Kerkez to teach old coaches a lesson in debut Liverpool season

The 21-year-old already looks to have nailed down a starting spot in Arne Slot's starting XI, something that looked unlikely during his time in Hungary's youth teams.

Photo: IMAGO | Anfield Index

Antal Nemeth remembers an interesting story about Liverpool’s new left-back, Milos Kerkez.

It is from when he coached the defender for Hungary’s U17 team, and underlines that the journey to Anfield was not a straightforward one.

He says: “After Covid came, everything stopped, so I tried to give my staff some tasks to keep them awake because we stayed at home and did nothing.

“The elite round (of the UEFA U17 European Championship) was coming in March in Hungary, and we didn’t know what would happen, so I asked my 11 staff members to write me a squad and the starting XI.

“Not everyone put Milos in the first XI; not everyone put him in the squad!”

So how is it that this unheralded youngster ended up at a club the size of Liverpool at the age of 21 just five years later?

Clearly, that did not look to be a given during his time in the Hungary youth setup, or after an early move to AC Milan resulted in little playing time and no first-team debut.

Nemeth says: “The biggest difference, I think, was his character. Okay, he was good technically, he was good in defending, but we had a couple of good players.

“He was only focused on the game and really aggressive, really like an adult player amongst the kids because his mind was quite professional.

“He was fighting for every ball, he tried to play like in the Premier League but it was only a friendly game. That’s what I liked in him for the national team, he always gave more than 100%.”

Liverpool fans have seen plenty of evidence of these qualities during the club’s pre-season preparations.

The 21-year-old won all five of the tackles he contested in the three friendlies for which statistics are available, as well as nine out of 11 duels.

There was also, of course, that infamous attempt to win a ball on the ground with his head at Preston North End.