Milos Kerquez is the subject of brutal criticism from Gary Neville following Liverpool’s other difficult performance as Liverpool fell into his third loss
Gary Neville brought harsh criticism from Milos Kerquez as the defender’s inactive start at Liverpool continued for Chelsea. The Hungarian star, who previously captivated AFC Bournemouth, secured a £40 million move to Anfield and a spot for the PFA Team of the Year with his outstanding performance last season.
However, the 21-year-old has struggled to replicate his previous form with the Reds, and has joined the list of underperforming players as the realistic Premier League champions won a grapple in the form dip.
Liverpool were defeated in three straight times at Chelsea on Saturday night after losing to Crystal Palace and Galatasaray, giving up their top position at the Premier League table in the process.
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Kerkez, who featured Arne Slot’s team’s biggest appearance this season in all 11 games, started the game, but was replaced 55 minutes later, following another disappointing display.
Neville, who provided Sky Sports co-mentary at Stamford Bridge, is considered one of the biggest fullbacks in Premier League history and was not impressed with the defender’s performance.
The Manchester United icon criticized Kerkez’s latest performance, saying that he “seemed like a baby” and that he resembled a “youth team player.”
“The boy Kerkez, to be honest with you, at this point he looks like a player on the youth team,” he said on the Gary Neville podcast.
“I know he’s a good player, but he looks like he’s playing on a youth team, or under the age of 21.
“He looks very naive. He looks like a baby there. He’s lost his 50s to 50s in Neto!”
“He had Premier League experience, and he wasn’t from any other country.
“He has a lot of games under his belt, he’s played on these grounds before, so I was hoping he would put in the slot.
“One thing is, he plays with Virgil van Dik, the best center half in the world, so if you want to play in the back four, you want to play with a great defender.
“And he has a hard-working player on that side, and he’s not playing right with Sarah in front of him.
“But I have to say he’s been struggling since the first 10 minutes of his match against Bournemouth in the first game of the season.”
Slot confirmed that Kerkez is still adapting to the rising expectations of Liverpool when explaining his choice to replace the defender during Chelsea’s game.
“Milos was getting more and more tired,” he told Sky Sports. “He played 90 minutes in two games and now he plays his third game in a week, but he’s not used to it when he played for Bournemouth.
“You can feel it getting more and more difficult, and their wingers are a threat, so we decided to make a change there.”
However, Kerkes was not the only recipient of Neville’s criticism. The former England star had harsh words not only for Liverpool’s offensive options, but also for both Jeremy Fripon and Connor Bradley.
“Flimon thinks he should play as the right winger. He doesn’t play like a right back,” he commented. “Connor Bradley isn’t doing that, so Andy Robertson is fighting, but he isn’t where he was a few years ago.
“The Liverpool issue has something to do with fullbacks everywhere. You need to make it a button.”
He continued.
“Their creative players, their final half of the pitch, their midfielders and their forwards who were of no use for the past 15-20 minutes have lost this game.
“They were giving the ball the ball so you wouldn’t believe them. Gakupo is here. Sarah is on the other side.
“The only thing Wirtz doesn’t know how to get into the game in the last 15 minutes is when it was for filming, and just marking almost a kind of Kayseko, and I was looking at him very well.”
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