Ah, that's better.
Watching Liverpool play tonight was the first time I've enjoyed our pre-season football.
Over the last few weeks, we've had to struggle along with most of the first-teamers either away on holiday still or out injured. But tonight, we saw the return of Alisson, Keita, Shaqiri, Salah, and Firmino.
Liverpool looked so much better immediately, with the usual free-flowing football once again on display despite the fact that Klopp decided to field pretty much 3 different teams throughout the match.
There's no need to go over what the usual suspects can do. Everyone already knows how important they are to this Liverpool team. What interested me was whether or not any of the youth players could stake their claim for a place in the first-team squad this season.
The three who I believe have a good chance to get some minutes this season are Brewster, Elliott, and Wilson. I have to admit that I'm still not fully convinced about Wilson. He has the ability to make something special happen, as evidenced by his screamer tonight, but he doesn't quite seem up to the levels I'd expect of a Liverpool player. I'm hoping he'll prove me wrong. Brewster is clearly a talented forward and will look to kick on this season, while Elliott has really impressed in his two cameos. It's crazy to think that he's only 16 years old.
The win tonight means nothing, of course, but the performance levels from most of the players has given me a fresh boost of confidence going into the season.
We have the Community Shield game against Manchester City to look forward to on Sunday. I'm not entirely sure how Klopp will approach this. Part of me wants him to put out a full-strength team but he may simply see it as another training exercise. I'd love to start the season by putting some silverware in the cabinet, though.