Pep Lijnders has revealed Liverpool’s new training addition for this season.
A ‘Melwood Arena’ was installed in the club’s AXA Training Centre base to replicate the conditions of street football in efforts to improve attacking play.
The latest feature at the Reds’ nerve centre in Kirkby is inspired by the ‘gaiola’ cages which are commonplace in Portugal, where Lijnders spent eight years.
And Jurgen Klopp’s assistant has explained how the change over the summer came about as the Anfield club attempt to make marginal gains on the pitch.
“I asked Jurgen what the budget was last year and said I would love to build a ‘gaiola’, which is like a street pitch,” Lijnders told the Training Ground Guru podcast.
“Jurgen in these moments is brilliant. I tell him the idea, ‘This is what I want, because of this, this and this.’
“I really believe that we need to be better in the final third, more creative, [that] in the small space we need to hold the ball better.
“We can develop 100 exercises, but the best thing would be if we create the street. It took a while to build it, it cost a lot of money.
“But we had a good budget, so that was cool.”