Asked whether his departure had been a positive for Kerkes, who showed signs of improvement in December while sharing duties with Andy Robertson, Carragher was candid in his assessment. “No, but I think it works out well for Liverpool in that I don’t think he should be playing every week,” the Anfield icon told Sky Sports.
“A player called Andy Robertson is too good and needs to be in the game. When Andy Robertson was playing, he wasn’t playing as well as Kerkes. You would probably say that Andy Robertson’s performance was better than Kerkes.”
“He finds it difficult and it has been a struggle for him. He is a young player but he will have to improve in the second half of the season, there is no doubt about that.
“It’s interesting to watch him (Kerkes) play. I remember talking about Trent Alexander-Arnold, who of course Liverpool are big on, and always saying it’s like having Kevin De Bruyne at right-back.”
“Sometimes when you watch Kerquez, it’s like having Darwin Nunez at left-back, it’s a little crazy. There’s no real thought process, what he’s doing with the ball, how he’s connecting with the other players, he just puts his head down and runs. He never looks up and he’s actually playing a pass.”
After Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Newcastle in August, Carragher said: “Kerkes has had a really bad start to his Liverpool career. He felt really difficult against Bournemouth and was a bit nervous.”
“Today he played against (Anthony) Eranga and it wasn’t easy, but this (his effort on Bruno Guimarães’ goal) wasn’t enough. Just going to head the ball, he was just trying to stop players. It’s really, really poor. He’s not the biggest player, but he has to jump and he has to challenge in that situation.”
Carragher’s Sky Sports colleague Chris Boyd criticized Kerkes’ performance when Liverpool drew 2-2 with Fulham, conceding a goal seven minutes into stoppage time despite taking the lead three minutes earlier. “Kerkes ran down the left side many times, but the last ball wasn’t good enough,” Boyd said.
“He has definitely not reached the heights he had last season at Bournemouth. He will have to get used to the demands and pressure of playing for a club that has to win every game.”
