Milos Kerkez is going through a spectacular development at AZ. The left back apparently makes predecessor Owen Wijndal forget and is now an indispensable link in the formation of trainer Pascal Jansen. Kerkez tells in front of the NOS that his father and Paolo Maldini have helped him to the level that the now two-time Hungarian international has reached.
Kerkez came to the Alkmaarders in January 2021 after adventures in Serbia, Hungary, Austria and Italy. Where he was still reserve behind Wijndal in the first half of last season, this season he is one of the mainstays in the team of the North Hollanders. “My father helps me a lot with football. He teaches me things in life. I still have a lot to learn”, Kerkez praises. The eighteen-year-old defender also says he has benefited a lot from his time at AC Milan, where he was under contract before his employment with AZ. “I trained with the first team. It was great to be next to those guys. I learned a lot from the coach, the players, from the legend himself,” he refers to Maldini.
Kerkez is unsurprisingly full of praise for the Italian legend, who is currently technical director of i Rossoneric is. “He’s a kind of teacher. He takes you aside and talks to you for five minutes. Yes, also to me. He has spoken to me. What needs to be improved and what is already going well.” Maldini told Kerkez that he was a player with ‘a lot of energy’. “Yes, he said. That I have to keep that energy. That’s important for the team, for the matches, for the fans. He told me to play my game. He likes the way I play,” says the Hungarian pride.
Despite the praise from the club icon, Kerkez did not manage to break through in the main force as a youngster. In search of playing time, he went to AZ, for which he has now played 28 games, scored three times and provided seven assists. Partly due to the fanatical defender, AZ is third in the Eredivisie and managed to qualify for the knockout phase of the Conference League. “I’m happy that I manage to run forwards and backwards in time. I have the energy for it, but it also takes a lot of energy.” Recently, Kerkez was rewarded for his development and he made his debut for the Hungarian national team.
He did that in the 0-1 Nations League match against Germany, in which he was in charge of direct opponent Serge Gnabry for 90 minutes. Still, Kerkez is self-critical and thinks he should tackle less. “Maldini also said that a tackle should be your last option. Because when you’re on the ground it takes two, three or four seconds to get up. If you don’t put the player down, he’s already gone. But sometimes, if the opponent gets a hundred percent chance, then I tackle and take the ball. That’s something that’s just in me. It’s hard to turn it off.”