Liverpool U21s and U18s have begun a week-long pre-season training camp in Slovenia.
The Academy squads arrived in Slovenia on Monday and both the U21s and U18s will conclude the trip with friendlies against NK Celje on Sunday.
Ahead of the camp, we caught up with U18s head coach Simon Wiles about the benefits of the visit ahead of the new campaign.
Read our interview below.
On how much he has enjoyed his first full pre-season with the group so far…
It’s been really good and we’ve had a really good two weeks so far. I missed virtually all of pre-season before arriving last year so it has been really good getting to know the first-years who have come into our squad this season. They are starting their scholarship with us and it has been nice to see the mix between them and the second years we still have with us in the U18s. They are all raring to go so it’s going to be an exciting pre-season and hopefully a good season ahead.
On the benefits of working closely with Rob Page and the U21s…
We have a great relationship and being together in Slovenia this week is going to be really important for us. A lot of the work we do is all aligned so it’s great to go away together and have a full seven days. It’s going to be great and again, there are opportunities for players to impress and showcase how good they can be this season.
It’s a really important week for all of us as we get the players fit and ready for the new season. It’s great that we both have a game at the end of it so we are going to be working the players really hard this week. We’ll be doing double or maybe triple sessions and even though the bodies may be a little fatigued, having the matches will give us an opportunity to showcase what we have been working on.
On players such as Prince Cisse and Josh Sonni-Lambie moving up to the U21s squad for the new season...
That has been good and that is what this club is fantastic for: giving young players an opportunity when lads have pushed themselves for an opportunity to deserve it. They have moved up to the U21s with Rob and Jay [Spearing] so that is great for them and another great challenge that they need. We say to our first-years now that they have got a great chance to go and compete with the second-years, so the competitive side is fantastic.
On players returning from long-term injury...
It has been really tough and challenging for those lads but it’s great to see them back and they have worked hard to get to this point. Cam [Williams] hardly played last season but is doing really well where he is up to now. Harry [Moran] only played in the last game of the season and Finn [Inglethorpe] was out for seven months. It’s really exciting to have them back because they can all have a massive impact on the group and the side, and we are really looking forward to seeing how they progress through pre-season.
