Andoni Iraola reaffirmed his commitment to developing players during his tour of Liverpool’s facilities.
The former Bournemouth boss was beaming as he was escorted onto the training pitch after having already been confirmed as Arne Slot’s successor.
It was music to our ears here at Empire of the Kop to hear the manager, as he looked upon the training facilities, say: “This is the most important part.”
We appreciate that, on first inspection, that feels an incredibly simplistic observation. Every coach, to varying degrees, comes in wanting to develop players or improve their current stock to effectively compete.
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And while we don’t mean to imply that Arne Slot didn’t deliver in this aspect. After all, tweaks to Ryan Gravenberch’s position and how Mo Salah was utilised on the right flank played a massive part in our Premier League title win in 2024/25.
However, it’s difficult not to come to the conclusion that player development was something of an afterthought by comparison in the season that followed, judging by reports coming out of the club.
Compare that position with Iraola’s really encouraging comments on the subject (via the Echo): “We will have a chance to work especially with some of the young players.
“Because a lot of senior players are arriving later because of the World Cup, I think it gives us the chance to know better the players from the Academy, some of the players that have been on loan.
“They will be an important part of the first part of pre-season, the American tour. And I think in that way it works very well for us because it will give us a lot of information before we really take decisions before we start the season.
“The senior players that have played in the World Cup, they’ve been feeling the pressure, they’ve been playing for their countries, I think they need and deserve a rest.
“And also this allows us to give also important minutes to train more closely with the young players that probably we don’t know as well.
“Because we’ve been here already three seasons, playing a lot of times against Liverpool, there are players that we already know.
“But there are other players probably that haven’t had the minutes, have played for the development squad, have been on loan somewhere, and I think those trainings, those minutes will be very valuable for us to take decisions.”
It’s an encouraging message, you’d think, to the likes of Rio Ngumoha, Trey Nyoni and our exciting crop of young players.
But we also feel it has to be considered a gentle warning shot to Liverpool’s senior pros. The manager’s unlikely to keep relying on underperforming talents (cough cough, Cody Gakpo, cough cough) if there’s a young player available who can make an impact for us on the pitch.
Not that we’re suggesting Ngumoha should be run into the ground. Far from it. But there were clear opportunities last season to blood a youngster who supplied a direct threat and pace on the left flank.
If there’s an opportunity to give us an extra edge in games by relying on the academy, we’re all for it. And it’s something we’ve seen Jurgen Klopp previously do to great effect during his supremely successful tenure at L4.
Hopefully, Iraola can identify some gems ready to make the step up to senior football and spare some change for areas of the pitch that need an instant injection of quality!
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