The second part of John Aldridge’s ECHO column focuses on the current situation of two of Arne Slot’s Liverpool squad in Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz
Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez warm up ahead of the second of two pre-season friendly matches between Liverpool and Athletic Club at Anfield, August 2025 (Image: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/arne-slot)
It was another difficult outing for Milos Kerkez as Liverpool slipped to their fourth successive Premier League defeat on Saturday at Brentford. You can just tell the confidence levels at the moment are so low for him.
Teams are pinpointing Liverpool’s full-backs at the moment and it feels like the move to Anfield has been an eye-opener for him. He scored the goal to make it 2-1 on the stroke of half time, of course, but the hope that it might give him some belief for the second period didn’t really pan out.
He was eventually replaced for Andy Robertson and I think that might be the way to go for Arne Slot now for the next few weeks. It looks like Kerkez could do with coming out the firing line and with the experienced Robertson a ready-made replacement, that doesn’t seem like a strange thing to do given the need for results to quickly change.
OPINION
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Look, I’m not saying Kerkez is a poor player by any stretch. The young left-back has bags of potential and when he joined in a summer from Bournemouth in a £40m deal, everyone was happy with that deal. It looked like Liverpool were getting their ducks in a row for the long-term at left-back.
It hasn’t quite panned out yet but he has not become a bad player overnight, it’s just more that the confidence levels are low and as a young player who hasn’t played at first-team level at a club the size of Liverpool, it’s easy to see how things might be getting on top of him a bit.
Crystal Palace have already turned us over twice this season, in the Community Shield and the Premier League, so a Robertson recall feels like a timely decision for Wednesday night in the Carabao Cup and then the manager can take it on a game-by-game basis over who starts on the left side of the defence.
Wirtz needs a goal
Florian Wirtz turned in the best performance of his Liverpool career in the 5-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt last week.
I was in Germany for the game and his movement was top class, he never stopped and ended up getting two assists, the first one saw him put it on a plate for Cody Gakpo.
He could do with something similar in the Premier League now though and a goal for him would be ideal. He came close with the shot in the first half against Brentford but, like many of his team-mates, it just seems like he is feeling the pressure a bit at Anfield.
He has to work on the defensive side of the game if he is to continue playing centrally. You cannot shirk your defensive responsibilities in midfield, even if you are the one who is tasked with creating things in the final third.
Wirtz is a quality player, that much is obvious, but might a spell in the wide areas help him? I think he is more than capable of operating on the left side of the front three to get a more functional and combative midfielder in the side while results are where they are now.
He is good enough to also go on the right side for me and if he plays against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, that is where I’d like to see him play. He can cause a lot of damage in those areas. A goal soon would be ideal, to just give him the lift he looks like he’s in need of.
