DRAGONS TAKING THE LONG-TERM APPROACH
Mark Currie - Daily Post

THE six-figure sum of cash that will be deposited in Wrexham's bank account this week was justification enough for Saturday's first pre-season friendly that saw Premiership outfit Liverpool visit the Racecourse for the fourth summer in a row.

But neither Dragons boss Brian Carey nor his Anfield counterpart Rafa Benitez will have read too much into the actual football, with both men taking the opportunity to give as many players as possible an early run-out fully five or six weeks before the new season begins in earnest.

No fewer than 44 in all were involved in the action - such as it was - but the obvious lack of a competitive edge was more than compensated for by the quality of the five goals shared by Austrian striker Besian Idrizaj and Dragons newcomer Eifion Williams.

A hat-trick in the space of 24 first-half minutes owed much to Idrizaj's uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time to demonstrate some clinical finishing, whereas the second-half brace from Williams suggested he could be the instinctive goal scorer that Wrexham have lacked since the prolific Andy Morrell.

Admittedly Williams' goals owed something to errors by Liverpool keeper Martin Hansen, but the 31-year-old punished him with devastating effect.

Williams' telling contribution was not lost on Carey, who also praised his other close-season captures.

"It was great for Eifion because we know what he can do and it was great for him to get off to such a good start to what should be a long and prosperous career with Wrexham," said the Racecourse boss.

"The new lads have done themselves no harm this afternoon. Richard Hope had more time on the pitch than anyone else and played for an hour but he showed he is a good organiser and should prove to be a big player for us.

"But all the new lads got a feel of the Racecourse and we want this place to become somewhere that is an intimidating place for teams to visit.

"Our players need to be comfortable and enjoy playing here."

Carey revealed for the first time his plans to use a 4-3-3 system this term, although he admitted it failed to live up to his expectations in the first half.

"We played the same system in both halves, with three up front at times and only one at others," he added.

"The idea - which worked better in the second half - was to have five or six players going forward at times.

"We are being quite flexible in our approach, but it was important that everyone got a run-out.

"It was more of a fitness session than anything and an attempt to do the basics well. We didn't really do that in the first half, but it's very early days."

Wales international Steve Evans lasted only 30 minutes after picking up an injury but the Dragons boss insisted there was no major damage.

"Steve jarred his knee early on and had to come off but it looks like he is okay," he said. "We just took the sensible approach."

Wrexham continue their build-up with another Racecourse friendly tomorrow evening against Blackburn Rovers and Carey, who has impressed many people since his surprise appointment as manager last January, said it was time to take the club forward to a brighter future.

"We are really grateful to both (Anfield chief executive) Rick Parry and Rafa Benitez and everyone at Liverpool for coming here and supporting us because it means an awful lot to us," he added.

"The club has come out of administration now and we have got to continue moving forward, building bridges and the like with the community.

"That was something we couldn't do previously when we were in administration.

"But we are now in a position where we've got to take the club forward and it's something we need to look at for this season."

DEBUTANT WILLIAMS SHINES IN REDS OPENING ENCOUNTER
Richard Williams - Wrexham Evening Leader

EIFION WILLIAMS demonstrated why Brian Carey was so keen to sign him.

Wrexham boss Carey secured the services of Williams last month after being released by Hartlepool United and the striker responded with two goals on his Reds' debut.

Liverpool may have run out 3-2 winners before nearly 12,000 supporters at a packed Racecourse Ground but Carey can be happy with what he saw.

Four of his other close-season signings - goalkeeper Anthony Williams, defender Richard Hope, midfielder Conell Murtagh and striker Michael Proctor - all showed up well and there is renewed optimism around the place that Wrexham can achieve something this season.

Both teams decided to field different teams for both halves so 22 players got their first pre-season action against Liverpool, the fourth time the Merseysiders have come to town to play a friendly in as many years.

And Rafael Benitez's first half side, boasting Jermaine Pennant, Alvaro Arbeloa, Steve Finnan and Momo Sissoko, took a 3-0 lead.

But it was one of the lesser known players who was the goal hero.

Besian Idrizaj converted a well-taken hat-trick inside 19 minutes and the Austrian, aged just 19, was one of three Liverpool players retained for the second half.

Although pleased with the work-out, Carey would have been unhappy with the defending for the three goals which all came from the crossing of right-winger Pennant.

Carey's second half team narrowed the deficit with two goals from Eifion Williams and will now be preparing for the visit of another Premiership outfit, Blackburn Rovers, who are the opponents at The Racecourse tomorrow for Wrexham's next friendly.

A first minute Adam Hamill shot was saved by Anthony Williams but Liverpool did take a 1-0 lead on five minutes.

Pennant broke forward and centred for Jordy Brewer who laid the ball off to Idrizaj and he fired home from inside the area.

