‘Had a shocker’ – Steve Nicol says one Liverpool player has been ‘bang average’ recently | OneFootball

Following Liverpool’s defeat to Galatasaray on Tuesday night, Steve Nicol took aim at one Reds player who he feels has been ‘bang average’ in recent weeks.

A few of Arne Slot’s summer signings would rather consign their experience of RAMS Park to the dustbin, with Hugo Ekitike going off injured, Jeremie Frimpong lacking end product in a right-sided attacking role and Florian Wirtz’s performance being savaged by Jamie Carragher.

Another newcomer to start in Istanbul was Milos Kerkez, and although the Hungarian left-back didn’t do a whole lot wrong against Okan Buruk’s side, it didn’t spare him from stinging criticism of his recent displays from the former LFC defender.

Nicol claims Kerkez has been ‘bang average’ for Liverpool

Speaking on ESPN FC as he sifted through the aftermath of Liverpool’s second defeat in four days, Nicol called out a few players whose performances have disappointed him, with the 21-year-old among those in firing range.

The pundit declared: “Kerkez has had a shocker since he’s come in, quite honestly. He’s been bang average.”

(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Kerkez did a decent job on a tough night for Liverpool in Turkey

Although the Reds’ number 6 has had a couple of difficult outings since his summer move from Bournemouth – most notably the day at Burnley when he was substituted before half-time – last night seemed like a strange time for Nicol to lambaste the Hungary international.

Admittedly the 21-year-old didn’t exert as much of an attacking influence against Galatasaray as we’d have liked – he seemed to start brightly but faded after the opening half-hour, with none of his five crosses picking out a teammate (Sofascore).

However, Kerkez was quite sound from a defensive point of view, restricting his direct opponent Yunus Akgun to the extent that the winger didn’t have a single shot all night (Sofascore).

GOAL writer Mark Doyle gave him only 5/10 in his post-match player ratings, but he did acknowledge that the Hungarian couldn’t be faulted for aggression and ‘also did a decent job defensively’.

Our number 6 was nowhere near as bad against Galatasaray as what Nicol’s scathing remarks would suggest, and while there’s still plenty of room for improvement from what we’ve seen of him at Liverpool so far, we’re confident that he’ll go on to become an instrumental presence in Slot’s line-up.