Woo!
The man's giving us inside knowledge!
Yes, guys! Today I'm at Liverpool FC with SC Johnson
and two of Liverpool's most influential players over the last few years -
AND one of their brightest, up-and-coming youth players,
and today I'm going to be getting a taste of what it feels like
to train as a Liverpool first-team player.
What a cross.
Love that.
Oh, yes, please!
I was gonna go next with a free kick, but then Trent scored against...
Who was it? West Ham.
You guys are having a fantastic season. Obviously you must train like beasts,
to get that output on the pitch you have to be putting hard work in behind the scenes.
So, are you ready to put me through my paces?
Always. I wish we had the manager here to shout at you as well, or one of the coaches.
So we're going to get into it, I'm looking forward to it,
but before we get into the video, check this out for more information
on how Liverpool's amazing partnership with SC Johnson
will see plastic around Anfield upcycled.
SC Johnson have teamed up with Liverpool Football Club to create an upcycling scheme
for the 500,000 plastic bottles used at Anfield each season
to be repurposed into Mr Muscle trigger bottles.
Football games generate use amounts of waste, and if we can recycle more plastic,
then we can all benefit from a healthier world.
OK, Robbo, talk us through this first bit.
Right, he's going to go in and out the mannequins trying to keep close control,
taking them on like he does always,
then he's going to play a one-two off the board,
look up, and try and find you in the box hopefully.
It's all about trying to see your movement and pick you out,
and ultimately score a goal.
Right, let's do it, let's do it.
- I want a finish. - I'll do my best!
No pressure, goalie.
There's nothing worse than a cross and a rubbish finish.
Alright, let's go.
Yeah, love that.
VIRGIL: Oh, no.
Everything is going so well on this side; on that side you have to focus a little more.
We're stumbling at the last hurdle over here.
Every chain's got its weakest link.
Oh! ROBBO: Save!
Good save.
ROBBO: Alisson!
We go again? Tell the goalie to leave it!
Can we talk about his crossing? It's magnificent.
ALL: Ohhh!
LAUGHTER
ROBBO: That's what we like to see!
Sorry, you alright?
Ohh!
JEREMY: Last one.
VIRGIL: One more.
I'm not letting Virgil win.
ROBBO: The standard is high over here, very high.
THEY CHEER
Do you practise them before training, during training, after training?
I'm usually back the pitch when these discuss it.
But, yeah...
You're right, it's a fun thing to practise.
When you have, like, a serious session, then quite a lot of the boys finish with free kicks.
Trent must practise free kicks.
He practises a lot, to be fair.
Yeah, he's... He can get better.
He can definitely get better.
No, but Trent practises everything, like, his step out...
I think the most difficult thing with free kicks is to be consistent, do it with every ball.
It's the difficult part.
Oh, good save!
He was ready for it, you know.
ROBBO: Oh, yes, please!
Cos the tyre's so small, it feels like you didn't get it, but that was...
That was nice. But the wall is also 20 metres away!
Was that the flat ball?!
He's got a better free kick than I have - than you have as well.
It ain't close.
I want you to take a free kick, I know how good you are.
He is good at them. He used to hit them with confidence at Celtic, and then...
Well, I got injured last year, so I'm trying to get back to...
No, no, no, before the injury you never took any either, so don't start!
It's coming, it's coming.
Me and Robbo then?
No, no, it's coming.
The hardest thing is getting the ball off Trent.
I was gonna go next, you know, with a free kick,
but then Trent scored against...West Ham.
If he missed it, I would have been next.
When you take a free kick and score, I'm taking full credit for it -
- I just want you to know that. - OK, good.
Ohh.
It's gone in, it's not gone in the tyre,
but I really enjoyed taking free kicks in front of you, I felt pressure.
You did very well.
Thank you very much.
OK, this bit's gonna be fun,
I'm looking forward to this, I've been looking forward to it all week, in fact.
We are gonna go through different scenarios and I'm gonna pick the guys' brains
on what they would do in each scenario.
So the first one is: there's been a quick turnover and Virgil finds himself
in a one-v-one situation against one of the top strikers in the world.
What's the first thing a defender should do?
In my opinion you should never be like this, of course,
it makes it much easier for the striker.
Obviously that's basic knowledge for you, but for everyone watching,
why should you never be square-on?
Because you can't move that easily, both sides.
So if I go, it's harder for you to...
Yeah, difficult to go that way, or the other way.
So you try to always go in this position and pick a side where you want the striker to go.
You basically set a trap.
I'm running here, feinting, you're making it really hard for me to go that way.
At some point I'm probably going to try and shift it and go,
are you looking for any telltale signs that I'm...?
No, basically I try and look at your eyes...
Oh, really?
Because if someone in front of you is very technical, does all these tricks and stuff,
you might be thinking, "What's going on here?"
So you can see the body language, and in my case I like to look into some players' eyes.
See, I didn't know that!
So this is a wide position, and the same sort of thing.
Show him inside - Virgil!
A lot of times now you have left-footers playing on the right,
right-footers playing on the left,
so I think if they're strong-footed on one side, you want to keep them off that.
For instance, Mo can go both sides, but when he comes inside he comes in and fires,
and more often than not he hits the top corner,
so when you come up against players like that you probably need to exaggerate the line a bit
and try and show them down there, because like you say,
when we play we aren't very often left on our own,
our midfield work hard for us, to be fair to them.
But like Virgil said, once I show them the line, you need to make sure you've got that.
So, I'm out on the right wing, I've just received the ball,
I'm going to attack...
So I'm saying outside.
You're already communicating to him?
If he's that close to me, then he'll be saying 'outside' or 'inside',
and if someone's on the inside it's always important to listen to them,
because they can see, and at this point I can only really see you and the ball.
If Virgil is talking, or Millie or whoever in midfield is saying 'outside' or 'inside',
it's very rare that we go against that, you have to respect what they think is right
because they can see the whole picture.
So I'm going there, and he's thinking...
So if someone says 'inside', I think they're close to me.
That's... That's key information.
Andy, Virgil, thank you so much for taking the time today to help me upcycle my knowledge,
I really appreciate it.
Guys, don't forget, if you're at Anfield,
look for the SC Johnson bin to upcycle your plastic.
Until next time, love, peace and tekkers.
That's what we like to see!