‘He doesn’t feel pressure’ – Iraola hails Nyoni after Liverpool edge out Wrexham

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Andoni Iraola said everyone at Liverpool must keep pushing teenage midfielder Trey Nyoni after the Reds beat Wrexham 1-0 to maintain their 100% record in pre-season.

Having beaten Sunderland 4-2 in their first game under Iraola last week, Liverpool earned another victory in the second match of their United States tour, at Yankee Stadium.

Rio Ngumoha’s deflected 75th-minute strike was the only goal of the game, though Liverpool had to endure plenty of pressure as their Championship opponents racked up 11 shots and 1.55 expected goals, compared to their nine shots and 0.87 xG.

Nyoni started alongside Dominik Szoboszlai in the heart of Iraola’s midfield and completed 63 of his 67 attempted passes (93.7%), nine of which were in the final third, before being substituted at half-time.

And Iraola feels the 19-year-old could play a prominent role in the coming season, encouraging him to become even more ambitious with his passing.

“He is a midfielder who, I always say, you have to ask for the ball sometimes under pressure – and he doesn’t feel this pressure,” Iraola said of Nyoni after Wednesday’s game.

“Even when he has an opponent quite close, he asks for that ball and he’s confident, he doesn’t rush. For me, that is very valuable.

“We’re forcing him to work without the ball, in the press, and he is absolutely doing very well. I think the timings of the jumps are very good. He is always confident on the ball, so we encourage him. 

“Sometimes, even if he loses the ball, we say, ‘try to find the Number 10, try to find the striker, even with balls in behind, look a little bit further’, because he can do it. He is so good.”

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 30, 2026

Liverpool will conclude their tour of the USA by facing Leeds United in Chicago on Sunday, before returning home for further friendlies against Monaco and Como.

And Iraola believes that slowly but surely, their players are adapting to his methods. 

“I think overall we were more solid than the other day. It was a different kind of game, the pitch is quite narrow and there were not a lot of spaces,” he said.

“But I think we had good spells. And even though the other day we scored more goals and it looked nicer, I think today we were more of a team and more collective.

“I think we’re still not there. We sometimes arrive late, but I think it’s a step forward, especially from the first half against Sunderland. 

“Slowly, slowly, I hope every game we are getting closer and closer. We will start to add new bodies, because now we are playing with a lot of the young players. 

“Slowly, slowly, we have to add the senior players that are starting to train with us, so we can arrive at the beginning of the season in a good place.”

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