Trent Alexander-Arnold On La Manga Retreat: “It’s Not A Holiday”

Liverpool are trying to make the most of their unplanned bye week with a squad retreat to La Manga in Spain. The hope is that the escape and the warm sun will help invigorate a side that endured a difficult start to 2017 and may have ruled themselves out of the title race. The jaunt has already yielded some positives, like Jürgen Klopp getting a fresh look at some of the younger faces in the team.

Speaking to the official club website, 18-year-old academy graduate Trent Alexander-Arnold made it clear that this isn’t a vacation. This is a work trip.

“It's been really fun, exciting, I think we've all enjoyed it so far. It's a bit different to what we're used to really, with cycling to the training ground, and it's kind of like a pre-season, just in the middle of the season, so it's a bit different. I've never really had this before and I'm enjoying it so far. [We have to] concentrate on training and get the most out of it. It's not a holiday, we're here for a reason and that's to train and that's what we're going to do. We're going to give everything we can in training, like we always do when we're back at Melwood, and we can't let the environment take that away."

The young fullback also said that he’s starting to acclimate to life in the first team.

“Every day I'm getting more comfortable around the first team and they're really helpful in that way, they're always telling us to be ourselves and try and enjoy it as much as we can – and that's what all of us youngsters try to do. I suppose at the start I was quite shy and timid, but that's what you'd expect from a young lad coming through. The quicker you can settle in and be confident around them, the better, because once you're confident around them then you can be confident when you're training and playing, and that's when you get the best out of yourself, I think.”

Can’t argue with that.