Former Liverpool defender John Arne Riise believes Milos Kerkez will benefit from reuniting with head coach Andoni Iraola but admits he still has concerns about the Hungarian’s playing style.
Kerkez worked under Iraola for two seasons at Bournemouth before completing a £40million move to Liverpool last summer as the long-term successor to Andy Robertson.
The 21-year-old endured a difficult start to life at Anfield but established himself as Liverpool’s first-choice left-back by the end of the season. Robertson has since completed a move to Tottenham Hotspur.
Riise believes Iraola’s familiarity with Kerkez will help the defender continue his development, although he feels the full-back still needs to improve his decision-making.
“Obviously, Kerkez is a player that I really want to do well,” former Norway international John Arne Riise said, via BestBettingSites.co.uk. “He had an up-and-down season.
“I think Andrew Robertson probably could have played even more games because I don’t think Kerkez consistently played to his top level.
“It’s going to give him some more confidence, perhaps, to play under his former manager. But at the same time, I think Kerkez now understands how big a club Liverpool is and how you must perform in every single game.
“The one thing with Kerkez that slightly concerns me is that everything seems to happen at 100 miles per hour – the passing, the sprinting, the closing down. Everything just seems so frantic.
“I know it’s his playing style, but I just hope he can find his best form again because we need our fullbacks to be great defensively while also supporting the attack going forward.”
Andoni Iraola was appointed Liverpool’s new head coach just six days after Arne Slot’s dismissal last month.
Liverpool acted swiftly to appoint the former Bournemouth manager after identifying him as the ideal candidate to implement the club’s preferred style of play.
Slot was dismissed following a disappointing Premier League title defence, with the Reds suffering 19 defeats in all competitions.
John Arne Riise, who made nearly 350 appearances for the club, believes Iraola has the qualities to succeed but insists he will be expected to challenge for the Premier League title immediately.
He said: “A club like Liverpool needs to challenge for the title, or at least be up there fighting for it and being much closer than last season, while also doing well in the Champions League.
“That’s the minimum requirement for a manager at the club. Whether he can do it depends on which players come in.
“Some of the problems last season stemmed from our most loyal and experienced players not performing to the level they should have over the entire year.
“There were so many factors that weren’t up to our standards, and those established players need to step up too. They need to be closer and challenge Arsenal and Manchester City for the title.”
On the club’s decision to part ways with Slot, Riise continued: “Was it the correct decision to sack Slot? It’s a hard one. When it happened, and now in the weeks after, I’ve been trying to understand what happened at the club.
“Initially, I thought they should give Slot the preseason – another preseason with new signings and the players from last season – to try and turn it around.
“But I do think there’s been too much going on behind the scenes. I have heard rumours that he lost the dressing room a little bit with the players.
“Nothing is confirmed, but obviously there has to be something behind it. You can’t go from winning the Premier League to a season that is so up and down with so many questionable situations.
“I do think maybe he lost the dressing room a little bit, and as soon as a manager loses the dressing room at that level, it’s almost impossible to turn things around.
“I don’t think the club had any other option than to talk to him and see what he thought. I think they handled it mutually, where both parties could see there was no way forward other than to separate.
“Now that they’ve gone for Iraola, I’m happy with the appointment. He’s done brilliant things before, and I think we needed something new.”
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