With Liverpool players gradually returning from international duty in preparation for their USA tour, club legend Ian Rush has shared his thoughts on what to expect from pre-season training.
Although Rush retired nearly 25 years ago, the fundamentals of Liverpool’s pre-season regimen remain largely unchanged. The late summer period offers fans an early look at the team’s setup for the upcoming season.
Rush, revealed that pre-season training isn’t something he reminisces about fondly. “It’s very difficult,” he said. “We endured two weeks of extremely intense training, sometimes practising two or even three times a day, which left our legs feeling heavy.”
He emphasized the importance of game time during this period. “It’s crucial to get minutes on the pitch. Not everyone plays every game, but everyone needs to get a fair amount of playing time so that by the season’s start, we’re all ready. Ideally, everyone has accumulated similar minutes.”
As Liverpool’s all-time leading scorer with 346 goals in 660 appearances, Rush admitted that even he could feel rusty before a new season. He used pre-season friendlies to regain his scoring touch. “As a striker, if you haven’t scored in a couple of games, you start to worry about your form. Getting a few goals before the season starts is important, but it’s all about finding the right balance since you don’t play every game.”
Rush also advised against reading too much into pre-season results. “Pre-season results didn’t mean much to us back then. The real test is being match fit for the start of the season.”
He commented on early expectations for new manager Arne Slot, cautioning against placing too much weight on pre-season outcomes. “Don’t judge based on pre-season results; they are entirely different from competitive matches. We’ll have a better idea once we play Ipswich Town in the season opener.”
Before their August 17 match against Ipswich, Liverpool will play four official friendlies, starting with Real Betis on July 27 at 12:30 am (BST).
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