Joe Cole brands Liverpool’s transfer overhaul “madness” and says midfield looks “lightweight”

Liverpool’s former midfielder Joe Cole has questioned the decision-making behind our summer recruitment drive, suggesting Arne Slot’s overhaul of a title-winning team has gone “too far, too fast”.

The comments came on TNT Sports after the Reds’ 3-2 defeat at Brentford, our fourth straight Premier League loss – marking the club’s worst league run since 2021.

Cole, who had a brief Anfield spell, didn’t hold back on his analysis of where things have gone wrong.

“I feel like changing so many players from a title-winning side is madness for me,” he said. “I can’t remember a team winning the title and changing four players that you expect to be your starters.”

Liverpool’s summer signings under scrutiny after poor run

The pundit went on to highlight the balance in midfield as a particular problem area.

“The midfield’s all over the place for me,” he explained. “Even when they were winning games early on, it didn’t look right. Teams were breaking through them too easily.

“Wirtz just hasn’t worked so far. He looks quite lightweight in that position.”

The £116 million signing of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen was meant to give Liverpool a new creative spark, but Cole’s comments echo growing concerns about the German playmaker’s adjustment to life in the Premier League.

Slot himself admitted that teams have found a way to punish the Reds, now it’s over to him and his staff to stop this run from continuing any further.

Too much change, too quickly?

Cole added that Liverpool’s identity, built on cohesion and familiarity, has been tested by this summer’s wave of incomings and outgoings.

“It’s unlike Liverpool,” he said. “They don’t usually make that many changes, particularly from a winning side.”

The Reds’ midfield, featuring Dominik Szoboszlai, Wirtz and Curtis Jones, struggled to rediscover the control that defined last season’s title run.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though, Salah’s late strike at Brentford provided a small positive in an otherwise frustrating night.

But as Cole made clear, the focus must now shift from transition to stability, before the gap at the top widens further.

You can watch Cole’s comments on Liverpool via @footballontnt on X:

"Changing so many players from a title winning side is madness"

Has Liverpool's spending spree in the summer impacted their Premier League title defence?

@lynseyhipgrave1 | @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/MdvXCmGvYT

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 25, 2025

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