Liverpool's Unconvincing Start Under Iraola: Squad Challenges Ahead
Andoni Iraola did not try to dress it up. Liverpool, unbeaten but unconvincing, are stuck in what he calls the “worst scenario” of the season already – a brutal run of games, a squad still taking shape, and key players at different stages of fitness.
Four league matches, three draws, one goalless stalemate at Anfield against Fulham that sucked the mood out of the place. The new head coach is still searching for rhythm after a summer of change, and the calendar is offering no sympathy.
On Tuesday night, Tottenham arrive in the Carabao Cup. The competition is usually a chance to rotate. For Iraola, it is a necessity.
Mamardashvili to start as Iraola shuffles the pack
One of the first big calls is in goal. Alisson Becker remains the undisputed No.1, but he will step aside for this tie.
“Yes. Alisson is proven, there are little doubts, he is playing very well,” Iraola told reporters, before turning the focus to the man coming in. “I rate Giorgi very highly, I know him from his years also in Spain. We told him we tried to sign him for Bournemouth before I came here, he is a very good ‘keeper. He is going to start tomorrow.”
Giorgi Mamardashvili, long admired by Iraola, now gets his first real stage as a Liverpool player. Not a token appearance, but a deliberate decision from a coach who wants to see how his squad copes when the games pile up and the stakes rise.
The changes will not stop there.
Joe Gomez is back in the mix and pushing to be involved, though Iraola will handle him carefully.
“Joe is training with the team and is available for tomorrow,” he said. “It’s a matter of deciding how much he can play, or what the best thing is for him.”
Mixed news in defence
The defensive picture is far from complete.
Conor Bradley, who impressed last season and offers real energy on the right, is still some way off returning.
“He is not close to training with the team,” Iraola admitted. “He is training alone, but he has started touching the ball. Definitely I want him back as soon as possible.”
There was a small positive note as he compared Bradley’s recovery to that of Leoni, another young defender working back from injury.
“Leoni is a little bit ahead of him and it is going to take some time for sure.”
So while Gomez edges back, Bradley remains on the outside, and Iraola continues to juggle his options at the back during the most demanding stretch of the early campaign.
Fixture chaos and a coach still learning his squad
The schedule is unforgiving, and Iraola is under no illusions about what Liverpool are facing.
“It’s the third game, it’s the worst scenario in terms of schedule, we haven’t been lucky,” he said of this current run. He pointed to the contrast in preparation time: “After this one we have a little bit more before we play Bournemouth, also we had a little bit more between Ipswich and Atletico and Atletico and Fulham and you noticed. Five days in comparison to two to three days is a massive difference.”
The reality bites even harder when he looks beyond Tottenham.
“It is what it is. After the international break we have four games in ten days, so we have to get used to it.”
This is where selection becomes a gamble. Stick with the same core and risk burnout, or rotate heavily and risk rhythm.
“You can put the same players in every game. The problem is there will be a moment they are very tired and there is more risk of injury,” Iraola explained.
Some players can live in that relentless cycle. Others cannot.
“But there are players who play every three days and have no issues, they can accept it and performances don’t change too much. Then there are other players where the risk is bigger and the performances are different.”
Iraola is still working out who falls into which category.
“And I am in a position where I have to learn who is ready to play every two or three days and who is ready to rest so their performance level doesn’t drop. I had an idea with some of them, but for some of them it is new as they haven’t played as many games and we are learning.”
Unbeaten, yet under scrutiny. Rotating, yet searching for continuity. Tottenham in the cup, Bournemouth to come, then four games in ten days after the break.
Liverpool are about to discover, very quickly, who can truly live with Iraola’s demands – and who cannot.
