Jamie Carragher has likened one current Liverpool player to Darwin Nunez in the way that he does ‘everything’ on the pitch at ‘100 miles an hour’.
In the same summer that the Uruguay striker left Anfield, Milos Kerkez arrived from Bournemouth, with their mutual time on Merseyside only overlapping for a few weeks in pre-season.
The Hungary left-back didn’t have the smoothest first year with the Reds, with Gary Neville giving the unflattering assessment that our number 6 ‘plays like a 10-year-old‘ with some of his decision making.
Carragher: Kerkez ‘does everything at 100 miles an hour’
The topic of Liverpool’s full-backs came up on the latest episode of Stick to Football, and Carragher didn’t hold back in his opinion about Kerkez.
The pundit said of the 22-year-old: “You’re watching the game and you’re thinking, ‘Why has he done that?’
“I described Kerkez last season – and it was his first season, maybe it felt a bit harsh at the time – he’s the Darwin Nunez of full-backs. It’s like ‘head down and run’. Everything Kerkez does is 100 miles an hour.”
“When you’re on a football pitch, you’re very rarely running as fast as you can. You have to stop, you have to change direction, but he does everything 100 miles an hour. Every time he closes someone down, every time he passes it – bang!”
However, Carragher doesn’t think Liverpool will give up on the Hungarian yet, saying: “They’ve brought in Kerkez for £40m. He’s had his first season; it wasn’t amazing, but right, you go: ‘OK, Iraola’s come in from Bournemouth. He knows him, he’s still our left-back. He’s our left-back, let him have another year.'”
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Kerkez just needs to become a bit more refined and relaxed
The 22-year-old hasn’t had the most convincing of starts to his second season with the Reds, having been reprimanded by Virgil van Dijk and Iraola for a couple of defensive lapses in the 2-2 draw at Newcastle recently.
We take Carragher’s point about Kerkez going at ‘100 miles an hour’ on the pitch, with the pundit’s critique similar to that of John Arne Riise a few months ago. The Norwegian urged the current Liverpool left-back to ‘relax his playing style’ and rein in his innate enthusiasm.
We appreciate the energy and endeavour with which the Hungarian plays, and maybe he will thrive under Iraola again just like he did at Bournemouth, but there are still some rough edges to his play which need smoothing out.
The sweet spot for the Reds’ number 6 is the old mantra of ‘fire in the heart, ice in the brain’. We don’t want him to completely ditch his enthusiastic nature, but rather to refine it a bit more and be a bit less impetuous in his decision making.
In fairness to Kerkez, he’s still only 22, so that greater maturity may well come with time. Hopefully as the season progresses, he can take the advice of Carragher and Riise on board and become a little more relaxed on the pitch and intuitive in his reading of the game.
You ask me, i will say arne slot has totally destroyed the team. Now iraola has to start all over again as the players need to learn to press and attack again.
Liverpool should offload him in January and look for a relaxed left-back who can read the game. Both him and Frempong don’t have what it takes to play for Liverpool. They need to be replaced or forget about Champions League come next season
Age shouldn’t be an issue, Kirkez is 22 .
It didn’t bother Steve nicol or staunton or many others who made their Liverpool debut at a young age.
Are they just bad signings who’ll never be good enough. I wouldn’t play either at the moment we are getting ripped apart without the ball.
Right now frimpong and Kirkez are up there with the worst full backs we’ve ever had.
They are running out of time to improve.
Some of the worst full backs at Liverpool.
Julian Dicks
Phillip dogan
Andrea dissent
Paul konchesky
Josemi
The best
Phil neal
Chris Lawler
Alan Kennedy
Tommy Smith
Steve nicol
Alexander Arnold
Andy Robertson
Frimpong and Kirkez will never be in the above list.
Slot had his hands tied like Iraola, they are coaches not manager’s. Richard Hughes has destroyed Liverpool.