Liverpool have another Darwin Nunez for Arne Slot in ‘mad’ star | Football | Sport
When questioned whether a spell out of the team had benefited Kerkez, whose form showed signs of improvement in December whilst sharing duties with Andy Robertson, Carragher was forthright in his assessment. “No, but I think it’s working for Liverpool in that I don’t think he should be playing every week,” the Anfield icon told Sky Sports.
“You’ve got too good a player in Andy Robertson who needs to play games as well. I think when Andy Robertson’s played, he hasn’t played as much as Kerkez, I think you’d probably say Andy Robertson’s performances have been better than Kerkez’s.
“He’s found it tough, it’s been a struggle for him. He’s a young man, but he will have to improve in the second half of the season, there’s no doubt about that.
“It’s funny watching him [Kerkez] play. I always remember speaking about Trent Alexander-Arnold, who Liverpool have missed enormously of course, and said it’s like having Kevin De Bruyne at right-back.
“Sometimes, when you watch Kerkez, it’s like having Darwin Nunez at left-back, it’s just a bit mad. There’s no real thought process, what’s he doing with the ball, how’s he connecting with other players, it’s just head down, run. He never gets his head up and actually plays passes.”
After Liverpool’s 3-2 victory over Newcastle in August, Carragher stated: “Kerkez has made a really poor start to his Liverpool career. He found it really difficult against Bournemouth, he was a little bit nervous.
“He was up against [Anthony] Elanga today, not easy, but this (his efforts for Bruno Guimaraes’ goal) is just not enough – you’ve just got to go and head the ball and he’s almost just trying to stop the player. That is just really, really poor. He’s not the biggest, but you’ve got to jump, you’ve got to challenge in that situation.”
Carragher’s Sky Sports colleague, Kris Boyd, was critical of Kerkez’s display as Liverpool drew 2-2 with Fulham, conceding in the seventh minute of stoppage time despite taking the lead three minutes earlier. “A lot of times Kerkez ran down the left-hand side and his final ball was not good enough,” Boyd said.
“He’s definitely not hit the heights he did last season at Bournemouth. He’s going to have to get used to the demands and pressure of playing at a club that has to win every game.”
