The immigration queue of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport was an unlikely place to provide a snapshot to Liverpool’s popularity on the other side of the Atlantic on Thursday afternoon.
As the hundreds in the queue prepared to smile for the camera and offer their fingerprints to gain access into the state of Georgia, the conversation inevitably turned to the reason for the trip, which led to some wide-eyed astonishment from one particularly captivated officer of the United States government.
“Liverpool FC! They’re good huh?” began the chat. “Are Liverpool better than that Spanish team they’re playing? They are playing Manchester United? Here?! Oh wow! Would they be able to beat Wrexham?”
For employees who are usually so fastidious and deliberately suspicious, the mention of covering Liverpool FC on their three-game tour of the United States was enough to see the guard drop as the ECHO touched down on American soil.
That’s sort of how it is at the sharp end of the Premier League, where clubs like United, Arsenal and the Reds enjoy a sprawling, worldwide fanbase that continues to increase in large swathes Stateside.
‘The Rivals in Red’ – as this tour has been named – will see Liverpool come up against Arsenal and United in Philadelphia and Columbia, respectively, but before that, it is a meeting with Real Betis – ‘the Spanish side’ that impressionable immigration officer had spoken of – in Pittsburgh.
For supporters, it offers them real clues as to what Arne Slot has been working on with his players and backroom staff in the last three weeks or so and presents a much-different proposition to the usual themes that followed Jurgen Klopp on the commercial leg of the summer schedule.
The former boss, by the end at least, made little secret of his unease at flying out to far-flung destinations such as the United States or the Far East but accepted it was something a club of Liverpool’s stature simply had to undertake. The chance to meet and greet fans thousands of miles away from Anfield always appealed but the long days of commercial obligations were not always conducive to ideal preparation on the pitches, according to the general theory.
With Slot this summer, it is not the same. The games played out in the United States may be part of a wider business backdrop but they are absolutely vital for a new coach who is still getting across his ideas, the sort of which earned glowing feedback from Curtis Jones in Thursday’s pre-match press conference.
“In terms of a style of play, it suits us and the lads we have,” Jones said. “It is a clear plan. He is fully involved in the training, coaches us a lot, he’s big on the finer details. “We want to have the ball and break teams down. I feel more in the past that it was like a rush. We got the ball back. It was a bit too direct I’d say. Arne wants us to get the ball down and completely kill teams.”
Diogo Jota is unlikely to be involved but his presence in the camp after joining up on Thursday is a significant boost with Ibrahima Konate and Ryan Gravenberch also expected next week after their involvement with France and the Netherlands at the Euros. All three will add plenty of star power to the ranks and give Slot further food for thought as he awaits a full complement of players before those key decisions on recruitment are taken with sporting director Richard Hughes.
Supporters, as ever, are beginning to filter in from the UK in their droves, with many reaching Pennsylvania via Atlanta and New York ahead of Friday night’s showdown with Betis at the Acrisure Stadium. A real exhibition atmosphere will be expected even if there is serious business for Slot to get down to before that trip to Ipswich Town on August 17.
As hinted in the chat with the USA’s finest, Wrexham, with their Hollywood owners of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElehenny, are also driving up their own fanbase in large numbers in this part of the world and their name hasn’t veered too far away from the conversation when football – or soccer – has been brought up in recent days.
It might be some time before Deadpool star Reynolds and McElhenny, of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame, are able to rub shoulders with Liverpool on a competitive footing but their involvement in pre-season friendlies in America is further proof of their own ambitious project. To answer that particularly agape-mouthed US official, though, Liverpool do still have the edge over their League One counterparts, yes. For now.
