It really has irritated me how quickly people here were ready to give up on a kid who was two years younger than Robbo when he arrived here. Young players need patience. They can improve. That's the point.
Fabinho played early and looked terrible in one of his first big matches (Arsenal) I believe. He was like Wirtz early on where he wasn’t playing fast enough or used to how quickly the windows close in the PL. our boys are starting to settled and we just got an away draw against the first place team while
Missing our top three scoring options (not based on this season’s stats, just in general).
joined in the August, got a couple of starts but cemented his place in the team in the December... but its comparing apples to oranges... Kerkez is competing with an Andy Robertson who can still do a bloody good job at left back while Robbo was competing with Moreno who, while was ok... for the most part he was shit
Moreno was in the form of his life the few months before robbo broke out. He earned his way back into the Spanish national team even and finally looked like the player we hoped he would be. Was a real shame he got injured when he did but robbo went to even greater heights so it worked out. Who knows how long he could have sustained it but was nice to see Moreno have a good spell for at least half a season. And it made it easy for robbo to get settled before being thrown into the fire.
Robbo is 31 ain't he, what is a good age for a good sub for that position? why wouldn't he accept a transition into a backup at his age, and remain at his favorite club. Rather than go and get no minutes, no guarantee's at other places.
the good old days when a player integration lasted months, got 5-10 minutes to half a game, to starter. Now Kerkez and new players are thrown into the fire instantly with him having zero game relationship with VD then, and still no link with Gakpo at present still. Only works well with Wirtz.
I think in general the lack of patience with this team. We’ve had so much success over the year but Klopp built that team, then Slot continued with the set up (after Klopp rebuilt and we struggled). Slot has now tried to rebuild from a high and while it hasn’t gone as planned, people look less than halfway into a season where we had two very disruptive transfer sagas and another three or four important new transfers and decide that the team is useless and everyone should be fired (aka the Man United philosophy).
Think a lot of newer fans just expect to win the league repeatedly and focused on the half billion we spend rather than looking at net spend and lack if depth: the rebuild is only half way through now
the performances are the bigger worry. no width, waiting for opponents to get back, no ST to occupy the two CBs. just flat performances and lack of a promising game plan was what struck me. yesterday was one of the best
Slot has taken some crap for not slowly bedding Kerkez in but I think people forget that Robbo's form was a bit patchy last season and more importantly for me, in my opinion, going by interviews we've seen and the training videos of them goofing around on Insta I think Robbo took the loss of Jota particularly hard and he may have also been given some compassionate leave of sorts.
People around here rode Robbo's ass all last season and couldn't wait for him to be replaced. People were also frustrated with Diaz's drop off last season, which also happened to be his best year for the club, but you'd think he was performing like that every season the way people around here talk about him now. It's quite fascinating to witness.
For me the problem has been, that the new kids all came in, and they had to be first choice right away. And at the same time there was a hierarchy among them, so that Isak was more important than Ekitike.
Robbo didn’t come in and was first choice right away - he earned the spot. Kherkes and all the other lads came in and was first choice right away - and they didn’t show they earned it.
I the bright light of hindsight it would had been better to slowly move them into the team and make sure that only a few of them, where on the field at the same time.
I know, that injuries have forced us - but just as you can’t expect great players like Chiesa to shine more or less alone in a team of youngsters and peripheral players in early cupgames - you can’t expect 4-5 new players to make it click at the same time. Sometimes it is better to leave better individual players out to have more players that know the system and know each other.
exactly, right, but then that is management and scouting not doing their job.
The main problem is Slot wanting his ideas implemented, cause he has an ego as well. He doesn't want to be seen as playing Klopp ball.
With all the injury, tragedy, bad luck and transfer issues. Rather than stressing the main 6 starters with a new idea of play, let them play what they know, until the 3-4 new signing have some kind of on field relationship. Instead of making it hard for everybody. So that the old squad is implementing a "new" style, while the 4 new ones struggle as well.
Too many changes at once with new players and new formation and tactics. Thats exactly what Macca was on about. It takes time for a new group to seetled into a solid team. Injuries has meesed up a lot for us this season aswell.
I think Slot has to take the blame partially for throwing him into the team, Robbo was carefully managed by Klopp before hitting the first team as a regular.
Agreed. For me the problem wasn't so much Kerkez as much as Slot deciding to just swap him in over Robbo when he didn't need to. Arguably it's the one area where he could've eased him into the squad unlike the overhaul upfront. Excited to see this version of Kerkez!!
This. I've been defending Kerkez since day one. This sub goes the typical route to tear him down in favor of Robbo full stop. Kerkez showed a tenacity and work rate since he began, the transition and delivery will be forthcoming, just needs time. Saka would have eaten up Robbo at left back yesterday if he started.
I think because he performed so well at Bournemouth last season the expectations were super high and for the first half of the season or so he was not meeting those expectations
It's really irritating here sometimes. It feels like a load of people who simply cannot deal with their emotions. People just want to blow everything up at the drop of a hat. It's like people are tripping over themselves to be the harshest critic.
We are 4th and still doing ok in Europe after such a tough season with loads of improvement still to come from individuals and the team in general. How can we blow all of that up? It's so damn weird
I don't think it helped that he was so good last year. Personally, he has matched my expectations. Some good performances and sone poor. A few mistakes but I can see the improvement every few weeks as he gets used to the team and the team gets used to him.
He works hard, good energy, decent crosser, makes some good runs and is aggressive in the tackle. He'll be a very good player for the squad over the next few years. When Robbo eventually leaves, I would like to see a more defensive player come in à la Hincapie, Calafiori, Gvardiol etc. But that's more squad balance than an issue with Kerkez.
