showing Reds captain Van Dijk had played him onside before he charged through on goal and slotted the ball past the onrushing Alisson Becker.

The goal continues a worrying series of defensive lapses from Liverpool, with a recent unbeaten run of eight games not able to mask a series of problems at the back.

Set-piece coach Aaron Briggs left the club just before the turn of the year, with Liverpool holding the worst record for defending set-plays in Europe's top five leagues at the time.

It seems the Reds' issues aren't just contained to set-pieces though, with Carragher laying into their center-back pairing after replays showed Konate rushing out of his line and creating the space for Wilson, while Van Dijk failed to plug the gap.

Harry Wilson celebrates with his teammates after scoring for Fulham against Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)

"I'm sick of seeing it, not just with Liverpool, right throughout the Premier League, what center-backs do in this situation," Carragher said on Sky Sports.

"It's lazy defending, or it's a tactical instruction I don't like. Konate has to come across, and Van Dijk then takes the position of Konate. You fill the space, and then this guy here, Harry Wilson, won't run into the space.

"I'm sick of seeing it all the time, lazy defending from center-backs. Not just Liverpool, right throughout the Premier League. Harry Wilson does not make that run if Konate's across and Van Dijk's across.

"Whether that's come tactically from the manager, or they just want to sit in their armchairs in the middle of the pitch and let midfield players do their running for them."

Liverpool.com says: It is getting beyond frustrating now to see the constant defensive lapses from Liverpool, and not just from set-pieces.

Konate has been poor all season, and you'd have to say Van Dijk has not been great either. Unfortunately, there's just no one else to fill in for either of them at the moment, with Joe Gomez only just coming back from injury.

It's imperative that the Reds sign a new defender this month. We can't keep going through the rest of the season having situations like this.