Trey Nyoni Impresses in Liverpool's Pre-Season Victory
Andoni Iraola did not sound like a coach talking about a teenager on the fringes of his squad. He sounded like a man who believes Trey Nyoni can handle the weight of a Liverpool shirt.
In the sticky heat of a narrow 1-0 win over Wrexham on the club’s pre-season tour of the United States, it was the 19-year-old midfielder who stole his new head coach’s attention. The scoreline was tight. The verdict on Nyoni was not.
Nyoni’s composure turns heads
Nyoni, linked with a loan move to Swansea City where he could reunite with former Liverpool coach Vitor Matos, has spent the summer hovering between two worlds: the promise of regular minutes elsewhere, and the lure of forcing his way into Iraola’s plans at Anfield.
Performances like this pull him towards the latter.
“Trey is very good on the ball, very calm, he reads the situations well,” Iraola said, his admiration clear. The Spaniard has pushed Nyoni hard without the ball, drilling him on pressing triggers and defensive timing, and is already seeing the response. “I think the timings of the jumps are very good. He is always confident on the ball so we encourage him.”
That confidence is what marks Nyoni out. Iraola wants him to be braver, not safer. To look for the No.10. To feed the No.9. To slide passes in behind, even if the risk is losing possession. Because, as he put it, “he can do it, because he is so, so good.”
There was another line that will echo around Kirkby. For Iraola, the most valuable trait in a midfielder is the willingness to demand the ball under pressure. Nyoni, he says, does not flinch.
“Even when he has one opponent quite close, he asks for that ball and he’s confident, he doesn’t rush. For me, that is very valuable.”
Two games into pre-season, against Sunderland and now Wrexham, the teenager has given his new manager something to think about. A loan might still come. But he is not going quietly.
Youngsters shoulder the load
Nyoni was not alone. This was a night when Liverpool’s kids were asked to stand up against a physical Wrexham side on a tight, unforgiving pitch – and they did.
“I’m happy today because we played a lot of the young players,” Iraola said. The satisfaction was not sentimental. It was rooted in duels won, spaces attacked, and decisions made under pressure.
Luke Chambers was thrown into the heart of it, operating as a centre-back against bigger, more robust opponents. It was a test of positioning and courage as much as technique. He “covered very well and played very well from the back,” Iraola noted, a nod to both his defending and his composure in possession.
Out wide, Josh Abe and Kieran Morrison offered energy and directness. They were not just hugging the touchline; they were part of the press, part of the collective shape, part of the attacking transitions that Liverpool are trying to sharpen under their new coach.
Up front, Lewis Koumas and Will Wright drew particular praise. Both worked tirelessly without the ball, snapping into the press, then bursting into space when Liverpool turned it over. Their combinations with Harvey Elliott and Dominik Szoboszlai gave the attack some structure and threat.
“They were helping us on the press, helping us also attacking the spaces, linking up also with Harvey, with Dom, with the players behind them,” Iraola said. “Both of them have done a good job.”
This was not a token run-out for academy players. These were serious minutes, in serious roles, in a system that demands intensity and intelligence. “Good performances from young players, which I think is always good,” he concluded, almost understating the point. For a squad in transition, it is more than good. It is essential.
A 1-0 that pleased more than 4-2
The irony of pre-season: Liverpool scored four against Sunderland and still left their manager slightly uneasy. They scored once against Wrexham and he walked away happier.
“I think overall we were more solid than the other day,” Iraola said. This was a different kind of game. The pitch was narrow, the spaces tight, the margin for error smaller. Liverpool had to be compact, disciplined, and patient.
They had “good spells,” as he put it, but the key shift was collective. The 4-2 over Sunderland looked better on the scoreboard. This, in Iraola’s eyes, looked better as a team.
“Even if the other day maybe you score more goals and it looks nicer, I think today we were more a team and more collective.”
That word – collective – is central to what he is trying to build. His Liverpool is not there yet. He is not pretending otherwise.
“I think we’re still not there. We are sometimes arriving late,” he admitted. But he sees progress, especially when he looks back at the first half against Sunderland, which he still uses as a reference point for what he wants to see.
The process, he insists, will be gradual. “Slowly, slowly I hope every game we are closer and closer.” For now, the squad is heavy on youth, light on senior regulars. That will change in the coming days and weeks as established names return and minutes are managed.
“Slowly, slowly we have to add the senior players that are starting to train with us, so we can arrive to the beginning of the season in a good place.”
For Iraola, this tour is not about polished performances. It is about foundations, about habits, about discovering who can be trusted when the Premier League begins.
On a narrow pitch in the United States, with a 1-0 win over Wrexham, a teenager in midfield made a compelling case that he belongs in that conversation.
