“Very excited” – Liverpool star previews Newcastle United clash

“Very excited” – Liverpool star previews Newcastle United clash Milos Kerkez previews Newcastle opener as Liverpool embrace Andoni Iraola system Liverpool’s first Premier League assignment of the 2026-27 season arrives with a proper edge to it, away at St James’ Park, against a Newcastle side playing in front of one of the loudest home crowds in the country. There are easier ways to begin, and that is precisely why Milos Kerkez’s thoughts on the fixture carry a certain weight. Speaking to liverpoolfc.com , the Liverpool left-back offered a snapshot of a squad coming out of summer, adapting to a new head coach and trying to turn pre-season ideas into competitive habits. Kerkez comes across as a footballer who knows where he is in his career. This is now his fourth Premier League season, and there is no trace of novelty in how he frames the challenge ahead. He sounds settled, motivated and clear on the basics. That matters. Liverpool are entering a fresh era under Andoni Iraola, and while the managerial change inevitably dominates the wider conversation, players like Kerkez are the ones who translate tactical theory into something visible and repeatable on the pitch. After a 91-day wait for the return of league football, he admitted, “Very excited. Obviously a long time since the Premier League was there. Pre-season is done and [it’s] time to start the real work.” It is a simple line, but an instructive one. Pre-season can sharpen fitness and plant ideas, but there is always a point where footballers stop wanting drills and start wanting consequences. Liverpool have reached that point. Kerkez ready for season two at Liverpool One of the more revealing threads in Kerkez’s interview is the way he discusses the summer break. With no major tournament filling the calendar and only limited international action with Hungary, he had more down time than usual. He explained, “I had five, six weeks – that’s a long time. It’s the first time that I had a break like this. I was enjoying it with family a lot but I was starting to train, like I said, two weeks already [and] I need to get in the gym, treadmill and all this stuff. So, after two, three weeks I would say I start to get back already to train.” There is a familiar rhythm to that. Elite players are often poor at resting for too long, partly because their bodies are conditioned for routine and partly because ambition tends to make inactivity uncomfortable. Kerkez seems to fit that mould. He enjoyed the break, then quickly turned his mind back to preparation. His targets for the season are framed through the collective rather than the individual. There is no grandstanding, no talk of personal statistics or status. Instead, he says, “Just be as best as I can to help the team [in] something that we are competing for. We have four competitions we need to compete for and I want to do the best in all four, help the team. Hopefully at the end it pays off with something.” That is standard footballer language on one level, but it also reflects the reality of Liverpool’s demands. At a club like this, the job description is broad, the schedule is unforgiving and a full-back is expected to influence matches in and out of possession. Andoni Iraola system starting to take shape The most pertinent section of the interview concerns Andoni Iraola. Kerkez, having previously worked under him at Bournemouth, is better placed than most to read the adjustment period. His assessment was encouraging without drifting into hype. “I think we are a lot better. Obviously it’s a new coach, a new philosophy, you need some time. Luckily we had him since the beginning of the pre-season, so it was good for the guys and they had more time. I think the last two weeks I would say Monaco and then against Como was even better. I hope against Newcastle we will be even better and ready.” This is the sensible way to frame a tactical transition. New systems are rarely absorbed all at once. They come in layers, pressing triggers first, distances second, automatisms after that. The advantage for Liverpool is that Iraola had a full pre-season to establish baseline principles. The advantage for Kerkez is even clearer, because he already knows the language of the system. Asked what supporters should expect stylistically, he put it plainly: “Totally different in terms of high press and front-footed football. We want to have the ball, so we need to press quick, need to take the ball fast away from the opponent and after that just play and keep the ball.” There is a lot packed into that. High pressing is not merely about energy, it is about synchronisation, conviction and spacing. Front-footed football sounds attractive, but it also asks defenders to defend aggressively and repeatedly in open spaces. For a left-back like Kerkez, it can be demanding and liberating in equal measure. Photo: IMAGO Newcastle opener offers immediate Premier League test Opening away at Newcastle gives Liverpool a useful stress test. Kerkez knows what kind of atmosphere awaits and he is not disguising it. “Yeah, it was really good. Great atmosphere, it’s a great stadium with great fans. We expect the first whistle at the beginning of the game that for sure it will [be] explosive in the first 10, 15 minutes. After that obviously we want to be calmer, keep the ball and we need to get the result.” That feels like a concise match plan. Survive the emotional rush of the opening quarter-hour, establish control, then make the game look more like the one Liverpool want to play. Easier said than done, of course, but the logic is sound. St James’ Park can make matches feel chaotic, especially at the start. Teams that panic tend to feed the occasion. Kerkez also pointed to the wider uncertainty that hangs over early-season football, especially with so many clubs adjusting to change. “Obviously we have to focus more on ourselves because it’s new for the players, like you said, with the new manager and everything. I know how the manager works, what he wants, but the guys need some time and I think now we just need to focus on ourselves. Because if we do that, how he wants us to play, we are really, really dangerous.” That final thought is probably the essence of Liverpool’s current moment. There is no benefit in pretending the adaptation is complete, but there is also no reason to understate the upside. If Iraola’s ideas take hold quickly, if the press is connected, if the ball circulation improves under pressure, then Liverpool have the tools to make this season compelling from the outset. Kerkez, at least, sounds like a player who can already see the shape of it. Our View From a Liverpool supporter’s perspective, this all sounds promising, but also slightly nerve-shredding, which is probably the honest place to start. You read Kerkez talking about the high press, the front-footed football and how dangerous Liverpool can be if it all clicks, and part of you gets excited straight away. Another part immediately wonders what happens if it does not click at St James’ Park in the first 15 minutes when the crowd is bouncing and Newcastle are flying into every duel. That is the emotional reality of a season opener under a new head coach. Kerkez knowing Andoni Iraola’s system is a genuine plus, maybe a bigger one than people realise, because Liverpool need voices on the pitch who understand the distances, the pressing cues and the mentality required. But one player understanding it and an entire team executing it are different things. There is encouragement in how calm he sounds. He is not over-selling anything. He is basically saying the team is improving, that there is more to come and that the focus has to be internal. That is probably right. As supporters, though, we will still spend the opening half hour analysing every loose pass, every press that arrives a second late and every moment the defensive line gets stretched. If Liverpool come through Newcastle with control, courage and a result, the belief around Iraola will grow very quickly. If they wobble, patience will be tested immediately. That is the fun and fear of it all.