"He plays like a 10-year-old" - Gary Neville slams Liverpool star after 2-1 loss to Manchester United

Manchester United hero Gary Neville has criticised Liverpool defender Milos Kerkez after the Reds' 2-1 loss at Anfield on Sunday. Arne Slot's men have now lost three straight games in the Premier League as goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Harry Maguire, either side of a second half strike from Cody Gakpo, sealed the win for United.

With Liverpool also losing to Galatasaray during this disappointing run of form since September 27, it is the first time since 2014 that the Reds have suffered defeats in four straight games. And in the wake of a memorable win for Ruben Amorim's team, Neville was quick to offer his opinion after full-time.

Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast alongside Jamie Carragher, Neville highlighted how the hosts' defenders were all over the place in the game. He labelled Kerkez as a '10-year-old left-back', suggesting he has failed to settle in since his £45 million transfer from Bournemouth.

Neville stated:

"I think the individual performances of Liverpool's defenders was really poor, and decision making,' he said. 'The left back [Milos Kerkez] has not settled in... he plays like a 10-year-old left back, he's all over the place."

The former Manchester United captain also slated Virgil van Dijk for his 'shaky' performance. Neville went on to claim that the Reds' captain had 'one of his worst games' ever.

He added:

"At right back Conor Bradley was OK today, I don't think he did anything particularly wrong, but Van Dijk... I've not seen Van Dijk as shaky as that. Now sometimes, when a player comes back from an international break, it's been him that's been holding it together, but he had one of his worst games today."

Liverpool have two away games coming up next, with the Reds facing Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League followed by a trip to face Brentford next weekend.

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Liverpool boss Arne Slot makes feelings clear about 'challenge' after 4 straight losses

Liverpool v Manchester United - Premier League - Source: Getty

Arne Slot is now staring down at the possibility of Liverpool losing five straight games for the first time since 1953. However, the Dutchman believes his team have not lost confidence in themselves just yet. Slot highlighted how he has faced challenges throughout his career, suggesting it is part and parcel of leading a big club.

Slot told reporters [via ESPN] after the loss to Manchester United:

"I think as a manager you constantly face challenges. So when I just started, you face the challenge of being a new manager and then you need to win games. And when you do well, you go to a bigger club and people are like: 'Let's see how he does over there.'

"Then you go to being the successor of Jurgen Klopp and people say this is the biggest challenge you've ever faced. And then now we've lost four times in a row and that's also a challenge.

"So the life of a football manager is an ongoing challenge. If you win games, you want to keep winning. If you lose games, you want to start winning again. So do we lose confidence? I cannot see it yet because every single game we've lost, we were able to create in the second half an unbelievable amount of chances."

Liverpool slipped to third behind leaders Arsenal and second-placed Manchester City after the loss to Manchester United. The reigning champions trail the Gunners by four points after eight gameweeks.