It’s finally time for the return of club football and Liverpool FC’s 2026 pre-season tour, which kicked off with a victory against Sunderland on Saturday night, and so I find myself wondering what my personal expectations and hopes are for the coming month or so of preparations.
Firstly, I expect us to see the beginnings of Andoni Iraola’s playing style, which having seen Bournemouth’s over the last three seasons should be a lot more action packed and positive than what we got last season. While it may
take time to fully implement a new style, for now I’ll be happy just to see more movement from the players off the ball and to see more forward passes. It seems crazy to include those two factors as they should be givens for any Liverpool side, but both were frustratingly absent from many of the matches last season.
As for hopes, it’s clearly early days in the Iraola era but I feel it comes down to seeing how comfortable the players are and hopefully to see a little joy on the pitch, because the happier the players look the more of an indicator it is to how everyone is gelling in training and the eagerness to impress.
We all know that when Jurgen Klopp was in charge the players would run through a wall for him. That comes from a loyalty and a belief in how they’re being led, and that all helps cultivate joy within the players which in turn brings out the best of everyone, supporters included.
When it comes to the players I am anxious to watch this pre-season, any list starts with Harvey Elliott, the player with possibly the most on the line in pre-season as he no doubt feels he is playing to prove his worth to the squad and to perhaps revive his Liverpool career after a wasted season at Aston Villa.
Jeremy Jacquet is a player I have high hopes for, too, and I’m eager to see what the new signing can do on the pitch. From his time at Rennes he comes across as a very aggressive centre-back who likes to step up to defend rather than drop off or wait for the attack to come to him. Something that, if proves to be true, seems to fit into Iraola’s positive approach.
Amongst the younger players, this summer feels like the time for Trey Nyoni to seize his moment and build a strong footing in the senior squad. He will have seen how Rio Ngumoha made the most of his appearances last season and Trey should be encouraged by this and give everything.
Then we have the youth who perhaps don’t have much of a chance at a first team role this season but who are helping to fill the spaces left by the senior players yet to report back after their World Cup participations. Some will gain experience and great stories of being on the tour, but there’s always a chance a few could step up and at least force Iraola to consider them as domestic cup options and after that anything is possible. Players that fall into this bracket that I’m particularly interested in are attackers Joshua Abe and Will Wright.
And a special mention for Stefan Bajcetic, who may be a little past being counted amongst the youth hopefuls but who has finally returned to training. If he can manage to get his career back on track it would be a massive boost for Iraola and the Reds.
One thing I am not excepting from the start, though, is smooth and fluid play every minute, nor to see the Reds smashing every opponent. For me it has to be more about increasing glimpses of what is to come. I’ll be happy to be proved wrong, of course, but at least to start for me it will be more about signs and promise than perfection. I’d also like to see sporting director Richard Hughes get moving in the market and bring in a few signings to redeem himself before jetting off to the Saudi league.
So, what are your expectations and hopes, if any, with the pre-season tour?
