It was all smiles when Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai and Kostas Tsimikas stepped out at Chicago Fire’s Endeavor Health Performance Center. As the Liverpool trio chatted and knocked a ball around as they waited for the start of Friday’s opening training session, the mood was friendly and relaxed.
There was certainly no sign of bad blood following their very public spat at New York’s Yankee Stadium just over 36 hours earlier.
Jones had cut an agitated figure when he made a beeline for Szoboszlai after the 1-0 victory over Wrexham. Their heated exchange on the field lasted more than two minutes with Jones unhappy that Szoboszlai had given the captain’s armband to Tsimikas rather than him when the Hungary midfielder was substituted 13 minutes from time.
Tsimikas, who returned to the club this summer after a season-long loan spell at Roma, joined Szoboszlai in trying to placate the angry Liverpool academy graduate during the subsequent lap of honour but to no avail. At one point, Greece international Tsimikas took off the armband and threw it to the turf in frustration with Jones picking it up.
The footage filmed by supporters in the stands soon went viral online. Szoboszlai neatly side-stepped a question about the incident during Thursday’s press conference in Chicago.
“A couple of guys have left and maybe we are not the oldest in the team, but we’ve been here a long time and we all want the best for the club and for each other,” he said. “We have a captain in Virgil (van Dijk) and we will follow him everywhere with what he and the gaffer says.”
Senior club sources insist that what happened at Yankee Stadium was the kind of altercation that frequently happens in an elite environment but they usually take place within the sanctity of the dressing room. They say that differences were quickly resolved and Friday’s show of unity on the training field backs that up.
However, it wasn’t a great look and the fact that emotions were running so high over who was captain for the closing minutes of a pre-season friendly against Championship opposition speaks volumes about where Jones is at right now.
Uncertainty over his future rumbles on. The Athletic reported on Friday that Inter have renewed their pursuit of the 25-year-old midfielder. Having had a €25million (£21.7m; $28.7m) bid rejected in June, the Serie A champions have now indicated via intermediaries that they are willing to pay €35m for Jones.
Given that Liverpool value him at around €40m, it looks increasingly likely that a compromise will be reached. Inside the final year of his contract and with no progress made regarding an extension, a parting of the ways makes sense for all parties.
Jones, who was part of the England set-up before being cast aside by Thomas Tuchel last November, wants to be regarded as one of the leading lights rather than a decent squad player and it’s hard to see that happening under new head coach Andoni Iraola. He’s made 228 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions since breaking into the senior squad in 2019, but 89 of those have come off the bench.
Clearly, he regarded it as a slight being overlooked for Tsimikas when Szoboszlai was substituted in New York. Tsimikas had also worn the armband in the opening friendly against Sunderland in Nashville after stand-in skipper Joe Gomez gave it to him as he limped off.
Whether Szoboszlai was under orders from Iraola on Wednesday night is unclear. Tsimikas is five years older than Jones, but less senior in terms of his status in the squad and what he’s achieved at the club. Jones has previously captained much-changed Liverpool lineups in three competitive fixtures in his Anfield career.
Last week Iraola said he had yet to decide who to appoint as the new vice-captain following the departure of Andy Robertson. Given that the Basque coach also said “you don’t need an armband to be a leader”, it’s fair to assume that he will have been as baffled as everyone else by the furore in New York.
Szoboszlai is the firm favourite to be confirmed as Van Dijk’s deputy and in the absence of their Dutch talisman, the former RB Leipzig midfielder has stepped up impressively during the current tour of the United States. He’s been a source of advice and support for the youngsters on the trip and has set the standards on a daily basis in training.
Dominik Szoboszlai is among the favourites to becoming Liverpool vice-captain (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
Watching Friday’s session was an education. Liverpool took to the field after Chicago Fire’s new signing Robert Lewandowski had completed some shooting drills.
Jeremy Jacquet worked in the gym instead with the club continuing to manage his schedule given that the French centre-back hasn’t played since February following shoulder surgery. It remains to be seen whether he features against Leeds United at Soldier Field on Sunday.
Federico Chiesa was back involved after missing the Wrexham game due to illness as the injured duo of Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez watched on from the sidelines.
After the warm-up, the squad were divided into three groups for passing rondos overseen by Iraola and his first-team coaches Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper. It was two-touch with Iraola occasionally stepping in to talk to players about their body position when they received the ball.
Each time assistant coach Pablo de la Torre, the fitness specialist, blew his whistle the players had to sprint to the far end of the pitch and back again before the rondos resumed.
Around 200 VIP guests were in attendance, along with Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon, who recently resumed oversight of Liverpool’s day-to-day operations following the exit of FSG CEO of football Michael Edwards. Gordon will attend Sunday’s match.
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After the rondos, it was on to a fast-paced drill involving three teams and three nets positioned at different points of a triangle. The challenge was to see how many passes each team could complete before they were dispossessed as opponents swarmed all over them. With only two teams involved at the same time, the other were afforded a brief breather.
Those in black tops pressed the reds, then the yellow tops pressed the black tops before the red tops pressed the yellows. It was repeated again and again. “Quicker, quicker,” Iraola shouted at one stage. The intensity was relentless.
It was a similar story when they moved on to a smaller pitch for a nine-a-side match. With little space to operate in, it was all about clever movement and speed of passing.
At the same time a smaller group including Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Kieran Morrison, Stefan Bajcetic and Josh Sonni-Lambie worked on set-pieces with Elphick and Cooper.
Iraola is the definition of a hands-on coach. As he tries to make every day count in terms of getting his ideas across, he’ll be grateful for that fact that calm has returned since tempers frayed in New York.