Another Pennant cross was controlled by Hamill who then volleyed goalwards but Anthony Williams was equal to the task.

But Liverpool extended their lead on 17 minutes.

Pennant crossed from the by-line and Idrizaj's 10-yard header nestled in the back of the net.

And it was 3-0 after 24 minutes.

Another excellent cross from Pennant, who made a real impact on the right flank, was again headed past Anthony Williams by Idrizaj.

Left-back Arbeloa, one of three players in the side that began May's Champions League defeat against AC Milan, then fired into the side netting as Liverpool kept pressing.

Steve Evans limped off with a knee injury and was replaced by Hope on the half-hour mark, while Pennant was next to test Anthony Williams.

It should have been 4-0 in the 37th minute when Pennant put Idrizaj through on goal but with the goal at his mercy, the striker's effort was blocked on the line by Shaun Pejic after delaying his shot for too long.

Both managers rang the changes for the second half and again Carey's emphasis was on attack with three players again leading the forward line for the majority of the time.

Liverpool shot-stopper David Martin saved Levi Mackin's 20-yard drive after a free-kick was only partially cleared, and at the other end Craig Lindfield brought a save out of Michael Jones.

But Wrexham got in on the scoring act in the 64th minute.

Keeper Martin Hansen had only been on the pitch two minutes when his poor clearance fell for Eifion Williams who calmly steered the ball back past the shot-stopper.

Nabil El Zhar only just cleared the bar for Liverpool but Wrexham had the last say by making the score 3-2 just one minute from time.

Ryan Valentine's free-kick was punched clear by Hansen and Eifion Williams controlled the ball before firing into the net from 25 yards.

IT'S THE FIRST WEEK OF JULY. LET'S HOPE WREXHAM HAVEN'T ALREADY PLAYED THEIR BIGGEST GAME OF THE SEASON
Andrew Gilpin - Daily Post

While not much can be read into pre-season games some five weeks before the start of the campaign, the Dragons did have a chance to impress 11,210 fans and coax them back to the Racecourse next month.

A few things conspired to make sure this didn't really happen - with Eifion Williams' second consolation goal coming when most had wandered off to the beer garden.

Firstly, Reds boss Rafael Benitez's played his youngsters. While grizzled professionals know they don't have to do too much in pre-season, young guns like Besjian Idrizaj have a lot to prove.

And the gap between even Premiership reserves and the rest of the Football League was laid bare as an Austrian who can't even trouble the Anfield bench ripped Wrexham apart.

And hopefully Mike Williams will learn a lot from his brush with Jermaine Pennant.

But despite this attacking talent, the Dragons didn't make it easy for themselves.

Brian Carey played a 4-3-3 formation which baffled fans and most importantly the players.

He's got time to work on this system, so let's not be too hasty - but if this is the way forward there will need to be some hard work on the training ground.

Yet there were some real bright points. Conall Murtagh showed good touches in the holding role, even if he lacked support from the rest of the midfield crew in the first half.

Another new signing, Richard Hope, took over from Wales international Steve Evans and for the 60 minutes he organised the defence, Liverpool didn't carve out a clean chance.

And then there was Eifion Williams - a guy who certainly knows where the back of the net is.

If Carey persists with the 4-3-3 formation, then the North Walian seems perfect for the left-hand side, where he cut in twice to finish astutely.

And he may be even better if played up front in a 4-4-2 system.

All this personnel and formation second guessing points to the fact that Carey now has options - especially if he snares a midfield target this week.

There's something to build on here.

There was a time when that was a dirty phrase at the Racecourse.

GOALS WHAT I'M HERE FOR SAYS EIFION
Andrew Gilpin - Daily Post

NEW Wrexham striker Eifion Williams marked his Dragons debut with two goals on Saturday and said he was looking to score a few more when the League Two campaign gets under way next month.

Bangor-born Williams, a summer signing from Hartlepool United, made an immediate impact during his 45-minute outing against a youthful Liverpool line-up.

The icing on the cake for Wrexham was the financial reward from an 11,000-plus attendance, money which will virtually fund the club's youth development programme for the next 12 months.

A modest Williams played down his contribution saying: "It was a good performance from the lads and it was a tough workout, but that's what we needed for the first game of the season.

"Obviously I've been brought in to score goals and hopefully that will go a long way towards suggesting what I can do throughout the season."

"It's nice to be back in North Wales and I'm looking to score a few goals this season. When I spoke to Brian I was happy with what I heard and the facilities here were impressive as well.

"There were a few clubs interested in me, but once I had spoken to Brian it was an easy decision to make."

One of five close-season signings, Williams said the club's brush with relegation last season had been forgotten and he added: "We have signed a few players and hopefully we can push on. We have got last season out of our system and we are looking to push on now.

"I don't set targets for myself but I'm happy to score goals and if I get a few I'll be happy with that. Things aren't going to happen overnight but it's looking good."