Milos Kerkez has not found it easy in his start to life in a red shirt since signing this summer.
The Hungarian joined Liverpool for £40 million in this season’s transfer window, but ever since making his debut for the side, he has not been able to consistently put in good performances.
In the 3-2 loss to Brentford, Kerkez had opened the scoring for the Reds, coming into the box to get on the end of a cross which gave Arne Slot’s side a brief slice of hope.
However, for the rest of that display, the 21-year-old looked lacklustre at the back, as he looked like the defensive duties he had been asked to do were too difficult against a well-drilled Keith Andrews side.
It is a shame to see a player with the amount of promise and potential he had when he played for Bournemouth not take to being at a club like Liverpool straight away, because he can be so dynamic.
Alan Pardew says Milos Kerkez has been ‘found out’
As Slot has not put him in a position to be as expansive going forward, that seems to be one of the issues with why his general play has not been as good as it usually is.
Being in this current defensive setup would be hard for any player because of the mistakes made constantly, but it seems that Kerkez gets the brunt of it as he is new to the team.
READ MORE: Wayne Rooney criticises Liverpool duo for ‘affecting’ the team during nightmare run
Alan Pardew, after watching the game at the Gtech Community Stadium, believes that the player has been ‘found out’ defensively because of his start to the season.
Speaking to talkSPORT, the former Crystal Palace manager explained that he has not been as ‘outstanding’ as he was at Bournemouth with his attacking style of play.
Pardew said: “Obviously the ‘keeper’s injured, and they’ve got this young keeper in – I wouldn’t say he’s been poor, but it’s just a different character. You’ve got Kerkez, who really is struggling in that Liverpool shirt.
“I don’t care how you dress it up – he’s come from Bournemouth where he had an outstanding season, mainly through his attacking play, I have to say. He’s been found out a little bit defensively, and I thought he struggled again the other night.”
Alan Pardew says Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate are not looking after each other
As mentioned, Kerkez is not the only one with issues; Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have been two players who have struggled themselves, which has been to the detriment of the team.
The pair cannot seem to get on the same page with their defensive work, which then leads to problems with conceding too many goals.
Pardew also highlighted this as one of the reasons the defence has lacked cohesion this year.
He explained: “Konate in the middle of the (back four) and van Dijk – they genuinely look like they’ve had a row over something. I don’t know, perhaps he’s nicking Van Dijk’s meal at the training ground! There seems to be a lack of kind of looking after (each other).”
“The one thing about centre-backs is they look after their full-back, and they look after each other – that is the key to a back four. So, the left-side centre-half looks after the left-back, but he also looks after his fellow centre-half. You have to protect (them) – that’s your area. And neither of them are doing that job. So, therefore, that is a massive problem for Liverpool.”
It is something that has to be addressed as soon as possible, or it risks causing a bigger issue going forward this season.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