I don't think anyone can question his effort, it's top notch. What he lacks is a bit of class and finesse with the ball. it will hopefully come forth once the team is more seetled.
Yeah lmao i love it when he does the little shithousery moments like he did with trossard last night. We really need such characters against assholes like the defender gabriel and martinelli. Just need them to reach thier peak without much injuries and we have the most badass fullback duo.
Problem is with the younger guys they exert so much stress on their body. Those young muscles and tendons are not as developed and strong as their bones and other parts.
It's hard to fully judge him on his final delivery when he hasn't much to deliver too. We've not had a settled attack all season and are so disjointed.
So I'm taking comfort from the fact that defensively he is looking much better and the rest will hopefully follow
In the long run that's probably for the best anyway. We've seen his attacking capabilities at Bournemouth last year, but people have often questioned his defensive capablities this season. He's improving substantially there with the team obviously focusing on their defensive solidity over the last few months.
I'm excited to see when he puts everything together when the team is more settled.
I honestly thought that one time Saka drifted by him near the end of the first half was an eye opener because Milos wasn't having it from then on.
Agreed about final delivery, Frimpong also struggles but to be fair, even the best cross means fuck all if Gakpo has decided to hang out with Virg instead of attacking the box.
Could tell his confidence grew after that block in the penalty area.
Stuck to the task pretty well tbh.
There’s evidently areas of the game for Kerkez to improve, his form hasn’t been helped coming into an under performing team and the lack of chemistry with Gakpo, but still think he can’t be written off after 5 months at the age of 22.
Carra’s comments on him were more annoying than our fans because you saw with Trent how much that stuff just sticks with these pundits once one of them says it. When Milos dispossess Saka a few times, Neville barely says anything.
It's funny because it both is and isn't his fault. He will make great runs for Cody to completely ignore him, but sometimes he also just stands in the way and congests space which forces the ball backward. If Cody would reward the good runs with a ball every once in a while, that'd be super.
It's amazing the effect Gary Neville's commentary can have, people were carrying on like Kerkez was getting a torrid time because of Neville creaming himself over Saka. Saka got by him once and Kerkez spent the rest of the game absolutely shitting on him.
On the Peacock broadcast Graham Le Saux was doing the opposite- he didn’t focus on Saka at all, and just bashed Kerkez for 15 straight minutes after Milos gambled on a tackle and got beat pretty badly. He went so far as to take a minute or so during live game action to point out how poorly Kerkez was positioned and that Milos should be closer to VVD instead of being as close as he was to Saka
Le Saux was way off base last night. That commentary about positioning in particular was laughable. It was clear what the strategy was, i.e. mark Saka tightly and rely on midfielders to track Arsenal midfielders' runs. Anytime an Arsenal midfielder tried to move into the space vacated by Kerkez, one of our midfielders (often Mac Allister) was there tracking him.
And except for the one late challenge that Saka took advantage of, Kerkez had Saka on lockdown. After that one mistake, the die was cast for Le Saux, and he didn't have the mental flexibility to adjust his opinion once it was set, despite all the evidence in the world to do so.
Funny side note: there was a moment when Saka danced back and forth to get past Kerkez, but Kerkez stuck to him like glue. The Arsenal crowd cooed with delight when Saka was forced to pass backward after all that fruitless dancing. What a bunch of fools.
There was yet more comedy commentary when Le Saux talked about how we weren't pressing up front. Szobo's and Wirtz's positioning was so clearly designed to deny Rice the ball and force an Arsenal CB to advance the ball instead, then press them when they get deeper into our territory, that even a schoolboy would have recognized it.
Slot's tactics were clear and effective. After the rough ride he's had, let's give him his due for a great plan, as well as excellent execution by the players. Szobo, Mac, and Kerkez in particular had great games. The way our midfield easily weaved their way through Arsenal's in the 2nd half was a joy to watch.
What was crazy to me is that Le Saux even pointed out the midfielders sagging back into that space left by Kerkez and STILL continued to rag on Kerkez. Like, cmon man, there’s no way you don’t see the strategy there… Yet he just continued to double down on how poor Kerkez is
yea Peacock were disgusting, not to mention they just dismissed the VAR check on Wirtz pen, as well as Frimpong pen. when his foot was clearly kicked from the side. Not to mention Szoboszlai had 2 free kicks, one from exactly the same spot as the first leg, the pundit was like "this is waaay further" The 2nd, which was to the right and totally closer, he was like " this one is exactly the same spot".
I was super annoyed with the finnish commentary at the situation at 0:11 where saka tries to dribble past Kerkez 3 times, going back and forth. The commentator judged that Saka was "humiliating" Kerkez when in reality those "flashy" turns are a symptom of good defending and in the end saka has to pass backwards.
Yes, it was great to see Mac Allister having a good game again – he’s been a passenger for quite a while. Last night he was a huge factor in bossing the midfield and finally played some direct, progressive balls instead of endless sideway passes in the Horseshoe of Sadness.
Yeah he was back to doing that really slow dribble but somehow just walking past everyone in midfield thing that he does last night. Was really happy with him.
These peoples football knowledge is entirely influenced by pundits, 20 seconds football slop and memes. Fuck the lot of them especially the ones that insult our players constantly. Criticism is important but what we see in the match threads is beyond disgusting and is far from constructive.
The commentator was saying Saka toyed with Kerkez at halftime while showing these same highlights of Kerkez shutting him down. It was so confusing. I think Saka beat him once.
He’s been excellent since November and he was far from the biggest problem before then.
Neville on commentary did my nut in last night absolutely rimming saka every time he was on the ball yet kerkez didn’t give him a sniff all night. He did well against madueke too.
