Liverpool midfielder applies pre-season pressure as 'mean-spirited' tone set for new signing

If there was any sense of a hangover following the disappointment of the end of last season for Liverpool, it will surely have been banished during the past week.

The reception the Reds were given in both Bangkok and Singapore on their Far East tour will have, if it were necessary, provided a shot of confidence for Jurgen Klopp and his players.

It didn’t go exactly as intended - losing 4-0 to Manchester United, as Liverpool did in Thailand, is never welcomed - but there were more than enough positives from which to take into the remainder of the pre-season programme.

And there were a few highlights - both good and less encouraging - for a number of Liverpool players during the tour.

The teenager’s impressive pre-season last year helped force his way into the starting line-up before injury ruined his term. And Elliott has once again started the summer superbly, encouraging against United and then excellent against Palace, setting up the opener for Jordan Henderson. Keep this up, and he could well be in line for a repeat of 12 months previous - but hopefully with a happier campaign.

The excitement around the signing of the Fulham youngster appears to be justified on this early evidence. Energetic and creative from an attacking midfield role in Bangkok, Carvalho was clearly identified as a danger when lining up against Palace on the left flank. His ability to shrug off a succession of fouls shows he has the physical and mental mettle, too.

There will surely come a point when the tough-as-teak Yorkshireman is revealed to be some kind of alien being, such is his ability to defy the ageing process. Milner was in magnificent form as an auxiliary right-back in Singapore where his famed embracing of pre-season graft held him in