On Sunday against Burnley, Liverpool left back Milos Kerkez found himself on a yellow card in the first half with the home fans trying to convince the referee to give him a second any time he even looked at an opponent and the player himself seemingly happy to flirt with just that by continuing to put in reckless tackles.
It has been the story of the season so far for Kerkez following his arrival in the summer: a clear talent with boundless energy, but a player who hasn’t quite figured out how to channel
that yet for his new club. Perhaps surprisingly, it’s the player he’s so far been starting instead of and ahead of who sought to defend him following the match.
“He has come in and was fantastic for Bournemouth last season,” long-time starting Liverpool left back Andy Robertson said when asked about coming on to replace Kerkez on Sunday. “He’s only young and I think we forget that. All the new signings are young but have incredible potential and they are the future of the club.
“You try to help them as much as you can, but you also want to put pressure on them and of course you want to play games. He will be the starting left back for Liverpool in the future and it’s up to me to push him this season and help him improve. He has a fantastic future ahead of him and he just needs to keep working hard and not let it affect him.”
Robertson added he doesn’t think it will given how “confident a lad” Kerkez is, and that’s certainly the impression that’s been on display so far—with confidence at times perhaps threatening to tip over into over-confidence—but regardless it’s an interesting take on the matter from one of the people closest to the situation.
It’s also a reminder of just how much of a key leadership role the 31-year-old Robertson has, while Kerkez is a highly talented but still developing 21-year-old and that’s something that everyone would do well to remember in the coming weeks and months. Kerkez, it’s clear, will get better. And he’ll need to play games in order to do just that.
On the evidence of Sunday, though, it might not be unwise for Robertson to still be getting regular minutes this season, particularly against sides that are going to challenge Kerekz eagerness and temperament as their opponents on the weekend clearly were set on—and as Atletico Madrid on Wednesday likely will try to.
