Milos Kerkez was among the Liverpool players to impress during the FA Cup 4th-round meeting with Brighton and Hove Albion.
Liverpool went into the game looking to build on a midweek Premier League win over Sunderland.
Despite the victory on Wednesday, the 2025/26 season has been poor, with some fans suggesting Arne Slot should leave even if the Reds win the FA Cup this term.
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Curtis Jones points to the Anfield stand in celebration during Liverpool's FA Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion
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Well, while it remains to be seen what will happen with the Dutchman in the summer, he should get some credit for his handling of Milos Kerkez.
Like Florian Wirtz, Kerkez was criticised early in his Liverpool career, including Alan Pardew suggesting the Hungarian had been found out.
However, the left-back’s form has taken a big upturn in the last couple of months, even seeing Gary Neville praise the Liverpool defender following a 0-0 draw with Arsenal.
Arne Slot faith in Milos Kerkez rewarded vs Brighton
This weekend, meanwhile, Kerkez once again looked sharp after he was benched against Sunderland.
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His connection with Cody Gakpo on the left remains a problem, but that is down to the Dutchman, not the ex-Bournemouth ace.
Kerkez was a constant threat and provided a stunning cross for Curtis Jones to open the scoring.
Speaking earlier this month, Slot explained how he helped the left-back, simply saying that he just showed faith in him, even when the full-back was not playing great.
He stated: “This is what you get [Kerkez improving] if you keep playing those players who maybe sometimes have moments that are not as good as other moments or games not as good as other games. I think that’s normal for younger players and the only thing as a manager is to keep trusting them and believing in them because we know who we signed.
“We saw that potential and we knew and, has already been shown, that that potential will be seen if you keep playing them.”
Under mounting pressure from fans, it would have been easy for the 47-year-old to pivot and bring Andy Robertson back into the XI.
But, while he can be criticised for a lot this season, his handling of Kerkez was spot on, and Liverpool are now reaping the rewards.
It’s a call that isn’t really talked about with other areas of the squad having bigger issues right now, but it was positive nonetheless.
How wrong was Alan Pardew about Milos Kerkez? 😅
Milos Kerkez pictured during Liverpool's Premier League match against Newcastle United at Anfield.
Credit: Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images
One improvement will make Milos Kerkez even better
While the 22-year-old has proven the doubters wrong, there is a small improvement that will make him even more valuable to Liverpool.
So far this season, Slot has felt the need to drop Kerkez when Liverpool are playing three games in seven days (Sunderland being the latest example).
The manager has spoken about the fact that the left-back is not used to playing so many games, which makes sense given he was previously at Bournemouth, who don’t have European football.
But if Kerkez can get to the level of someone like Virgil van Dijk, who can feature in basically every game during a season without his form dropping, the Hungarian will become unstoppable.
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