Milos Kerkez has again been compared to Darwin Nunez by Jamie Carragher, who doubled down on his assessment of the Liverpool left-back, while Roy Keane also had his say on the Reds' full-backs
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher pulled no punches
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher pulled no punches(Image: Stick to Football)
Jamie Carragher has once more labelled Milos Kerkez as 'the Darwin Nunez of full-backs' on account of his tendency to do 'everything 100 miles an hour'.
The former Liverpool vice-captain conceded it may have been somewhat harsh to apply such a comparison during his debut season at the club, yet has now firmly stood by the assessment.
Ex-Bournemouth defender Kerkez, 22, has featured in both of the Reds' opening Premier League fixtures this campaign. The Hungarian international attracted criticism following the 2-2 stalemate with Newcastle United, after Anthony Elanga breezed past him to net the opener within the first five minutes.
READ MORE: Liverpool registers new right-back option for Andoni Iraola amid Frimpong and Szoboszlai concerns
Subsequently, in their second fixture, Andoni Iraola withdrew him in favour of Kostas Tsimikas as part of a triple substitution following Nottingham Forest's second goal at Anfield.
Discussing Liverpool on episode 147 of Stick to Football, Gary Neville raised the topic of their full-backs, Jeremie Frimpong and Kerkez. He said: "The two full-backs, it was quite clear at the start of last season when you watched them for five or six matches, that defensively they weren't going to be quite at the level to do it."
He proceeded to highlight the club's failure to strengthen in that position since then. The sole reinforcement in that area remains Tsimikas, who has been reintegrated into the squad following a loan spell at Roma last season.
Neville continued: "I'm stunned. We talk about 'will Arsenal regret not bringing in a forward' - will Liverpool regret not bringing in a couple of full-backs?"
Milos Kerkez in action against Forest
Milos Kerkez in action against Forest(Image: Jan Kruger, Getty Images)
Roy Keane added: "I look at the two full-backs for Liverpool, I'm on about the basics of the game, I'm on about heading the football, or they're trying to win balls that you can't win; kicking the ball. They don't even have a feel for the ball where you can just dink it in behind, or play one-twos.
"Listen, looking back, we used to give Trent [Alexander-Arnold] a lot of stick defensively. But passing, pinging, switching play.."
Carragher then continued: "Their understanding of the game is really, really poor. You're watching the game and thinking, 'Why has he done that?'"
Get Liverpool's new 2026/27 home kit
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Content Image
Content Image
Product Description
"I described Kerkez last season - and it was his first season, maybe it was a bit harsh at the time - he's the Darwin Nunez of full-backs. It's just like 'head down and run', everything Kerkez does is 100 miles an hour.
"You know, when you're on a football pitch, you're very rarely running as fast as you can. When you're getting chased, that's running as fast as you can, but you're not running as fast on the pitch because you know you're going to have to stop, change direction, you're going to have to swap the ball... but he does everything 100 miles an hour - every time he closes someone down, he passes it - bang!
"They've brought in Kerkez. He's had his first season, it wasn't amazing, but right, you go: 'OK, Iraola's come in from Bournemouth, he knows him, he's still our left-back. Andy Robertson moved on, we had another left-back on loan, so we're probably not going to spend another £40million on another. He's our left-back, let him have another year.'".