He’s locked down nearly every good winger he’s faced so far, Semenyo and Bournemouth only come alive at Anfield when Kerkez was subbed too. He’s immense defensively, a bit to work on with the ball, decision making with it and stuff but it’s easy to forget he’s still only 22.
Also love that when he got done early he goes straight back for more instead of sitting off terrified and letting someone else deal with it. Top mentality.
He's had a bunch of such good performances now. Takes time for a player to find his form. This is why carragher's comments don't help. Give him a season before you judge a 22yo player in a new club.
My commentary (us) was just trashing him about how bad he’d been all season. It’s so frustrating that the media have one narrative about a player that never changes. I really like kerkez and he’s been getting better over the course of the season. I’m so glad we got him. Up the reds!
Kerkez was absolutely glued to him. That moment where Saka turned so quickly 3 times an gave him no space to get a cross in at all was very impressive. Robbo does not have the legs for that
Did really well. I particularly like how few opportunities he gave Saka to throw himself to the floor, which we know he loves to do. Just stand him, make him pass backwards.
First half he did alright. Second half, he was superb. Always a confidence issue with the kid. This will give him loads of confidence, which will also translate into his crossing.
Kerkez is fun to watch. I know how end product has been poor, but he defends like an animal. Reminds me of how difficult it is trying to dribble around a dog who is FOCUSED.
80% win percentage in all competitions is pretty decent. The real challenge is to keep that up in multiple competitions for the whole season and win silverware.
If you looked at PSG in the first half of last season's campaign, they were much worse, and they don't even have a competitive league. No one in their right minds would've said PSG were gonna win it all.
It's too early to say anything, given that the position currently is still favourable.
So impressive today. This tenacity is what I had appreciated about him while he was at Bournemouth and got me excited about him coming to us. We hadn't seen this enough this season but so glad he stepped it up against Arsenal.
He's copped a lot of flack mainly from impatient fans. He will for sure grow and get better ~ we just need to be patient. Kinda goes for everything really
Really happy to see Milos do well. He was good and very solid throughout. A bit too solid at times so he didn’t get the benefit of some horror tackles, because he chose to get on with it instead of flopping around like dying fish; like Saka and Martinelli do.
I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm missing here. I thought he played average that game. The number of times Saka went beyond him in the first half was significant. That standing tackle half way up the pitch almost led to a goal.
He's one of the warriors of the team.. He shows the passion and desire to win. He will only improve further on given that he's already been dropping such performances when people call him shit. He will eventually come good as he grows
It's wild how quickly some fans forget that development isn't linear. Kerkez had him in his pocket that night, but that's exactly the kind of challenge a young player needs to grow from.
Saw this sort of performance from him a number of times. He’ll have one rash moment where he dives in and gets beaten, but for the rest of the game he’ll be solid.
Too many people think that the game moves only in one direction - offensively. Kerkez has improved dramatically since the start of the season. He has gone from a liability on defense to being an integral part of the back four. He will continue to improve and we will start to see offensive contributions as well. He could be a locked in starter for the next 10 years.
In the US, the NBC / Peacock crew really went on about how easy Saka got around him that first time. Went on about how easy Saka was likely to have it all match… As the match wore on, they tore up their prearranged talking points about our left back and shut up.
Kerkez won 95% of his duels with Saka, covered him well, while some delusional Arsenal fans say he was cooked. Laughable. At home he put Madueke in his pocket as well. The problem is VD and Gakpo really f his game.
He had a great game! I've never understood the hate from him. I get there's a lot to be cynical about. But this kid is going to be really good. Like all our new signings they're adjusting, but I'm excited about him for sure
ahead of this game was worried about Saka. Saw a lineup on line and it had Robbo starting and I was thinking IDK didn't he get burned last year. Glad to see the shift Kerkez put in. He wore him down. Also looks like VVD and Kerkez have a better understanding of what they're doing and even saw VVD applaud Kerkez instead of giving him a death stare tike usual.
My main concern with Milos is that he wasn't bedded in like Robbo was.
Robbo had to learn how we play and bide his time until he got his break closer to December in his first year with us.
I think Milos needs to be taken out the firing line and taught his role in this team
Yeah I didn’t think Robbo’s drop off was that severe that he immediately needed to be replaced! I think it would have been better for both him and Kerkez if Kerkez had been eased in as a 60-70 min substitute rather than dropping him straight in as a starter.
Given all the other changes that have occurred this season (some of which there is nothing Liverpool could do differently), this seemed like one that could have been way more delicately handled and is a big reason I’m questioning Slot’s judgement on other matters too!
Tbh I think his defending is too intense and high-risk. For it to work he has to be flawless at executing tasks that demand a lot of energy, and all it takes is one miss for him to let the opposition winger have a free run.
I like his tenacity but would prefer it if he became smarter and more composed in his defending. He also doesn’t have the pace to keep up with a lot of PL wingers, so his current style seems unlikely to consistently yield results.
The thing with Kerkez is he has all the physical tools - pace, physicality, technique on the cross, dribbling. He is still missing/improving in his mental side of the game. When to go low and hard vs chip to the back post. When to overlap and when to support. When to stay back vs dive in. It’s a bit frustrating and I thought the “Darwin at left back” comment was honestly a perfect assessment. The thing with Kerkez is he’s about 2/3 years younger than Darwin was coming in. I’d expect him to improve a lot in that time.
I think Saka got the better of him in those first 20 minutes when Arsenal were looking well on top. And by 'got the better of him' I mean taking him on and getting past him a few times, but effectively leading to nothing. After that though and certainly in the second half Kerkez has had locked down. He was very good yesterday, with the only frustration being his end product. His crossing was on the whole, pretty dire.
