19 July 2011, Singapore – Liverpool Football Club did its round of their Asia Tour just last week and were in town for adidas’s official meet and greet session at the adidas Sports Performance Concept Store at The Shoppes @ Marina Bay Sands. 40 lucky adidas shoppers who spent at least S$100 to qualify for the LFC SMS contest attended the meet and greet session where they got to meet Martin Kelly and Dirk Kuyt and get autographs and photos taken with them. adidas is the official sponsor of Liverpool FC’s kits.
Liverpool FC was in China and Malaysia before making their last stop in Singapore.
Q1. How is your trip so far, Martin? How has your Asian tour coming along so far?
Kelly: I think we’re enjoying it and you know we’ve got our last training session today and we can’t wait for that and hopefully Phil Thompson as well is enjoying himself and have a good experience and just getting ready for the Premier League.
Q2. Dirk how about yourself? Coming back to Asia. How does it feel for you?
Kuyt: It’s always amazing to see how many fans we’ve got over here. We’ve been to China, Malaysia and now Singapore and it’s just unbelievable how many fans we’ve got over here. We’re looking forward to the training session this afternoon. Hopefully a lot of fans will be there as well and hopefully we can all be there.
Q3. For this year Kenny Dalglish will be in-charge of Liverpool from the start of the season from the start of the season. Is this the year you will finally win the Premier league?
Kelly: I think we just take every game as it comes and you know we look to win, we’ve got a great squad and got a few additions to the squad this season and I think we can’t wait to start the season.
Q4. Hi Dirk…I’ve got a question for you. It’s been an interesting summer for Liverpool despite we’ve got Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson arriving all in midfield. Are you concern about competition for places?
Kuyt: No I’m pleased that we have these kinds of players in the squad now. I think it’s normal for a club like Liverpool that there’s competition and you know the Premier League is a very hard league and we also have the FA Cup and the Carling Cup so there are a lot of games to play for and it’s impossible to the overlook anyone so we need a big strong squad and I think the players who just arrived, they are a very big welcome for us and I think we need them.
Q5. This is a question for Martin and Dirk. After the announcement, has the task of winning a 19th league title taken on added significance? Is this something that the players think about constantly on their minds?
Kuyt: We always like to look at ourselves and obviously we want to win more than our rivals so we try to do everything that’s possible to change things and hopefully we can do this as soon as possible.
Kelly: Yeah I think it’s the same as Dirk says. We want to win each game and we’ve got a whole month away, if we can the results away at start of the season this year, we’ve got a good chance and we’ve got a massive club.
Q6. Guys, welcome to Singapore. Your manager has set a target of Champion’s league qualification now is that achievable?
Kuyt: I think we had a disappointing season last season about the way we play especially the second half of the season was promising. A few new players came in so that’s very positive so everyone wants to push harder than last season and six years isn’t good enough for us. It will be a challenge to meet the Champions League spot because these days it’s no longer considered the top 4 anymore as we have the likes of Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs as well but we have to make sure that we will be there as well and I’m very positive about it and I can’t wait for the start of the season.
Kelly: We’re looking forward to the start of the season because we’ve got Sunderland at home and Arsenal after that and we’ll take the first game as it comes which will be Sunderland. We’ll be looking to win that at Anfield and you know show the supporters how we get on and hopefully have a great show up.
Q7. Dirk, can you just speak a bit specifically about Downing. What does he bring to the attack and specifically how will he combine with you guys.
Kuyt: I think he’s a very good player. He was the player of the season at Aston Villa last season. He’s a member of the England squad so that says a lot about him. I think he’s still a young player so he will be a fantastic asset for our team. I think especially he’s a real good wing player with a fantastic cross and he can also score goals so I’m very glad that we’ve got a player like him in our squad.
Q8. A question for both again, for the fans here could you just describe with us what is the build-up like in the Liverpool dressing room for the really big teams like the Merseyside Derby and especially on the European nights. What do the players talk about? What are their moods like in the dressing room? Do you guys talk to each other? Or are some a little bit more quiet?
Kuyt: That’s a very special question. The best games like you said are the derby games or the games against Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and also the European nights. It’s difficult to explain what it is for everyone but it’s very special for us but you know also the other games have to be important as well. For example, last season we beat United at Home, we beat City at Home, Chelsea Away and Home but we lost against the lower teams in the league and hopefully we can change this season. To answer your question, the special games are always special.
Kelly: The point in the Premier league is that every game is just as important. Try to get as many wins possible and playing in the derbies they do give us the extra lift for the game we do motivate each other up in the changing rooms and everyone has their own ways gearing themselves up.
Q9. Now with Kenny Dalglish heading up the team. How is like working under him and how has the team spirit been lifted?
Kelly: Obviously playing under Kenny, we all enjoy that because of the person he is and you know he helps the young lads and the experience players. He’s got a lot to give and I think we all try hard and under Kenny, it’s great playing for him and everyone’s fighting for a place to get into his starting 11.
Q10. What is Dalglish like as a coach?
Kuyt: The best thing about the manager is that he’s always himself. He’s always trying to help people even if it’s on a private basis or just in between the lines. He’s just always trying to help you with his experience and that is very helpful for us.
Q11. There’s this common complain that these pre-season tours isn’t very good for the players as it causes them to be too tired when the season starts. How useful has this latest tour been for you all?
Kuyt: I think the most useful thing of this trip is that we try to give something back to the fans in Asia. It’s very important for us. You’re right, it’s been a very tough week but I think at this stage of the season, early pre-season is the right time to come to Asia to give something back to the fans over here. Even we know it’s hard work but it’s part of the job and we see all this people over here and in the countries we’ve been and the smiles on their faces, they really deserve our hardwork.
Q12. Out of the market as well?
Kelly: Yea I think it’s great experience for all the players to come a long way like this and we love training in front of so many fans. It’s brilliant, especially playing as well. I think everyone’s going to get something out of this trip. You know we should do it more of this because it shows us what fans we’ve got all over the world and we enjoy coming here and putting our skills into practice on the pitch and showing people in real life what we do.
Photo credit: ICON Newsroom
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