It went a little under the radar last season but Milos Kerkez gatecrashing the Premier League Team of the Year was a remarkable achievement.
Yes, Bournemouth claimed a club-best ninth place finish in the English top-flight and yes, Kerkez finished with a career-high five assists. But other full-backs had a strong case to be included in the team.
Antonee Robinson, for example, assisted on 10 occasions as Fulham finished 11th. No defender in the Premier League managed more assists. Andrew Robertson could’ve got the nod here, simply for being the left-back for the Premier League champions. Leif Davis, albeit in a relegated team, was in the top 10 for chances created. Marc Cucurella was solid for Chelsea too.
Kerkez being named in the Team of the Year without doing anything individually impressive from a statistical point of view, is practically unheard of. But it goes to show how impactful he was for the Cherries.
His form and consistency, he started all 38 games for Andoni Iraola’s side, earned him a £40million move to Liverpool. The 21-year-old was viewed by many as the ideal long-term successor to Robertson at left-back for the Reds. His arrival was supposed to hint at a new style for the champions.
Last term, Arne Slot used Kostas Tsimikas and Robertson in a more reserved role, almost as third centre-back. It was to give Liverpool a more compact shape but also to protect the latter. He was no longer the marauding left-back of yesteryear and pretending he was benefitted nobody.
The expectation was that Kerkez would see the Reds return to the tactics of former seasons with the left-sided full-back motoring up and down the flank. After all, it’s what Kerkez was known for at Bournemouth.
In January, a piece was published by the Premier League, and it looked at stat leaders at the time. Kerkez ranked fifth for sprints. Anfield Index posted a piece on their site not long after his move to Merseyside was official. In it, they claimed he was a physical monster, clocking up top speeds of 35km/h and averaging 74 high-intensity runs per game.
If you had to select one moment to epitomise Kerkez’s successful 2024/25 campaign, it’d probably be his goal against Newcastle at St James’ Park. It was the Hungary full-back in a nutshell.
The game was won. Justin Kluivert had just completed his hat-trick to make it 3-1. The Cherries then regained possession on the right-flank and Kerkez, at the time bent over with hands on knees, sees acres of space ahead of him. So off he goes. And he just doesn’t stop.
Milos Kerkez’s tank was empty, and then he did this… 😱 pic.twitter.com/a65mfWq7Rp
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 22, 2025
He picks up possession, carries the ball into the box, shows some quick feet to create separation from the defender before lashing a left-footed effort into the far corner.
It was pace. It was power. It was high energy. It was Kerkez in one sequence.
That is the sort of damage he can do when he’s given the freedom to play his natural game on the left. Unfortunately for him, he’s not really been able to do that in the red of Liverpool this season.
Slot has tweaked his role.
Kerkez is now averaging more passes and has a higher pass success rate. He’s playing safer passes. Despite seeing more of the ball, he’s averaging fewer shot-creating actions (1.06 down from 2.24 per 90).
His expected assists (xA) per 90 average has taken a huge hit too, from 0.11 to 0.02, while his progressive carries have halved.
Instead of Liverpool playing to the strengths of their No6, they’ve basically tasked him with replacing Robertson as the third centre-back. He’s done an admirable job there but he’s been nullified as a threat.
During the international break, he reminded everyone of what he’s capable of with his performances for Hungary, combining well with Dominik Szoboszlai and impressing on the left flank.
With Liverpool in dire need of a performance after three successive losses, perhaps Slot might be prepared to let the £40million summer signing play more of his natural game.
The Reds have struggled to get their attackers involved this season and a lot of this seems to be by choice. But Kerkez, who ranked second for crosses into the box last season, could help unlock the likes of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak.
He might even play a part in getting the ball to Mohamed Salah on a more regular basis, though not directly. If Kerkez is given licence to get into the final third, others will have more space and this can only benefit the Reds.
With the champions playing Manchester United this weekend, a team who are famously rigid in their approach and won’t move away from a back three/five, perhaps the difference maker could well be a full-back, rather than any of the attackers the Reds spent over £200million on this summer.
Kerkez earned rave reviews as a maruading full-back. Kerkez was handpicked as the Robertson replacement because of these performances for Bournemouth.
How about Liverpool allow him the opportunity to replicate that form? The upside to this could see him play a part in the Reds bringing their three match losing streak to an end.
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