Szoboszlai, Gravenberch and Kerkez on Liverpool's new era

Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Milos Kerkez have spoken publicly about Liverpool's ambitions under new head coach Andoni Iraola, with the Hungarian midfielder addressing his newly assigned vice-captaincy for the 2026-27 season.

Szoboszlai, recently appointed one of the club's vice-captains, said: "To be honest, I like to have responsibility. Maybe last season, I think on the pitch I actually tried to take responsibility and it worked out quite well."

The 25-year-old acknowledged that his role now extends beyond matches. "Now I maybe try to [take responsibility] off the pitch a little bit more," he said. "I think our main point is to become a real family because then after that we can be successful."

On the challenge ahead, Szoboszlai was direct: "What this season is going to ask us is are we ready to compete again on the highest level? I think we are but we have to start to do it."

Gravenberch echoed that confidence while tempering expectations. "We know that it's not going to be easy, but I think we have the team for it," the Dutch midfielder said. He added that Iraola is still fine-tuning his approach: "The manager, I think it takes time also for him to make adjustments to where we can play best in terms of on the ball and off the ball. But I think we are getting there."

Kerkez, who previously worked under Iraola at AFC Bournemouth, described the demands the coach places on the squad. "The intensity, the level he wants us to play at for the whole 90 minutes, he wants us to run and to press a lot," the left-back said. "We have to listen and run a lot, but if we play like that I think we have a good chance to compete for everything."

All three players spoke as part of 'The Reds Roundtable', a video series presented by Standard Chartered and available on Liverpool FC's YouTube channel.