Liverpool have a “problem” when it comes to big-money midfielders being behind Trey Nyoni in the pecking order, according to Reds legend Jamie Carragher.

The emergence of Nyoni has been a huge positive for Andoni Iraola this season, but the form of Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai has been disappointing.

Rio Ngumoha also goes from strength to strength, unlike some big-name attackers, and speaking on CBS Sports [via TEAMtalk] after the 3-2 defeat away to Fenerbahce in the Champions League, Sky Sports man Carragher believes it has created a “problem” at Liverpool:

“Nyoni and Ngumoha were the best players for Liverpool, and they were a week or so ago against Chelsea. But they also play in a position of players where Liverpool have spent big money. Barcola’s come in for £120m. He played up front tonight, didn’t play well, but the younger players are playing better than him.

“With Trey Nyoni in midfield, Liverpool haven’t spent expensively on a player as such, but they’ve given big contracts this summer to Ryan Gravenberch – who was left out at the weekend for Trey Nyoni – and Szoboszlai, who played tonight and didn’t play particularly well.

“It doesn’t matter the figures, but you can imagine the type of figures they will be on. When a young player in midfield is playing ahead of them, that causes a problem about where you’ve spent your money. You basically haven’t spent your money well enough.”

Liverpool need FAR more from various key players

Carragher is right to raise concerns about the current situation at Liverpool, with far too many experienced and expensive players not pulling their weight.

Gravenberch and Szoboszlai have been disappointing since signing new deals, despite sporadic good performances, while more is still needed from the likes of Florian Wirtz, Bradley Barcola and Alexander Isak, despite his improved form in front of goal.

Nyoni and Ngumoha get into Liverpool’s strongest team on merit heading into Sunday’s trip to Crystal Palace in the Premier League, and while they should be proud of that, it doesn’t look good on others.

Iraola needs his struggling figures to improve drastically, with their all-round influence sorely lacking so far this season.