🚨 Andoni Iraola on the work Liverpool’s youngsters have been putting in during the international break: 🎙️ “This break has been very important for us, especially for the young players. When you have fewer senior players around, you can’t hide. Every training session becomes an opportunity to show me, ‘Coach, I’m ready.’ And some of them have taken that opportunity very seriously.” “I’ve seen players running until the last minute, fighting for every ball, asking questions and then coming back the next day wanting to do even more. That’s what I want. I don’t care if you are 17 or 27 if you train with the intensity we demand, you will get my attention.” “And honestly, some of the boys have surprised me. They are not training like academy players who are hoping to be noticed anymore. They are training like Liverpool players who believe they belong here. That mentality is important.” “I’ve told them, don’t look at the names missing from the squad and think, ‘Maybe I can get minutes.’ Look at it differently: ‘This is my chance to make the manager uncomfortable when the senior players return.’ If they keep working like this, I will have some very difficult decisions to make.”

🚨 Bradley Barcola on the conversation he had with Michael Olise during France training sessions: 🎙️ “Olise came up to me and asked, ‘Be honest, Bradley, what’s Liverpool really like? And what’s the atmosphere at Anfield like?’ I started laughing because he didn’t even ask me about the team first he wanted to know about the fans!” “I told him, ‘Michael, playing at Anfield as an opponent is one thing. Playing there with 60,000 people behind you is something else entirely. When they start singing, you don’t just hear them you feel them. Even when you’re tired, somehow your legs find another gear.’” “Then he smiled and said, ‘You’re making it sound special.’ I told him, ‘I’m not selling you a dream, brother. I’m warning you!” “Honestly, some players need to experience Anfield to understand it. And Michael, if you ever play there as the opposition, just remember: the first 10 minutes might be the loudest welcome of your life and the longest 90 minutes of it.”

🚨 Milos Kerkez on what Dominik Szoboszlai told him after his winning goal for Hungary: 🎙️ “After I scored, Domi came straight to me and said, ‘Finally! I was starting to think you were saving your goals for Liverpool.’ I told him, ‘Relax, captain. I know where the important goals are coming.’” “We’ve come a long way together with Hungary. We’ve had good moments, difficult moments, arguments, laughs everything. Now we’re playing together for Liverpool as well, so having him there makes everything easier. But today, he was the first person to celebrate with me, and that meant a lot.” “Then he looked at me and said, ‘Enjoy it tonight, but when we get back to Liverpool, I want another one.’ That’s Domi. He celebrates with you for five seconds and then immediately wants more.” “Honestly, having your best friend and national-team brother beside you at Liverpool is special. But if he thinks I’m going to stop scoring just because he’s captain, he’s got another thing coming.”

🚨 Jérémy Jacquet on what happened between Upamecano and Moise Kean: 🎙️ “I was right there when it happened. After Daya got the red, Moise was still talking and Daya was like, ‘You were fighting for the ball too, don’t act innocent now.’ Moise laughed and said, ‘Bro, you pulled me down!’ Daya just looked at him and said, ‘And you were pulling me first!’” “I had to get between them because both of them were still going at it. I told Daya, ‘Forget it, we’re down to ten, we need you calm.’ He looked at me and said, ‘I know, but ask him what he was doing too!’” “That’s football. Two strong players competing, both convinced they’re right. But honestly, Daya was furious because he felt Kean made the situation look worse than it was. He kept saying, ‘I’m not going to apologise for competing.’” “And Moise just smiled and said, ‘Next time, beat me without grabbing me.’ Daya laughed and replied, ‘Next time, try staying on your feet”

🚨 Giorgi Mamardashvili on what he told Milos Kerkez at fulltime after scoring against him: 🎙️ “Honestly, I’m not going to lie when I saw Milos running towards that ball, I was thinking, ‘Please, not him.’ I know exactly how aggressive he is, and unfortunately today he picked the perfect moment to remind me.” “After the goal I told him, ‘You really had to score against me?’ He just laughed and said, ‘Sorry, Gigi… but I’ve been waiting for this one.’ I told him, ‘Enjoy it tonight, because I’m sending you the bill for my clean sheet bonus.’ ” “We’re teammates at Liverpool, so I’ll congratulate him. But losing 1–0 and having your own teammate score the winner against you? That one hurts a little more.” “Next time we play, I’m not giving Milos anything. No space, no gifts, no friendship for 90 minutes. He got his moment today… but he better not try that header against me at Liverpool training.”

🚨 Jérémy Jacquet reveals Zidane’s message to him before the Italy clash: 🎙️ “Before we walked out, he pulled me aside and said, ‘Jérémy, don’t play like a 21-year-old tonight. Play like you belong here.’ Then he smiled and added, ‘I don’t want you hiding from anything. If you see the duel, go and win it.’” “I remember looking at him thinking, this is Zidane telling me to go fight Italy. I told him, ‘Coach, don’t worry. If they come for me, I’m coming for them too.’ He just laughed and said, ‘Good. That’s exactly why you’re here.’” “After the game, he came up to me and said, ‘You did what I asked. You were brave, you stepped out, you competed.’ Obviously we wanted the three points, so the 1–1 hurts a little, but hearing that from Zidane after my second game for France means a lot.” “And then he said something I won’t forget: ‘Keep playing like this and you won’t be asking for your place in this team. You’ll be making me choose who plays next to you. Honestly, I’m only getting started.”

🚨 Ryan Gravenberch on his difficult start under Andoni Iraola: 🎙️ “I’m not going to lie, the start hasn’t been easy for me. New manager, new demands, new way of playing sometimes you leave the pitch knowing you can give much more. But the biggest thing is that Andoni has never made me feel like he has lost faith in me.” “Since the first day he arrived, he has told me, ‘Ryan, I trust you. I know what you can give this team. Don’t play scared of making mistakes.’ That means a lot because when your manager gives you that freedom, you can actually focus on improving instead of worrying about every mistake.” “Iraola wants intensity, aggression and courage. He keeps pushing me to play forward, press harder and take responsibility. Sometimes he will stop me in training and say, ‘Again. Faster. You can do better.’ But I actually like that because he’s demanding more from me because he believes there’s more in me.” “And I know people are talking because my start hasn’t been perfect. That’s football. But Andoni knows the player he signed, and I know the player I can become under him. So Liverpool fans should be patient with me I’m not finished yet.”