Inside the recovery routines that keep Liverpool footballers on the pitch

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In seasons increasingly defined by a near-intolerable workload for Premier League footballers, recovery can make or break a campaign.An obvious point, perhaps, but one which has become somewhat timely for Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool at a point in which the squad is looking severely depleted ahead of the 2026/27 season.Liverpool do not look ready for the new seasonNothing accentuated that point more than the 3-2 defeat to Monaco at Anfield, with the Reds boss expressing concern about his players’ fitness levels.“I think we played really good [in the] first half, especially the first 30 minutes, but right now probably we don’t have much more in terms of the level required to play like this. Then they were much better in the second half,” the Basque told reporters (via ESPN).“In the same way we were better in the first half they were much better in the second half, and they deserved to turn around the game, yes.”To our credit, we looked a force to be reckoned with in a first half-hour defined by some incredible combination play between record signings Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, both of whom ended up on the scoresheet before the half-time break.A handful of substitutions later, legs faded and things rapidly turned sour for the Merseyside giants.The importance of sleep in sports scienceIt goes without saying that sleep is a key vehicle in player recovery, to such an extent that a multitude of sleep studies have all concluded along a similar line – any disruption to the quality and duration of sleep a footballer enjoys has a causal link to diminished physical performance.This was an issue close to the heart of Iraola’s predecessor Arne Slot, who opted to encourage his players to sleep in their own beds before home matches as opposed to hotels.To give the Dutchman credit, his logic was pretty sound: “People that have more knowledge about this than me tell me that you always sleep better in your own bed than a hotel bed.“And sleep is a very important part of getting the best possible performance.“It’s nice for them to be at home with their families but also, in the opinion of the people that tell me these things, they are better prepared for our games.”It’s hard to argue with that, especially given that the Reds ended up marching to a 20th top-flight title in Slot’s first season in charge in 2024/25.Bikes, bikes and more bikesMuch is rightly made of the value of sleep recovery at the end of the day, but it shouldn’t be underestimated just how important recovery sessions are to maintaining peak physical performance.Last term, the Reds made great use of their digital fitness partnership with Peleton, partly warming down after a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest the following day, for instance, on equipment provided by the exercise company.What about chronic pain?Arsenal’s William Saliba is a recent case in point when it comes to the risk associated with pushing through chronic pain issues.In a bid to avoid surgery, the French centre-half has opted to prioritise rest, with Arsenal actively managing the back injury that impacted his involvement at the World Cup.Persistent injury concerns are hardly endemic to the Gunners, as Liverpool fans will be all too aware from having watched Jeremie Frimpong pick up multiple hamstring issues in 2025/26, and Conor Bradley suffer several serious injuries.While no-one can deny that simple rest has proven to be the bedrock of recovery in the world of sports science, it’s clear that rest alone hasn’t always proven fruitful for our aforementioned Reds.However, there have been growing conversations around the potentially positive influence of alternative approaches to pain management, with UK medical cannabis emerging as part of the wider discussion around alternative treatments.Ultimately, there’s a broad and constantly evolving landscape around player performance and recovery, with multiple avenues and philosophies around how best to look after the athletes of today.