We Must Be At Our Best To Get The Best Possible Result: Milos Kerkez

Liverpool take on league leaders Manchester City in one of the Premier League’s biggest rivalries, with left-back Milos Kerkez key to the Reds’ defensive efforts as they look to contain City’s fearsome attack. Speaking in an interview shared by JioStar, Kerkez opened up about his side needing to make defensive improvements, working under manager Andoni Iraola, and the challenge of facing Manchester City.

Speaking in an interview shared by JioStar, Liverpool’s Milos Kerkez reflected on the side needing defensive improvements as a key learning from the initial games:

"It’s been really disappointing to concede so many goals early on in the season for us especially as defenders, we want clean sheets, and attackers want to score. So, we have worked to correct those things this week, so I think it should get better once the matches resume. We had meetings, we had video analysis for the defenders always, so we want to improve a lot in that regard, and we can with the quality we have, and we should. We know we must be better at the back. It's still early in the season, so there's time to fix it. We just have to keep working and stay focused on the next game."

On the team's spirit of fighting till the end:

"We fight till the end, that's what we have in us. That's what this club is about. But, obviously in both games against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest, we had to come back from behind, and that's not ideal. So, we need to improve those things in the defensive transitions, and we need to be perfect in terms of deciding which defender is going to stay back to defend and who is going to go ahead to help out the attackers. We don't want to come back from behind in every game, we want to start in a winning position from the beginning. That's the mindset we need to have. We can't keep relying on late comebacks. It's about starting strong, staying compact as a unit, and making sure we don't give the opposition easy chances to score first. "

On working under manager Andoni Iraola and his tactical style:

"I worked with Iraola for two years at Bournemouth before arriving at Liverpool and I know him pretty well, and my teammates at the club are happy with his arrival. They like him, like this style of coaching and the training sessions are quite fun as well. So, I think it's good for us as a club to be working in a positive environment under him. We work in an intense manner and that's what we have to do to compete for trophies, and everyone's happy. Players are getting more used to the style that Iraola wants us to play in and we had a whole pre-season with him, and the hard work that we did there is now showing up in the Premier League matches. We need to correct some stuff that was wrong, but other than that we have quality, and with the things he wants us to do, we can surely challenge for the title."

On new teammates Victor Muñoz, Alexander Isak, and Bradley Barcola:

"Victor helped us massively against Newcastle United. He came in off the bench, won us the penalty that helped us make the score 2-2, and had a great game against Nottingham Forest too, where his goal allowed us to equalise. He's a great player, working hard, and he should just keep going. For Isak, goals motivate a striker. He didn't perform well last season and he's trying his best to make up for it by scoring in as many games as possible this season. Once he starts to score goals regularly, he will be unstoppable. Barcola is a great player too, everyone knows him. You can see the quality and potential he has, but he still has to improve a lot. He's really fast, a good dribbler, and he's going to help us a lot this season. I don't get involved in transfer fees, we paid a lot of money to bring in Barcola and the transfer market keeps on changing, but he's a great player who is certainly going to help us challenge for the Premier League title."_

On facing Manchester City in the next match and the competitive nature of the Premier League:

"We are analysing everything ahead of the next game, so we will know what to expect from every player of the opposition. We do that for every game and we come really prepared, and the Manchester City match will be no different. They are top of the table right now and we are sixth, so we know it's a big game for us. We know City are a top side, and we must be at our best to get the best possible result from the game. Everyone knows about the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester City. These are the games you want to play in. We will do everything we can to defeat Manchester City and get the three points for our fans. It's my fourth year in the Premier League and I can say that the league is always difficult. It's not like the other leagues where if you're placed third or fourth on the table and play against an 18th or 19th ranked team, you win easily. You can lose that game easily if you're not 100 per cent prepared. This is the best league, toughest league, so I love to be here."