Gary Neville tells Arne Slot to remove Liverpool player from starting lineup – ‘He has to’

Gary Neville has been scathing about the state of Liverpool’s backline as their losing run continues and believes Milos Kerkez needs to be dropped by Arne Slot

Gary Neville admits Liverpool boss Arne Slot has little choice but to take Milos Kerkez out of the starting picture as the summer signing’s struggles continue defensively.

The Reds spent £40million to land the Hungarian from Bournemouth, where he had been largely impressive in an over performing side. Since making the step up though he has been unable to produce the same kind of level. Kerkez initially went in and replaced Andy Robertson, who had been a stalwart for the Reds at left-back, but immediately concerns were raised. The Scot has come in for several matches but Kerkez was back for the loss at Brentford on Saturday.

Despite scoring his first goal for Liverpool Neville believes Slot needs to axe the 21-year-old from the starting XI with the team’s backline unable to cope in recent weeks. He told Sky Sports: “I actually think that there were quite a few of those games they’ve lost that they could have won, flipping it the other way if they had taken their chances. Early on in the season, I felt their full-backs weren’t right, maybe Ibrahima Konate times wasn’t right and Virgil van Dijk was holding them together and Alisson was in goal.

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“You’ve got two world-class performers there in Van Dijk and Alisson, but the virus is catching. It’s not just going now into the left-back. The left-back is becoming a worry. He [Kerkez] scored last night but watching him, he has to be taken out I think.

“I’m worried about the right-back. [Jeremie] Frimpong isn’t a right-back. Conor Bradley has been given his head and I’m supportive of that because I think there’s a lot of talent there, but it’s difficult when your team are conceding goals and the pressure is on.”

Slot has acknowledged that Liverpool are struggling to deal with long balls in recent weeks. He has also shown he can be ruthless with his selection and in the win at Burnley hooked Kerkez after 38 minutes.

He was booked for simulation in the 22nd minute, which led to the hosts targeting him in defence, leading to an early Liverpool change

In light of the criticism Slot has been forced to defend his summer signing.

Last week he said: “The reason why we brought him in, that I can tell you, is that he is bringing a lot of energy to the game, keeps going up and down.” The Liverpool boss also claimed that Kerkez is doing “very well in defending the one-v-one situations against his wingers”

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