Milos Kerkez Faces Tough Test as Liverpool Left-Back Against Newcastle

Milos Kerkez felt it from both sides at St James’ Park – the technical area and his own penalty box.

Liverpool’s new first-choice left-back, elevated after Andy Robertson’s summer move to Tottenham Hotspur, endured a bruising afternoon in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle that went well beyond the scoreline. The 22-year-old is nailed on as the starter now. On Sunday, he looked anything but assured.

Early blow sets the tone

The tone of his day was set inside five minutes. Anthony Elanga burned past him down Liverpool’s left to set up Newcastle’s opener, exposing the space Kerkez had left and the hesitation in his feet. From there, he never quite settled.

Going forward, the Hungarian rarely threatened. His runs lacked conviction, his final ball lacked bite. Liverpool Echo reporter Ian Doyle, watching from the press box, did not spare him in his assessment.

The criticism didn’t just come from the media.

Iraola’s anger boils over

Doyle later highlighted two flashpoints that summed up Kerkez’s struggle. The first came when Elanga again isolated him out wide. Kerkez, Doyle wrote, “took an eternity” to close the winger down, eventually conceding a corner after allowing Newcastle too much room.

On the touchline, Andoni Iraola’s frustration boiled over. The head coach, usually animated, was described as fighting to keep his emotions in check as he berated his left-back, clearly “not a happy camper – at all”. It wasn’t a quiet word. It was a visible, public dressing-down.

The pressure on Kerkez didn’t ease when the ball came back into play.

Van Dijk steps in

Later in the game, another Newcastle break developed down Liverpool’s left. Kerkez again hesitated, too slow to engage his man as the Magpies surged forward on his flank.

This time it was Virgil van Dijk who snapped. Spotting the danger, the captain sprinted across to shut it down himself, cutting out the attack before turning on his full-back. According to Doyle, the Dutchman made his feelings clear: the standard wasn’t high enough, the reaction wasn’t quick enough.

For a young defender still bedding into a new role and responsibility, it was a harsh, very public lesson.

Numbers offer some protection – but not enough

Kerkez’s afternoon wasn’t a complete write-off. The underlying data, via Sofascore, offers some mitigation. He won six duels, made seven defensive contributions and three tackles. He even registered a shot on target and one key pass.

Those numbers suggest effort, involvement, a willingness to compete.

They don’t hide the lapses. When he did get forward, he squandered a couple of promising situations, either with poor decisions or imprecise execution. At the back, the key moments where he switched off or reacted too slowly are the ones that stick in the memory – and in the minds of his coach and captain.

At this level, especially in the Premier League spotlight, those details matter more than any stat line.

Response time for Liverpool’s new left-back

For Kerkez, this was a “welcome to the job” performance. The shirt is his now, but Sunday showed how unforgiving that role can be when concentration dips and the basics slip.

Iraola will expect a clear response when Nottingham Forest visit Anfield next Saturday. The duel with Ola Aina in Oliver Glasner’s wing-back system will test both his positioning and his aggression, on and off the ball.

It wasn’t the commanding start to the season Liverpool would have wanted from their Hungary international. The question now is simple: does this tough afternoon become a warning shot that sharpens his game, or the first sign of a longer learning curve in one of the most scrutinised positions in English football?