It was nice to see the lads actually be mindful of not conceding silly corners and set-pieces in general, something we’ve generally been horrendous at all season.
Played Saka as well as anyone will this season. A player of Saka's quality is always going to skin you at some point during the game. But Milos mathced him for intensity and strength, and came ot ut on top.
I'm starting to like him quite a bit. He has two bad habits he needs to quit right away though, defending with his hands behind his back and doing that sitting down on his backside tackle.
Of course he does, but it's nonsense. Last player I saw that did this regularly was Alberto Moreno. You need your arms to move and change direction effectively. Just keep them by your side and you good.
So many people who blame him don't realise his problem always has been Gakpo. He himself has stated in a post match interview that he enjoys playing with Wirtz a lot more when Gakpo was out.
He moves so heavily on his feet lol. It's hard to describe but we've managed to find a less polished left back than Robbo lol. His terrier temperament more than made up for it here but I'm not sold on him just yet
Saka had a bad night. Honestly the worst signing so far this year, maybe isak still. I don’t know what they wanted him to play but he isn’t doing what he did at Bournemouth
I thought Kerkez was very poor in the first half. People praising his performance is based on his 2nd half performance, which was much better. I love his defensive intensity and hope that energy rubs off on the rest of the squad. He still has a difficult time crossing the ball with purpose and accuracy. Frimpong had the same problem last night. Kerkez is so young and will be a good player for us. And yes, he can be frustrating at times.
It really has irritated me how quickly people here were ready to give up on a kid who was two years younger than Robbo when he arrived here. Young players need patience. They can improve. That's the point.
People forget that robbo didn’t really get a game for quite a while. Slot just put kerkez straight in.
robertson and fabinho didn’t play for 6 months right?
back then i was wondering they must have failed during training.
Yeah. They got minutes here and there but not consistently.
even Konate was eased into it, he got no sniff of the position in main games before Matip got injured. only in Cups and so on.
Fabinho played early and looked terrible in one of his first big matches (Arsenal) I believe. He was like Wirtz early on where he wasn’t playing fast enough or used to how quickly the windows close in the PL. our boys are starting to settled and we just got an away draw against the first place team while Missing our top three scoring options (not based on this season’s stats, just in general).
joined in the August, got a couple of starts but cemented his place in the team in the December... but its comparing apples to oranges... Kerkez is competing with an Andy Robertson who can still do a bloody good job at left back while Robbo was competing with Moreno who, while was ok... for the most part he was shit
Moreno was in the form of his life the few months before robbo broke out. He earned his way back into the Spanish national team even and finally looked like the player we hoped he would be. Was a real shame he got injured when he did but robbo went to even greater heights so it worked out. Who knows how long he could have sustained it but was nice to see Moreno have a good spell for at least half a season. And it made it easy for robbo to get settled before being thrown into the fire.
Robbo is 31 ain't he, what is a good age for a good sub for that position? why wouldn't he accept a transition into a backup at his age, and remain at his favorite club. Rather than go and get no minutes, no guarantee's at other places.
the good old days when a player integration lasted months, got 5-10 minutes to half a game, to starter. Now Kerkez and new players are thrown into the fire instantly with him having zero game relationship with VD then, and still no link with Gakpo at present still. Only works well with Wirtz.
I think in general the lack of patience with this team. We’ve had so much success over the year but Klopp built that team, then Slot continued with the set up (after Klopp rebuilt and we struggled). Slot has now tried to rebuild from a high and while it hasn’t gone as planned, people look less than halfway into a season where we had two very disruptive transfer sagas and another three or four important new transfers and decide that the team is useless and everyone should be fired (aka the Man United philosophy).
Think a lot of newer fans just expect to win the league repeatedly and focused on the half billion we spend rather than looking at net spend and lack if depth: the rebuild is only half way through now
I almost dont even look at the comments anymore. Its exhausting.
Nowhere near enough of todays fans got to watch the Roy Hodgson era, and it shows.
I'm glad I'm not the only one. I still attempt to reason with some idiots. The down votes is a badge of pride at this point
the performances are the bigger worry. no width, waiting for opponents to get back, no ST to occupy the two CBs. just flat performances and lack of a promising game plan was what struck me. yesterday was one of the best
I just don’t understand what our philosophy is. I dont see much of an identity in how we attack or move in transition.
Slot has taken some crap for not slowly bedding Kerkez in but I think people forget that Robbo's form was a bit patchy last season and more importantly for me, in my opinion, going by interviews we've seen and the training videos of them goofing around on Insta I think Robbo took the loss of Jota particularly hard and he may have also been given some compassionate leave of sorts.
People around here rode Robbo's ass all last season and couldn't wait for him to be replaced. People were also frustrated with Diaz's drop off last season, which also happened to be his best year for the club, but you'd think he was performing like that every season the way people around here talk about him now. It's quite fascinating to witness.
For me the problem has been, that the new kids all came in, and they had to be first choice right away. And at the same time there was a hierarchy among them, so that Isak was more important than Ekitike. Robbo didn’t come in and was first choice right away - he earned the spot. Kherkes and all the other lads came in and was first choice right away - and they didn’t show they earned it. I the bright light of hindsight it would had been better to slowly move them into the team and make sure that only a few of them, where on the field at the same time.
I know, that injuries have forced us - but just as you can’t expect great players like Chiesa to shine more or less alone in a team of youngsters and peripheral players in early cupgames - you can’t expect 4-5 new players to make it click at the same time. Sometimes it is better to leave better individual players out to have more players that know the system and know each other.
exactly, right, but then that is management and scouting not doing their job.
The main problem is Slot wanting his ideas implemented, cause he has an ego as well. He doesn't want to be seen as playing Klopp ball.
