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Milos Kerkez says he is happy to help Liverpool's younger players adjust to Andoni Iraola's style of play as the club's pre-season tour of the United States gets under way.
The Hungarian left-back is entering his second season at Liverpool and his fourth in the Premier League. He previously worked under Iraola at AFC Bournemouth, giving him a head start in understanding the Basque coach's demands.
Liverpool opened their pre-season with a 4-2 win over Sunderland in Nashville on Saturday. Kieran Morrison scored the opener before Dominik Szoboszlai, Federico Chiesa and Lewis Koumas netted three second-half goals without reply after Liverpool had fallen behind.
"I like it," Kerkez told Liverpoolfc.com. "You see me higher. I can play higher, going one against one. I still need to work a bit to get the legs but this is why this is pre-season and [it was] some good minutes."
Kerkez pointed to the physical demands the league places on new arrivals and said the squad was taking responsibility for the club's younger players. "It's my fourth year in the Premier League. Obviously my first year was development, it was tough. I needed to get in the gym a bit more. That's normal when you come to the biggest league in the world – it is so far ahead of any league. You need to build that physicality, you need to build the legs. We're all helping the young lads. There is a lot of quality and we need to help them. They will improve."
On what supporters can expect when the 2026-27 season begins in August, Kerkez outlined the style Iraola intends to implement. "I think the heavy Liverpool team that Liverpool used to be – press, front foot, everyone in front. Front-foot, full pressing. The big difference is going to be, I think, the pressure, the pressing, the aggressiveness in our game this year."
Liverpool's next pre-season fixture is against Wrexham in New York City in the early hours of Thursday.