The issue with kicking is there should be a counter-play to every play.
In Warband, kicks were avoidable if you were mindful of them, all you had to do was be aware of spacing/positioning and use lateral movement. Kicks were a way of punishing players who drifted too close without repositioning or if they crossed your center-line too many times.
In Bannerlord however, if a player wants to kick you, they will kick you. It's nigh impossible to avoid a determined kicker. Backing off doesn't work, nor does wheeling out and avoiding their center-line. I believe the main factors contributing to this are the speed of the kicks -the kicks seem to land the instant the kick input is made, and the range of the kicks (I swear the kick range is longer than that of some of the 1H weapons).
On the latter's note, another thing compounding the issue could be how all the weapons in the game seem to be shorter than they appear, which causes melee to be a claustrophobic face-hug. This was brought up a few times in the beta, but no one really made much note of it. The practical application of all the weapons (but especially 1H) really does make it feel like they have very minimal range, betraying the physical appearance of their length and their listed length. Every fight is such a pressed-together slugfest with no room to use any differences in your or your opponent's weapon reach (because for all intents and purposes, there are none). Not to use the "Warband" card again, but in Warband, you could "feel" your weapon's reach and had a very good understanding of your effective range. The difference between a 1H sword and 1H axe was not negligible -it was discernible, and could be used to your advantage. Thus, Bannerlord's lack of weapon reach probably contributes greatly to the kick-heavy environment we are currently living in.
I would like to end this rant by saying I believe there is a place for kick-slash within the Bannerlord combat meta, but it should be accompanied by a suitable counter-play (preferably a way to avoid it). In an ideal world, kick-slash should be a way to punish unfocused or out-of-position players, but it should not under any circumstances be the main process by which melee combat is fought -which, unfortunately, many times is the case. While kick-slash should have a place in a fighter's repertoire, kick-shot and kick-throw should be removed from the game, as they are nothing more than exploits and the abuse of poor game design/mechanics.