Kerkez Criticised After Difficult Liverpool Debut Under Iraola
Milos Kerkez endured a frustrating afternoon as Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw by Newcastle United at St James’ Park, with both head coach Andoni Iraola and captain Virgil van Dijk visibly unhappy with parts of his performance.
The Hungarian left-back has now become Liverpool’s first-choice option in that position following Andy Robertson’s move to Tottenham. However, his first Premier League appearance of the campaign was far from convincing.
Kerkez was beaten for pace by Anthony Elanga when Newcastle opened the scoring inside the first five minutes. He also struggled to make a significant contribution going forward, with his overall display coming under criticism.
According to Liverpool Echo journalist Ian Doyle, Iraola became increasingly frustrated with Kerkez during the match. On one occasion, the manager was furious after the 22-year-old took too long to close down Elanga, eventually allowing Newcastle to win a corner. Iraola reportedly made his displeasure clear from the touchline.
Kerkez was also reprimanded by Van Dijk during another Newcastle attack. The Liverpool captain felt his teammate was too slow to engage the opponent during a dangerous counter-attack down their side. Van Dijk eventually had to sprint across to deal with the threat himself.
Although such exchanges are common during intense Premier League matches, the incidents highlighted what was a difficult outing for Kerkez.
The defender also failed to make the most of some promising attacking situations. Nevertheless, his statistics were not entirely negative. He won six duels, made three tackles, recorded seven defensive contributions and produced one key pass, while also managing one shot on target.
Despite the difficult start, Kerkez will have the opportunity to respond quickly. Liverpool’s next Premier League fixture is against Nottingham Forest at Anfield, giving the left-back a chance to improve and demonstrate why the club sees him as an important part of the team.
Overall, it was an underwhelming beginning to the season for Kerkez, but there is plenty of time for him to recover and establish himself as a key player under Iraola.
