On the American preseason tour we got a chance to watch a few of the youth and some fringe players, all of which had their personal goals to achieve and for the likes of Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa it’s very much about whether their efforts will get them into new head coach Andoni Iraola’s plans for the rapidly approaching 26/27 season.
So here we are, it’s the real business end to Liverpool’s preseason and all of the senior players have been involved in training except Alex Mac Alister who will be arriving back on Monday. It seems natural to suppose the players selected to play will be closer to those that will face Newcastle away on the opening match of the season. There might be fitness issues for some of the last players to arrive back from their holidays as well the likes of Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni who have yet to take part in full training sessions.
I don’t think I have ever been this intrigued by a preseason and to go along with this being Iraola’s first experience of Anfield as Liverpool’s head coach, as well his staff, it could be a big indicator as to who Iraola sees as his core starters and bench.
Of course it’s still a small squad so the starting eleven pretty much choses itself but there is room to see any tactical tweaks and hopefully the first chance for Victor Munoz to go motoring down the wing. Could we see Trey Nyoni getting a solid forty-five minutes or beside Ryan Gravenberch, even though most of us may presume they would share the deeper defensive midfield role. Will Rio Ngumoha play down the right and if Cody Gakpo plays will he actually pass to the overlapping Kerkez or still insist on his default move and totally ignore the effort and opportunity.
These are the types of questions that occupy my mind as I wait for the friendly against Monaco at Anfield and I’m sure there will be plenty to analysis and pick through. The biggest questions for me include Elliott, Fede, Nyoni, Curtis Jones and Gakpo. Interestingly out of those five players the only one I know for sure will be remaining a Liverpool player into the 26/27 season is young Trey.
Yes I know we have a perilously thin squad so cannot really afford to sell any more, but I have genuine concerns over Jones and where his head is at as well if Gakpo has the will to play intensive football. With all of this my biggest hope is that Iraola and the players get a fantastic welcome from the Anfield faithful and it’s a wonderful day for everyone involved (a win would be nice too).