With all the injury, tragedy, bad luck and transfer issues. Rather than stressing the main 6 starters with a new idea of play, let them play what they know, until the 3-4 new signing have some kind of on field relationship. Instead of making it hard for everybody. So that the old squad is implementing a "new" style, while the 4 new ones struggle as well.
Too many changes at once with new players and new formation and tactics. Thats exactly what Macca was on about. It takes time for a new group to seetled into a solid team. Injuries has meesed up a lot for us this season aswell.
I think Slot has to take the blame partially for throwing him into the team, Robbo was carefully managed by Klopp before hitting the first team as a regular.
Agreed. For me the problem wasn't so much Kerkez as much as Slot deciding to just swap him in over Robbo when he didn't need to. Arguably it's the one area where he could've eased him into the squad unlike the overhaul upfront. Excited to see this version of Kerkez!!
Also agree. At least Kerkez is now playing at this level and Robbo's hamstrings are still intact.
This. I've been defending Kerkez since day one. This sub goes the typical route to tear him down in favor of Robbo full stop. Kerkez showed a tenacity and work rate since he began, the transition and delivery will be forthcoming, just needs time. Saka would have eaten up Robbo at left back yesterday if he started.
I think because he performed so well at Bournemouth last season the expectations were super high and for the first half of the season or so he was not meeting those expectations
It's really irritating here sometimes. It feels like a load of people who simply cannot deal with their emotions. People just want to blow everything up at the drop of a hat. It's like people are tripping over themselves to be the harshest critic.
We are 4th and still doing ok in Europe after such a tough season with loads of improvement still to come from individuals and the team in general. How can we blow all of that up? It's so damn weird
I don't think it helped that he was so good last year. Personally, he has matched my expectations. Some good performances and sone poor. A few mistakes but I can see the improvement every few weeks as he gets used to the team and the team gets used to him.
He works hard, good energy, decent crosser, makes some good runs and is aggressive in the tackle. He'll be a very good player for the squad over the next few years. When Robbo eventually leaves, I would like to see a more defensive player come in à la Hincapie, Calafiori, Gvardiol etc. But that's more squad balance than an issue with Kerkez.
Having patience is utter woke nonsense!
I don't think anyone can question his effort, it's top notch. What he lacks is a bit of class and finesse with the ball. it will hopefully come forth once the team is more seetled.
Kerkez has that dog in him, I like that a lot. Wish some more of the players had that in them
Bradley has it too. Shame he’s made of glass
Yeah lmao i love it when he does the little shithousery moments like he did with trossard last night. We really need such characters against assholes like the defender gabriel and martinelli. Just need them to reach thier peak without much injuries and we have the most badass fullback duo.
Problem is with the younger guys they exert so much stress on their body. Those young muscles and tendons are not as developed and strong as their bones and other parts.
Youth need to be nurtured.
Looks like Saka had a frustrating evening. Kerkez was all over him! Nightmare material. Everywhere you turn you find a Kerkez!
Think he had a difficult 1st half and dived in unnecessarily a few times, but that was a goal saving block in the box against Saka.
2nd half, Kerkez completely controlled him. Both games against Arsenal have arguably been his best for us.
His final delivery is still sorely lacking, but I'm hopeful that will come good, too.
It's hard to fully judge him on his final delivery when he hasn't much to deliver too. We've not had a settled attack all season and are so disjointed.
So I'm taking comfort from the fact that defensively he is looking much better and the rest will hopefully follow
Yeah the lack of delivery line is a bit played out. There is way more context to it.
In the long run that's probably for the best anyway. We've seen his attacking capabilities at Bournemouth last year, but people have often questioned his defensive capablities this season. He's improving substantially there with the team obviously focusing on their defensive solidity over the last few months.
I'm excited to see when he puts everything together when the team is more settled.
I honestly thought that one time Saka drifted by him near the end of the first half was an eye opener because Milos wasn't having it from then on.
Agreed about final delivery, Frimpong also struggles but to be fair, even the best cross means fuck all if Gakpo has decided to hang out with Virg instead of attacking the box.
Drive by on Gakpo just for the hell of it.
Honest question: how is it that Liverpool this year plays better against factually good teams while struggles against weak ones?
Because they do to us, what we just did to Arsenal. Frustrate and defend. We are really struggling to get in behind and do damge.
City played us off the park not great against Chelsea either
I made a promise Mr. almondbutterbucket, don't you leave him, Samwise Kerkez. And I don't mean to!
That kick to the midriff - foot’s about a metre off the ground!
Could tell his confidence grew after that block in the penalty area.
Stuck to the task pretty well tbh.
There’s evidently areas of the game for Kerkez to improve, his form hasn’t been helped coming into an under performing team and the lack of chemistry with Gakpo, but still think he can’t be written off after 5 months at the age of 22.
Carra’s comments on him were more annoying than our fans because you saw with Trent how much that stuff just sticks with these pundits once one of them says it. When Milos dispossess Saka a few times, Neville barely says anything.
"Lack of chemistry with Gakpo" just means his LW ignores him all game
It's funny because it both is and isn't his fault. He will make great runs for Cody to completely ignore him, but sometimes he also just stands in the way and congests space which forces the ball backward. If Cody would reward the good runs with a ball every once in a while, that'd be super.
Easy MOTM. He's got Saka's number.
It's amazing the effect Gary Neville's commentary can have, people were carrying on like Kerkez was getting a torrid time because of Neville creaming himself over Saka. Saka got by him once and Kerkez spent the rest of the game absolutely shitting on him.
