As Liverpool players start coming back from international duties ahead of their tour in the USA, Ian Rush has shared his thoughts on what to anticipate from their pre-season training.
Even though the Liverpool legend retired almost 25 years ago, the core principles for Liverpool’s pre-season preparations remain largely unchanged.
As anticipation grows for the upcoming season, the late summer period offers fans an early look at the team’s strategies and setups for the year.
Rush admitted that pre-season actually “doesn’t bring back great memories.”
He explained: “It’s very difficult, you know. We had two weeks of very, very hard training, training like twice a day or sometimes three times a day, and then your legs do get heavy.
“It’s all about getting time in the games. You don’t play every game all the time, everyone has to have the chance to play certain minutes in a game, so when it comes to the start of the season, you’re ready.
“Most probably everyone’s had the same minutes of playing.”
Ian Rush is considered one of Liverpool’s all-time greatest players, holding the record for most goals with 346 in 660 games.
Despite his remarkable talent, Rush sometimes needed pre-season matches to regain his form before the competitive games began.
“As a striker, if you didn’t score in two or three games, then you say, ‘I need to look at my scoring now’,” the Welshman said.
“So you need to get off with a couple of goals before the season starts but you don’t play every game, so it’s all about mixing everything up.”
Rush then highlighted that early results shouldn’t be given too much attention, stating: “Pre-season results didn’t mean a great lot to us when we were playing, but come the start of the season, everyone was match fit and that’s when the season starts.”
Speaking about early expectations for Arne Slot, he added: “Don’t judge them on pre-season results because it’s completely different.
“We’ll look at that when we play against Ipswich Town away in the first game of the season.”
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