Liverpool hire therapist to help deal with trolling

LIVERPOOL have hired a mental health consultant to protect their young players from the trauma of vile online trolling.

The club have recruited top psychiatric therapist Ishbel Straker to hold one-on-one clinics with upcoming stars, helping them to cope with racist abuse, sudden fame and addiction issues.

The move — the first of its kind in the Premier League — has been implemented to guard youngsters who are breaking into the first team from social media vitriol.

It comes after leading players including Trent Alexander Arnold and Sadio Mane were victims of horrific online trolling last year.

Just last month, their captain Jordan Henderson announced his concern that ‘nobody really takes player welfare carefully’.

A source said: ‘Liverpool care hugely about the mental health of their players but over the last year some of the abuse experienced by the first team has been horrendous.

‘The club is very keen to make sure the young players who are coming through, or just breaking into the first team, are prepared for what can come their way online. Trolling for some footballers has been as bad as it ever has been in the last 12 months and most young players are locked into social media.

‘The new mental health consultant is giving young players the chance to talk about the abuse they get and get bespoke advice on how they can cope with that.’ Liverpool is the first club in the Premier League to hire someone like this for their young stars.

Straker, who founded I Straker Consultants in 2000, is working with the club’s academy and Under 23 team. On their website it states the Liverpool-based therapist ‘also has a specialist interest in performance enhancement, which supports those who may be struggling with work due to their mental health’.