Former Everton manager Sam Allardyce claimed that results in pre-season did not matter when asked about Liverpool’s recent form.
Laura Woods asked the ex-England boss whether Jurgen Klopp should be worried about the Reds following their 3-0 lost to Napoli on Sunday, and Allardyce responded by sharing pre-season was all about fitness.
“I never took pre-season results to be that good or trouble me too much, it’s about the fitness of the players, not the results,” said Allardyce on talkSPORT (07:41, Monday, July 29th).
“Too many people outside of the club read too much into results in pre-season, that’s the problem, one of the big problems is… the fact of the matter is, no matter what happens in those games, it’s what happens on the first game of the season.
“I think, way back, early Bolton days, we started our new season in the Premier League by not winning a pre-season game and then I think, it was either the second or first season in the Premier League and we went 10 games unbeaten, well eight games undefeated at the start of the season.
“I think people can read a lot into it and it’s about preparing your players for the new season and of course pre-season games are problematic for managers, because they get three, four weeks off and then go straight into tournaments then travel the world like Liverpool do, and that’s all about making more money.”
Liverpool won their opening two clashes of pre-season against Tranmere Rovers and Bradford City, but haven’t won in their last four friendlies.
OPINION
While Allardyce’s opinion isn’t one usually welcomed at Anfield, given his Everton connection, his latest remarks should be received with open arms. The currently unattached manager is spot-on to claim that pre-season is about fitness, not results and the Reds will surely be a different beast come the community shield next weekend against Manchester City. A side could easily win all their pre-season matches only to flop once the season gets underway, and hopefully, Allardyce’s Bolton story eases the worries of a few Liverpool fans who are panicking over results. This is especially the case when you consider that Klopp isn’t even playing his full-strength side in pre-season currently, as the likes of Mohamed Salah and Alisson were given additional time off due to their international commitments earlier in the summer. With Salah back in the side scoring goals and Alisson at the back racking up clean sheets, then the Reds will be stronger for it. Also Reds fans should focus on the fact that Klopp has tested the club’s promising youngsters in pre-season, such as Harry Wilson, as it’s better to see how they fare in low stake games then throw them in the deep end.