On the Peacock broadcast Graham Le Saux was doing the opposite- he didn’t focus on Saka at all, and just bashed Kerkez for 15 straight minutes after Milos gambled on a tackle and got beat pretty badly. He went so far as to take a minute or so during live game action to point out how poorly Kerkez was positioned and that Milos should be closer to VVD instead of being as close as he was to Saka
Le Saux was way off base last night. That commentary about positioning in particular was laughable. It was clear what the strategy was, i.e. mark Saka tightly and rely on midfielders to track Arsenal midfielders' runs. Anytime an Arsenal midfielder tried to move into the space vacated by Kerkez, one of our midfielders (often Mac Allister) was there tracking him.
And except for the one late challenge that Saka took advantage of, Kerkez had Saka on lockdown. After that one mistake, the die was cast for Le Saux, and he didn't have the mental flexibility to adjust his opinion once it was set, despite all the evidence in the world to do so.
Funny side note: there was a moment when Saka danced back and forth to get past Kerkez, but Kerkez stuck to him like glue. The Arsenal crowd cooed with delight when Saka was forced to pass backward after all that fruitless dancing. What a bunch of fools.
There was yet more comedy commentary when Le Saux talked about how we weren't pressing up front. Szobo's and Wirtz's positioning was so clearly designed to deny Rice the ball and force an Arsenal CB to advance the ball instead, then press them when they get deeper into our territory, that even a schoolboy would have recognized it.
Slot's tactics were clear and effective. After the rough ride he's had, let's give him his due for a great plan, as well as excellent execution by the players. Szobo, Mac, and Kerkez in particular had great games. The way our midfield easily weaved their way through Arsenal's in the 2nd half was a joy to watch.
What was crazy to me is that Le Saux even pointed out the midfielders sagging back into that space left by Kerkez and STILL continued to rag on Kerkez. Like, cmon man, there’s no way you don’t see the strategy there… Yet he just continued to double down on how poor Kerkez is
I noticed this too. Like, Saka needed to be shut down lol that’s their main attacking threat
yea Peacock were disgusting, not to mention they just dismissed the VAR check on Wirtz pen, as well as Frimpong pen. when his foot was clearly kicked from the side. Not to mention Szoboszlai had 2 free kicks, one from exactly the same spot as the first leg, the pundit was like "this is waaay further" The 2nd, which was to the right and totally closer, he was like " this one is exactly the same spot".
I was super annoyed with the finnish commentary at the situation at 0:11 where saka tries to dribble past Kerkez 3 times, going back and forth. The commentator judged that Saka was "humiliating" Kerkez when in reality those "flashy" turns are a symptom of good defending and in the end saka has to pass backwards.
Honestly, I thought VvD and Macca were great, too.
Yes, it was great to see Mac Allister having a good game again – he’s been a passenger for quite a while. Last night he was a huge factor in bossing the midfield and finally played some direct, progressive balls instead of endless sideway passes in the Horseshoe of Sadness.
Yeah he was back to doing that really slow dribble but somehow just walking past everyone in midfield thing that he does last night. Was really happy with him.
Bradley for me.
Tenacious Kerkez unlocked
This was just a tribute
Wonder boyyy, what is the secret of your powwwerrrrr
It's almost like he needed some time to adapt to our systems and the pressure of playing for a big club.
Glad 80% of his cesspit weren't calling him a waste of space...
A lot of Liverpool “supporters” owe him an apology.
They aren't supporters bro
These peoples football knowledge is entirely influenced by pundits, 20 seconds football slop and memes. Fuck the lot of them especially the ones that insult our players constantly. Criticism is important but what we see in the match threads is beyond disgusting and is far from constructive.
What happens to giving new players at least a year, or even half a season to settle in?
Circumstances with transfers haven't allowed that to happen, we have one other LB who can't play every game.
Next?
Terrier like performance, well done lad
Bulldogini
The commentator was saying Saka toyed with Kerkez at halftime while showing these same highlights of Kerkez shutting him down. It was so confusing. I think Saka beat him once.
I know it was only Saka but Kerkez played really well last night.
Crying tears of joy at his extension news
Matching a ‘washed’ Salah while in his prime….world class right there.
The clip near the start where Saka went back and forth and Kerkez stayed with him before Saka passed back really annoyed me.
Their fans cheered like Saka had just had him on toast when Saka is the one who failed to get anywhere so went backwards. 🥴
Kerkez was great against Arse at Anfield as well
You could tell that Saka was going to be hooked from those last two incidents. He had run out of gas.
Kerkez did really well against him. It was a good battle in the first half but Saka really dropped off in the second.
He’s been excellent since November and he was far from the biggest problem before then.
Neville on commentary did my nut in last night absolutely rimming saka every time he was on the ball yet kerkez didn’t give him a sniff all night. He did well against madueke too.
He’s locked down nearly every good winger he’s faced so far, Semenyo and Bournemouth only come alive at Anfield when Kerkez was subbed too. He’s immense defensively, a bit to work on with the ball, decision making with it and stuff but it’s easy to forget he’s still only 22.
Also love that when he got done early he goes straight back for more instead of sitting off terrified and letting someone else deal with it. Top mentality.
Great (controlled) tenacity
He's had a bunch of such good performances now. Takes time for a player to find his form. This is why carragher's comments don't help. Give him a season before you judge a 22yo player in a new club.
Looks like Kerkez finally found his stride. Happy for the lad.
Saka is stuck with the car keys and handkerchief in kerkez pockets. It'll take a struggle pulling him out that wreckage fs.
This is the Kerkez we signed !
Worked his socks off. Is right Milos lad
Really pissed him off to the point that he just had to kick him to vent his frustration. Well done.
My commentary (us) was just trashing him about how bad he’d been all season. It’s so frustrating that the media have one narrative about a player that never changes. I really like kerkez and he’s been getting better over the course of the season. I’m so glad we got him. Up the reds!
