Milos Kerkez has reflected on his latest return to Bournemouth. The left-back went back to the Vitality Stadium as a Liverpool player, with Andoni Iraola in the dugout.
Kerkez joined Bournemouth in 2023, the same summer as Iraola, and played 74 games under him across two seasons.
His form in 2024-25 earned him a place in the PFA Team of the Year and a £40 million move to Liverpool.
Life at Anfield has been harder. Kerkez called last season “tough,” and former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has described this season as “crunch time” for him.
Andy Robertson, who was ahead of him in the pecking order at one point under Arne Slot, has since left for Tottenham Hotspur.
Kerkez started Liverpool’s first three Premier League games this season, and Iraola says he “still has big potential.”
That was the backdrop on Sunday, when Liverpool visited the south coast for the fifth round of the Premier League. Alexander Isak scored the only goal in the 57th minute, and Liverpool won 1-0.
Kerkez played the full 90 minutes against his former club. Liverpool remain unbeaten in the league, with two wins and three draws, and sit sixth.
Kerkez said the reception from home supporters fell short of what he had hoped for.
“I didn’t expect this. I know a lot of people from the current team, I played with several of them,” he said, as quoted by Hungarian outlet Magyar Nemzet.
“I have friends and acquaintances here. However, I didn’t get the reception from the fans that I had hoped for.”
He was booed by the Bournemouth fans and Kerkez said he was proud of his team-mates.
“I know exactly how difficult it is to arrive here as a guest, so I’m proud of the team,” he said.
“It makes me very happy how we handled this match mentally. We fought until the last moment, and the reward was three points.”
Iraola was pleased with the defensive display. “I am happy it is the third clean sheet in a row in the league,” he said.
It is Liverpool’s first run of three straight league clean sheets since September 2024.
Iraola said Jeremy Jacquet and Virgil van Dijk, with the help of Ronald Araujo and Kerkez, are building connections at the back.
Kerkez now joins the Hungary squad.
Hungary open their Nations League campaign against Ukraine at the Puskas Arena on September 25, then face Northern Ireland in Belfast on September 28.
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