Milos Kerkez has revealed that Arne Slot's sacking at Liverpool came as a shock to the Anfield players.
Slot sacked after title defence collapse
The Reds' defence of their Premier League title fell apart early in the Dutch manager's second season and they finished a distant fifth, 25 points behind champions Arsenal. Many of the squad were preparing for the World Cup when news reached them on May 30 that Slot had been dismissed from his role after two years.
Kerkez: 'I couldn't believe it'
“I was surprised [Slot was sacked],” said Serbia left-back Kerkez. “I really didn’t know. I was back in Serbia, I was sleeping and my brother woke me up. He knocks on my door and it was a big surprise.
“Nobody knew. I couldn’t believe it, I was like: ‘wow!’ I have been in touch with him since, we have exchanged a few messages. That’s it.”
New season under Iraola
Kerkez joined last year from Bournemouth and made the left-back spot his own, playing 34 league games and limiting game time for Andy Robertson, who has since left the club to sign for Tottenham. But Kerkez says the standards the players showed last year will not be acceptable in the new campaign under new manager Andoni Iraola.
“Obviously [last season] was tough for everyone,” Kerkez says. “When you are here, you need to play to win things. We had tough moments. We had moments when we fought back and then we had tough moments again.
“It was a good experience. You can learn a lot, pick up a lot. It wasn’t good for our standards but we need to improve this year.”