I like this kid.
His low centre of gravity and agility is something to behold.
His best game for us defensively. I believe he’ll only get better from here. We are lucky to have Kerkez and Bradley as fullbacks.
He is improving game by game, proud of this guy
I think he would’ve hit the ground running with Diaz as his partner on the flank.
He’s got the passion and energy this team needs. He looks clumsy sometimes but I like that he always gives his 101%
I tell you what, after a shaky start to his Liverpool career, Kerkez is growing and getting better!
Kerkez was unreal yday post 20 mins
Great defensive performance -almost completely nullified their best attacking player.
I'm still mad about that unpunished challenge and the "head injury" though.
hope he can be our next arsenal smacker after firmino and jota, his 2 best games for us were against them
"Twistin' and teasin' Kerkez" and goin' nowhere...
Kerkez earned his money...
That’s my goat
Kerkez definitely the answer for that Saka
He is just RELENTLESS!!! Love him
Kerkez was absolutely glued to him. That moment where Saka turned so quickly 3 times an gave him no space to get a cross in at all was very impressive. Robbo does not have the legs for that
Did really well. I particularly like how few opportunities he gave Saka to throw himself to the floor, which we know he loves to do. Just stand him, make him pass backwards.
One of his best defensive performances for us so far.
I feel.Saka would of had Robbo on toast in all fairness.
Could see Gakpo was more inclined to use him on the overlap too. I’ve got a lot of time for this lad.
First half he did alright. Second half, he was superb. Always a confidence issue with the kid. This will give him loads of confidence, which will also translate into his crossing.
Kerkez is fun to watch. I know how end product has been poor, but he defends like an animal. Reminds me of how difficult it is trying to dribble around a dog who is FOCUSED.
https://preview.redd.it/l1p5pvmbkdcg1.png?width=616&format=png&auto=webp&s=836762ab3f82b76c754a9b7ff5e6d275701b0bff
Arsenal just aren’t that team. Beneficiaries of a poor quality league, just like us last year.
80% win percentage in all competitions is pretty decent. The real challenge is to keep that up in multiple competitions for the whole season and win silverware.
If you looked at PSG in the first half of last season's campaign, they were much worse, and they don't even have a competitive league. No one in their right minds would've said PSG were gonna win it all.
It's too early to say anything, given that the position currently is still favourable.
Kerkez played his heart out. Kudos to the boy.
Did Saka catch block the ball with his arms then feign a head injury?
It hit him in the face
Someone actually called this in the match thread.
Probably his best game in a Liverpool shirt
Has Kerkez finally settled and now we will see what we bought from Bournemouth.
Cooked Saka
tigerish
I think we should sign him ✍️
So impressive today. This tenacity is what I had appreciated about him while he was at Bournemouth and got me excited about him coming to us. We hadn't seen this enough this season but so glad he stepped it up against Arsenal.
Sufocou o tempo todo. Deixou o time orgulhoso
He's copped a lot of flack mainly from impatient fans. He will for sure grow and get better ~ we just need to be patient. Kinda goes for everything really
Excellent performance. Hopefully he can keep pushing. He needed that boost of confidence.
Really happy to see Milos do well. He was good and very solid throughout. A bit too solid at times so he didn’t get the benefit of some horror tackles, because he chose to get on with it instead of flopping around like dying fish; like Saka and Martinelli do.
Fun fact: Saka has the same number of goals & assist as Salah and more mins played.
man marking and intensity even messi or zidane would don’t want to play against. 🥳
I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm missing here. I thought he played average that game. The number of times Saka went beyond him in the first half was significant. That standing tackle half way up the pitch almost led to a goal.
If that is all of the duels, then Saka only dribbled past Kerkez once, and that was because Kerkaz tried to slide in to knick the ball.
It's funny because in the match threads everyone was calling Kerkez a championship player and that Saka had him on toast.
Yeah golden boy had nothing.
He seemed really dialled in last night. There’s obviously a player in there
He's one of the warriors of the team.. He shows the passion and desire to win. He will only improve further on given that he's already been dropping such performances when people call him shit. He will eventually come good as he grows
It's wild how quickly some fans forget that development isn't linear. Kerkez had him in his pocket that night, but that's exactly the kind of challenge a young player needs to grow from.
Saw this sort of performance from him a number of times. He’ll have one rash moment where he dives in and gets beaten, but for the rest of the game he’ll be solid.
Too many people think that the game moves only in one direction - offensively. Kerkez has improved dramatically since the start of the season. He has gone from a liability on defense to being an integral part of the back four. He will continue to improve and we will start to see offensive contributions as well. He could be a locked in starter for the next 10 years.
Just shows how kerkez grew into it and owned him by the end of the evening
Played his heart out battling against a top top winger
Can’t ask for anymore of someone than who tries like that!
In the US, the NBC / Peacock crew really went on about how easy Saka got around him that first time. Went on about how easy Saka was likely to have it all match… As the match wore on, they tore up their prearranged talking points about our left back and shut up.
Saka has 4 goals 3 assists lol, what’s the hype?
Kerkez won 95% of his duels with Saka, covered him well, while some delusional Arsenal fans say he was cooked. Laughable. At home he put Madueke in his pocket as well. The problem is VD and Gakpo really f his game.
I watched the entire clip waiting for that last tackle. That one was sweet!!
BEAST
He had a great game! I've never understood the hate from him. I get there's a lot to be cynical about. But this kid is going to be really good. Like all our new signings they're adjusting, but I'm excited about him for sure
ahead of this game was worried about Saka. Saw a lineup on line and it had Robbo starting and I was thinking IDK didn't he get burned last year. Glad to see the shift Kerkez put in. He wore him down. Also looks like VVD and Kerkez have a better understanding of what they're doing and even saw VVD applaud Kerkez instead of giving him a death stare tike usual.
