Chris Sutton has claimed that Arne Slot has quickly ‘lost faith in’ one of the players who signed for Liverpool during the summer.
Milos Kerkez was one of the Reds’ earlier off-season recruits, joining from Bournemouth towards the end of June, and he began the current campaign as the head coach’s undisputed first choice at left-back.
However, the 22-year-old hasn’t started any of the Premier League champions’ last three matches, with Andy Robertson preferred against Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Manchester City, and the Hungarian has faced stinging criticism from the likes of Paul Scholes and Gary Neville in recent weeks.
Sutton: Slot has ‘lost faith in’ Kerkez
Sutton appeared on the latest episode of the BBC’s Monday Night Club podcast, and he believes that Slot no longer trusts Liverpool’s number 6 in his starting line-up.
The former Blackburn and Chelsea striker said: “Arne Slot hung his hat on Kerkez at the start of the season, Robertson was out in the cold and, all of a sudden, I think he has lost faith in Kerkez.”
Milos Kerkez has lost his place in the Liverpool starting XI to Andy Robertson in recent games
(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Kerkez will get more opportunities; he then needs to take them
Slot issued a strong public defence of Kerkez last month when, in the wake of widespread scorn after struggling in our defeat to Man United, the head coach was keen to praise the ‘energy’ and the one-on-one defending nous of the 22-year-old.
Despite that, the Hungarian has lost his place in the team of late, and Robertson has capitalised by putting in some strong performances, with the defence having looked much steadier against Villa and Real Madrid before the chastening loss at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
The summer signing could use his international involvement over the coming days to prove a point to his club boss and get back into the Liverpool line-up when the Premier League season resumes the weekend after next.
With the Reds continuing to juggle two competitions (three once they enter the FA Cup in January), Slot will need to utilise the full depth of his squad, and Kerkez isn’t likely to be completely frozen out just because he hasn’t been starting recently.
Robertson might be difficult to displace in the short-term, but the Hungary left-back just needs to maximise everything within his control to try and win back his place in the team. Once he does, the onus will then be on him to show his head coach that he can no longer be dropped.
You can watch Slot’s full post-Man City press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: