Liverpool players could barely contain their laughter as they took part in a meditation and relaxation class to help them “deal with the stresses of club football”, a new fly-on-the-wall documentary capturing life behind the scenes at Anfield has shown.
The six-part series, due to be aired in the United States later this month, documents the arrival of manager Brendan Rodgers and sheds light on his methods. They include the manager talking about the importance of developing players as people as well as footballers.
The meditation class is a technique used by the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool players were put through their paces by ‘exercise physiologist’ Molly Kim, who works for the baseball club, during the Anfield side's pre-season tour of the USA.
But the introduction of the class, which was a one-off, appears to bemuse the players, who can be seen struggling to keep straight faces and at times burst into laughter - apparently at the absurdity of what they are being asked to do.
Jamie Carragher, one of the club’s most senior players, appears frequently on the verge of laughter as he carries out the meditation exercises to the sound of calming music.
During one exercise called ‘the cat’ one unseen player sends the rest of the squad into hysterics by making a quiet ‘miaow’ noise.
In the documentary, Being Liverpool, Rodgers also talks about his footballing philosophy, telling the cameras he does not believe in “training” players, rather he hopes he is “educating” them. “You train dogs,” he says.
“Every player I see as my own son,” he said. “I want to do the very best for them. I want to be able to push them in their lives so they can do it for their children. We do everything in life for our kids. I don’t want to ever miss the chance of letting players understand that this is why we do it.”
In the documentary, Liverpool owner John Henry gives his version of events surrounding the sacking of Kenny Dalglish in May, suggesting that the former manager accepted that the long-term plan was to replace him when the right man became available.
He says: “When we first talked to Kenny about coming in, he understood and we understood that at some point there was going to be a time when he was going to step aside when we found the right person for the long term.”
Chairman Tom Werner adds: “We came to a conclusion with Kenny that we needed to move in a different direction and hopefully we will see improvement this year.”
The documentary, filmed by Fox Sports, includes a remarkable level of behind the scenes access. In one scene, filmed inside Rodgers’ home, it can be seen that the manager has on the wall a prominent painting of himself, which was a gift from a charity he had helped in Swansea.
And it is revealed that Rodgers’ 16-year-old daughter Mischa is in a relationship with the son of Colin Pascoe, Rodgers’s assistant at Liverpool.
Introducing Mischa’s “special friend” Theo, Rodgers explains the link before laughing and adding: “We don’t talk about it much, but it just has happened for some reason.”
And, in a statement which looks foolish given striker Andy Carroll’s departure to West Ham, Rodgers says that it will “take something incredible for him to leave the football club.
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