Milos Kerkez tussles with Newcastle\u2019s Anthony Elanga during a difficult debut season at Anfield. Photograph: Adam Vaughan\/EPA<\/p>\n
\u201cI was delighted, honestly,\u201d Kerkez says on discovering Liverpool\u2019s choice to replace Slot. \u201cHe helped me and improved me a lot in the two years I spent with him. I was really happy, obviously for myself but also for the team. Everyone knows what type of football he plays so I think he is the perfect fit for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the intensity. He\u2019s not scared to play one-on-one all over the pitch, to press high and to be on the front foot always. If you see footage of how we all are after training, all lying down, then you can see what he is preparing us for. You definitely need legs and good condition for what he wants us to do, but we will be all right. When we play games with three or four teams he calls it \u2018consequences\u2019 and the losing team and the team that finishes second has to run. How much you have to run depends on what he decides in that moment, but there is always running for the team that loses.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s intense and he likes details. He\u2019s very professional. He likes to talk sometimes but not a lot. I think maybe he doesn\u2019t want to get too close to some players and\u00a0wants to show that everyone is\u00a0the same in the team, so he doesn\u2019t want to get too close to anyone in particular. He\u00a0keeps it professional, with a lot of hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were times last season when Kerkez appeared inhibited by\u00a0Slot\u2019s insistence on building from the back and full-backs coming inside. It was his pace and\u00a0energy up and down the flank with Bournemouth that had attracted Liverpool and earned him a place in the Professional Footballers\u2019 Association\u2019s team of\u00a0the year in 2024-25. He should be\u00a0able to play to his strengths more\u00a0often next season.<\/p>\n
As he explains: \u201cThe gaffer likes to play more with the full-backs down the line, underlapping, overlapping. It worked well for me at Bournemouth, so I think it will also work well for me here. He always told me that defending is really important, for him that is first of all, and because you are a full-back you need to defend really hard. Everything you can do in front of you is like a bonus. So I was always focused first on defending and then running forward to help the wingers. He showed me that when you do your job then you are free to do what you want, so I felt really free with him. He lets you be more free to do your stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not that Kerkez blames Slot for last season\u2019s turbulence, far from it. The pair remain in contact. \u201cI was surprised,\u201d he says of the Dutchman\u2019s sacking, 12 months after delivering the Premier League title. \u201cI really didn\u2019t know. I was back in Serbia, I was sleeping and my brother woke me up. He knocks on my door and it was a big surprise. Nobody knew. I couldn\u2019t believe it, I was like: \u2018Wow.\u2019 I have been in touch with him since, we have exchanged a few messages.\u201d<\/p>\n
Milos Kerkez celebrates scoring at a time he was playing brilliantly well for Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth. Photograph: Scott Heppell\/Reuters<\/p>\n
Kerkez admits last season was \u201ctough for everyone\u201d at Liverpool as every time the team seemed to have solved one problem, another would appear. As part of the expensive recruitment drive of last summer that failed to bear fruit \u2013 though Kerkez achieved far more than others \u2013 the scrutiny on the left-back and his fellow new signings was particularly intense. He insists he did not feel it.<\/p>\n
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