He’s a little terrier he won’t give up, he’s young and will make mistakes but he’s growing and getting better every match.
Best game defensively. Still lots of improvement when the ball is at his feet, especially in the final third
Except for the one late lunge resulting in Saka blowing by him, he did really well. Very happy for him. Hopefully a sign of good things to come.
He did great against muduake at Anfield too
Guy’s a menace
My main concern with Milos is that he wasn't bedded in like Robbo was. Robbo had to learn how we play and bide his time until he got his break closer to December in his first year with us.
I think Milos needs to be taken out the firing line and taught his role in this team
Yeah I didn’t think Robbo’s drop off was that severe that he immediately needed to be replaced! I think it would have been better for both him and Kerkez if Kerkez had been eased in as a 60-70 min substitute rather than dropping him straight in as a starter. Given all the other changes that have occurred this season (some of which there is nothing Liverpool could do differently), this seemed like one that could have been way more delicately handled and is a big reason I’m questioning Slot’s judgement on other matters too!
20 seconds into the vid... this is why you do the side to side sprints in training
Tbh I think his defending is too intense and high-risk. For it to work he has to be flawless at executing tasks that demand a lot of energy, and all it takes is one miss for him to let the opposition winger have a free run.
I like his tenacity but would prefer it if he became smarter and more composed in his defending. He also doesn’t have the pace to keep up with a lot of PL wingers, so his current style seems unlikely to consistently yield results.
The thing with Kerkez is he has all the physical tools - pace, physicality, technique on the cross, dribbling. He is still missing/improving in his mental side of the game. When to go low and hard vs chip to the back post. When to overlap and when to support. When to stay back vs dive in. It’s a bit frustrating and I thought the “Darwin at left back” comment was honestly a perfect assessment. The thing with Kerkez is he’s about 2/3 years younger than Darwin was coming in. I’d expect him to improve a lot in that time.
That dogged energy and relentlessness is why we love Robbie so much. Great to see Kerkez playing well.
Kerkez needs to have a pocket sewn on his shorts.
"Hey Saka mate, this is where you are going."
I think Saka got the better of him in those first 20 minutes when Arsenal were looking well on top. And by 'got the better of him' I mean taking him on and getting past him a few times, but effectively leading to nothing. After that though and certainly in the second half Kerkez has had locked down. He was very good yesterday, with the only frustration being his end product. His crossing was on the whole, pretty dire.
it was a shaky first 20-30 minutes but he had a big job to do and once he got his rhythm he took Saka out of the game.
Definitely has the energy of a young Robbo. Love the intensity, drive and belief
This is what "Darwin Núñez at left back" looks like, apparently.
Big credit to Kerkez. He's coming good. If only Gakpo could pass to him now.
The lad played fantastic
"Does he leave a foot in?"
YEAH, I think so...
He got that Dawg in him
Now play like that against bottom 5 teams
Gary Neville: The last thing you want to do against Arsenal is give away a corner.
Apparently instead of tackling Saka in a dangerous area Kerkez should have just let him run straight into the box
Thought he did a really great job tbh, historically Saka has done pretty well against us so it was nice to see him locked down
It was nice to see the lads actually be mindful of not conceding silly corners and set-pieces in general, something we’ve generally been horrendous at all season.
Crazy that people forget that he was the best LB in league last year
I reckon he’s one of those players that does better when he has someone specific to man mark
Playing against someone this aggressive and agile is the worst. Saka had a terrible day. ❤️❤️❤️KERKEZ❤️❤️❤️
Flashback of Salah being in his pocket last season
Played Saka as well as anyone will this season. A player of Saka's quality is always going to skin you at some point during the game. But Milos mathced him for intensity and strength, and came ot ut on top.
Milos has a great deal of potential.
Saka had a better 1st half
Kerkez had a better 2nd half
Overall better from Kerkez though, but still not matching peak Robbo
Repost but the embedded video is nicer than a link to YouTube, so it shall remain
I'm starting to like him quite a bit. He has two bad habits he needs to quit right away though, defending with his hands behind his back and doing that sitting down on his backside tackle.
he only does the defending with hands behind the back in the penalty box.
Of course he does, but it's nonsense. Last player I saw that did this regularly was Alberto Moreno. You need your arms to move and change direction effectively. Just keep them by your side and you good.
So many people who blame him don't realise his problem always has been Gakpo. He himself has stated in a post match interview that he enjoys playing with Wirtz a lot more when Gakpo was out.
defensively hes good but going forward he plays like a headless chicken.
He moves so heavily on his feet lol. It's hard to describe but we've managed to find a less polished left back than Robbo lol. His terrier temperament more than made up for it here but I'm not sold on him just yet
Saka had a bad night. Honestly the worst signing so far this year, maybe isak still. I don’t know what they wanted him to play but he isn’t doing what he did at Bournemouth
What in the 6-7!! 🤣🤣🤣
Saka got very tired by the second half.
Tired of being in Milos pocket you mean.
I thought Kerkez was very poor in the first half. People praising his performance is based on his 2nd half performance, which was much better. I love his defensive intensity and hope that energy rubs off on the rest of the squad. He still has a difficult time crossing the ball with purpose and accuracy. Frimpong had the same problem last night. Kerkez is so young and will be a good player for us. And yes, he can be frustrating at times.
Just goes to show how underrated Saka is as well.
Kerkez did well, bet he’s glad it’s over though!
Underrated how? Kerkez played really well but saka didn't show very much special apart from the one run after milos stupidly dived in