Gary Neville has named the one Liverpool player who is currently playing “like a 10-year-old” following the Premier League champions’ 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday afternoon. Bryan Mbeumo broke the deadlock inside two minutes, capitalising on Alexis Mac Allister’s head injury.
Although the home side enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and chances as they faced an uphill battle from the start, it wasn’t until Cody Gakpo’s strike in the 78th minute that Arne Slot’s side restored parity. Even then, it proved short-lived, as the ever-reliable Harry Maguire rose highest from a cross in the 84th minute to secure United’s first away win in seven months.
Much has been made of Liverpool’s start to the season, with a host of new players eager to stamp their authority on a team that, on paper, looked destined to challenge for all major honours. During a segment on ‘The Gary Neville Podcast’, which he records each Premier League weekend with Peter Drury, the former defender singled out one Reds’ signing in particular who, in his view, isn’t pulling his weight.
Neville: Liverpool’s Milos Kerkez Is ‘Playing Like a 10-Year-Old’
Milos Kerkez received the lowest rating of any player from Sofascore after a 90-minute display in which the Hungarian left-back appeared devoid of confidence both on and off the ball.
While the statistics suggest he performed better than many have given him credit for – winning his only attempted tackle, creating one big chance, and coming out on top in four of his six total duels – Neville didn’t hold back in his criticism of the former Bournemouth man. He said, as per Sportskeeda:
“I think the individual performances of Liverpool’s defenders was really poor, and decision making. The left back [Milos Kerkez] has not settled in… he plays like a 10-year-old left back, he’s all over the place.”
Neville has been consistent in his criticism of Kerkez all season, previously describing him as “looking like a youth team player” following Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Chelsea before the international break, where he looked naive up against Pedro Neto. After impressing for Bournemouth last season, the Hungarian now looks out of his depth as Andrew Robertson’s intended successor.
Arne Slot will have some big decisions to make in the coming days, with the Reds set to travel to Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday night before facing Brentford next weekend. As it stands, it seems the Dutchman has tried to reinvent the wheel following last season’s league title win, when only minor adjustments were actually needed.
It will be interesting to see if fan favourite Robertson can find a way back into the starting lineup on a regular basis, though the worrying thing right now is that no pundit or self-proclaimed expert can answer the seemingly pretty straightforward question of how Liverpool can make sure they stay in the title race as they fall four points behind leaders Arsenal.