Milos Kerkez: Cody Gakpo Relationship "Not Really a Problem"

Milos Kerkez has said there is “not really a problem” with the relationship between him and Cody Gakpo on Liverpool’s left wing. Liverpool’s left side has often been dysfunctional this season, resulting in Kerkez not providing a single assist yet in red. Of course some of this has been down to the Hungarian’s stuttering start at the club, but he hasn’t been helped by Gakpo’s tendency to cut inside rather than pass to his over-or-underlapping teammate. However, Kerkez has dismissed talk of a disconnect, saying: “It’s not really a problem, I think I play well with Cody. I wouldn’t call it a problem. “It is my job to give a winger the ball, to make space, to run, to overlap, to underlap, to do everything I can to open space for him to go. And I even create space then for a striker and then it is his decision what he is going to do.” What Kerkez says is true; even when Gakpo doesn’t choose to use him, it allows the winger more space. However, when the attacker isn’t making the most of his opportunities, it exacerbates frustrations. Gakpo has averaged a lower passing accuracy than 61 percent of comparable players in the Premier League this season, according to FotMob. When it comes to crossing, his figures are even worse; three in four of his comparable Premier League peers have a better crossing accuracy than his 13 percent this season. “We don’t have any problem, we talk always, often in training we do the combinations, so there is not really a problem,” Kerkez added. While the Hungarian’s crossing accuracy statistics aren’t great either, his expected assists figure perhaps signifies that he isn’t getting the ball in the right positions to make a difference. In the league, Liverpool’s No. 6 has averaged just 0.04 xA (expected assists) per 90, placing him in the bottom quarter of Premier League left-backs in that regard. Arne Slot‘s use of Kerkez has been a far cry from how he marauded forward, hugging the touchline, last season for Bournemouth. His numbers also represent a shift in how Liverpool are attacking, no longer seeing their full-backs as a key source of creativity. After a difficult start, Kerkez is now beginning to settle, saying himself: “I think in the last month or so I improved in a lot of areas, but I am still not satisfied and of course I want more, and everyone is going to help me to do it.”