Liverpool’s latest training session provided plenty to glean over, with a new youngster involved from the academy and Cody Gakpo winning a strength test.
While the majority of Liverpool’s training squad on Wednesday was made up of academy players, the first team were back on Thursday, meaning the youngsters went back over to the academy.
Tommy Pilling remained, however, indicating the 20-year-old midfielder has been making a strong impression on his coaches since playing 23 minutes in pre-season against Athletic Club.
Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha were the only other youth prospects that trained with Pilling and the team, though they were already considered part of the senior squad.
All Red Video’s latest Inside Training film offered further insight into the Reds’ training day. Here are six more things we noticed:
Cody Gakpo wins the grip test
A running theme in this edition of Inside Training was the players’ attempts to beat each other’s times on the grip test.
This involved holding the rims of a 15kg disc weight in each hand, trying to keep them up as long as possible.
Gakpo ended the day top of the ‘LFC Champions Board’, lasting just over one minute and 17 seconds before dropping the weights.
Conor Bradley was originally at the bottom of the list, but after having a second attempt in the afternoon, he climbed up the leaderboard to the delight of Andy Robertson and Ruben Peeters.
Ibrahima Konate, the photographer
One of the biggest takeaways from these behind-the-scenes videos is the sense of humility and togetherness in the squad.
Ibrahima Konate is often the animator in the dressing room, and Thursday was no different as he took photographer Nikki Dyer’s camera to take photos of his teammates.
There was also a funny moment when Dominik Szoboszlai took Konate’s France shirt and proceeded to wear it at the coffee bar as the Frenchman walked off to get ready for training.
Hugo Ekitike’s quick feet
Something that stood out from the footage of training we were shown was Hugo Ekitike‘s quick feet in tight spaces.
His flicks were coming off effectively and the speed at which he and the team passed the ball was mesmerising.
Because we are usually watching them compete against other elite players, it can sometimes be easy to forget just how good they are.
A coincidental soundtrack to Virgil van Dijk and Alexander Isak’s meeting
Virgil van Dijk‘s first meeting at the training ground with Alexander Isak raised eyebrows, not because of what the two did – they simply shared a warm embrace – but because of the music that was playing in the background.
As the pair greeted each other, some meticulous fans noticed that Rein Me In by Sam Fender, a Geordie songwriter and big Newcastle supporter, was playing.
The artist’s music is regularly heard at the training ground and this was purely coincidental, but it did provide a somewhat funny irony.
Put him down, Virgil!
Van Dijk and Jeremie Frimpong already knew each other through the Dutch national team before the right-back arrived at Liverpool.
They are close enough, in fact, that Van Dijk feels comfortable picking the jovial Frimpong up and turning him almost upside down in effortless fashion – the captain is about 1’3″ taller than the right-back.
Just don’t injure each other, please!
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