U19s set for pre-season tournament in Switzerland
Steven Gerrard will take Liverpool's U19s to a pre-season tournament in Basel this weekend.
The U18s boss is taking the U19 squad to Switzerland, where Liverpool will play against high-class opposition.
Hosted by local side FC Aesch, the young Reds will face the likes of German club SV Hamburg, FC Basel and Olympiacos.
Ahead of the trip, Gerrard told Liverpoolfc.com: “It’s all go for the lads. We’ve got a tournament in Basel and we play three matches, and hopefully we go on to play four or five games and get to the semi-final and the final. But that’s not important just yet.
“The important thing is to get all the players physically fit and healthy for a nine-month season.
“But of course we are all winners, we’re all representing the badge and any time there is a game, whether it’s a friendly, a pre-season match or a tournament, you go there with the idea of trying to win it.
“We are taking a strong group of players over to Basel to compete.”
Many of the players who will head to Switzerland were in Budapest last week as the Academy took their U18 and U23 squads to Hungary for a pre-season training camp.
Reflecting on his time as U18s boss so far, Gerrard said he is thoroughly enjoying the role.
He added: “I’ve loved it. It’s given me a taste if you like of what to expect going forward and how it’s going to be for the rest of the season.
“If the players give me as much as they have in the last two weeks over the course of nine months, I think not only will it be an enjoyable season but hopefully there will be a bit of success in there as well and we can help develop these [players] individually and the team to get a lot better as we move forward.”