Kerkez was interviewed by Liverpool's official media, and the Reds defender expressed his pleasure at taking on a mentoring role to help some of Liverpool's young players adapt to Andoni Iraola's tactical system.

Kerkez is set to enter his fourth season in the Premier League and his second with Liverpool. He was previously coached by Iraola during his time at Bournemouth.

During the pre-season tour in the US, the team offered its first glimpse of Iraola's tactical style in Nashville on Saturday local time, ultimately defeating Sunderland 4-2.

"I like this style of play," Kerkez said in an interview with Liverpool's official media. "You can see me playing higher up. I can play higher and also make one-on-one breakthroughs. I still need to find my match fitness and get some feeling back in my legs, but that's what pre-season is all about, and we got some good playing time."

I am proud of everyone; we have all worked very hard during this pre-season preparation. You can see it in training; everyone is happy. We know what we need to do. A big season is ahead.

Kerkez added: "This is my fourth year in the Premier League. Obviously, my first season was a learning process, and it was tough. I needed to do more strength training."

When you come to the top league in the world, it's normal—the Premier League is ahead of any other league. You need to build your physique and strengthen your legs.

We are all helping the young players. There are many talented young players in the team, and we need to support them. They will continue to improve.

I am really, really happy for everyone, and we will build on this.

Kerkez also discussed the style fans should expect from Liverpool during the 2026-27 pre-season and once official matches begin in August.

The left-back said: "I think everyone will see the strong Liverpool of the past – high pressing, proactive, everyone pushing forward. As I said, we will play more actively and implement full-field high pressing."

Of course, Anfield will give us a huge boost and provide that energy. When the fans see us pressing constantly, they will give us tremendous support both at home and away.

So, I think the biggest change this year will be the pressure, high pressing, and aggressiveness in our game."

Kieran Morrison scored the opening goal against Sunderland. Liverpool then fell behind, but second-half goals from Szoboszlai, Federico Chiesa, and Lewis Koumas completed the comeback.

Next, Liverpool will travel to New York to face Wrexham in the early hours of Thursday, local time.

Kerkez said: "We told our teammates in the locker room: 'Go all out from the start of the second half.' We scored a few goals, and I think everyone performed well."

New York is great. Of course, I'm really looking forward to it. I hope there will be a large number of fans supporting us, and we will put on a great show for them.

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