Arne Slot now names the Liverpool youngster who has impressed him the most, he did 'really well' vs Real Betis
07/27/2024 04:00 AM
Arne Slot would not be drawn on naming who had caught his eye at Liverpool during his short time at the club so far.
Slot has now overseen more than three weeks of training and two 90 minute matches. More than enough time to form an initial opinion.
However, when asked specifically about Liverpool’s young players upon arrival in America earlier this week, Slot was keen to play down expectations.
After Saturday’s win over Real Betis, though, the new head coach was betrayed by his use of substitutions.
And having stuck a whole host of young players out against Betis for various different amounts of time, Slot has now admitted to being impressed by one of the Liverpool academy in particular.
Arne Slot admits to Trey Nyoni impression
Slot will have no doubt had a plan for how to use his players during Saturday’s win over Real Betis.
Being the first game of pre-season, he will have been wary of overusing the Liverpool squad. However, on the flip-side, the Dutchman only has four friendlies to fine tune his system in.
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face, though, and within 30 minutes of the match, Slot was forced to turn to his bench already.
Curtis Jones had been looking forward to playing under Slot. But after just half an hour his evening was done. Injury prevented the midfielder from playing any further.
Looking at the bench, it might have been expected that the head coach would turn to Stefan Bajcetic or perhaps Tyler Morton to plug the gap. He could have even dropped Dominik Szoboszlai deeper and put on another forward.
READ MORE: Liverpool’s player ratings from 1-0 win against Real Betis on Saturday
Instead, Slot threw on 17-year-old Trey Nyoni. It proved to be an inspired decision as Nyoni had a great game for Liverpool. Asked about the youngster post-game by LFCTV, Slot admitted that the decision to use Trey gave the answer to a question he had already been asked.
“I said yesterday that I’m not going to name any youngsters that caught my eye,” said the 45-year-old. “But if you see that he comes in after 30 minutes for Curtis, you could expect that I meant him!
“He did really well today,” added Slot. “I think he just turned 17, so his body is not grown yet. He needs some time to get stronger and hopefully he will be a bit taller as well.
“He find players a lot of times in between the lines, the biggest chance we had was a through pass from him. He did well today.”
Which other youngsters did well?
Nyoni was without a doubt the standout youngster against Betis. It is not surprising to hear that the youngest player on the tour has been an eye-catcher in training, too.
Liverpool staff are excited by Nyoni and it’s clear that the former Leicester prospect could be a regular first-team player very soon.
Nyoni was not the only talent out on the pitch for Liverpool in Pittsburgh, though. Others caught the eye too.
Ben Doak got half an hour or so from the right wing and turned the Spanish side’s defence inside out on a couple of occasions. Meanwhile, Vitezslav Jaros showed that he can be a useful option in goal as well.
Others quietly went about their business and it’s fair to say that although Liverpool ended the game with an average age of just 20, nobody looked out of place.
