With two of Arne Slot‘s coaching staff absent at the start of pre-season, Liverpool has enlisted one of their longest-serving coaches to assist with sessions at the AXA Training Centre.
Pre-season activities have kicked off, but Slot is missing a significant portion of his new backroom team. Aaron Briggs has been appointed as an elite development coach, and discussions are ongoing with Johnny Heitinga for a role as first-team coach.
Despite support from assistant Sipke Hulshoff and lead physical performance coach Ruben Peeters, along with holdovers from Jurgen Klopp’s staff, there are two key absences: head of goalkeeping Fabian Otte and goalkeeping coach Claudio Taffarel, both occupied with Copa America duties.
Otte, a recent addition to Liverpool’s staff, has been involved with the United States national team, while Taffarel is part of Brazil’s coaching team. Although the US team has been eliminated from the tournament, Otte has not yet returned to Liverpool to train goalkeepers Caoimhin Kelleher, Marcelo Pitaluga, Fabian Mrozek, and Harvey Davies.
To cover for these absences, Liverpool has brought in Mark Morris, the U21s goalkeeping coach. Morris, who joined the club in 2009, is one of Liverpool’s longest-serving staff members. His coaching career includes stints with Chester, Hereford, Stockport, and youth setups for Wales and Northern Ireland. Initially, he coached Liverpool’s U18s but now leads goalkeeping for the highest academy age group.
Morris’s extensive experience has seen him called up to the first team on several occasions, including during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2022 when regular coaches were unavailable. His involvement now is crucial, as both John Achterberg and Jack Robinson have left the club this summer, and Adrian, who could have taken sessions due to his UEFA B Licence, has moved to Real Betis.
Additionally, former Liverpool goalkeeper Andy Firth, who had been coaching within the academy, has joined Steven Gerrard’s staff at Al-Ettifaq alongside Achterberg.
Otte is expected to join Liverpool’s pre-season activities in the coming days, likely after a brief period of rest following his international duties, similar to the players on international duty this summer.
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