Liverpool are in the United States on a pre-season tour to prepare for the new season/sell more replica jerseys, and their preparations are going slightly better than Manchester United's. The players are being put through Jurgen Klopp's considerably heavy fitness sessions at Stanford University, with the team facing the daunting prospect of triple sessions in order to be best prepared to unleash the unique pressures of gegenpressing on their opposition next season.
During a break for the players, the Liverpool staff took on a team from Stanford, a game in which Jurgen Klopp started up front, despite the fact he played at centre-back with Mainz. (I guess you can go up front when you're the boss, it's a bit like the kid who brings the ball getting to choose his own position).
The star of the show was Richie Partridge, however, the long-forgotten Irish international. Partridge came through the ranks at Liverpool in 2000, and was sold by Rafa Benitez in 2005 having failed to fulfill his potential, hampered by a series of injuries. He eventually retired in football in 2011, where he returned to Liverpool to work as a physiotherapist.
Having worked with the under-21s last year, Klopp has promoted Partridge to work with the first-team, since the departure of head physio Chris Morgan.
Partridge tore it up in the training game, although one miss did draw some top, b****r from co-commentator Robbie Fowler. He also helped score one of the worst goals we've seen in some time. Watch the highlights below, courtesy of LFCTV:
