Iraola begins shaping his Liverpool era
Andoni Iraola replaced Arne Slot as Liverpool head coach in June on a two-year deal, but this week marked the real start of his work at the club. On Monday he delivered his first press conference at the AXA Training Centre, a day before most of the first-team squad returned to training.
The new head coach used that opportunity to insist Liverpool need more signings, a process he expects to accelerate now that the World Cup is concluding. Dominik Szoboszlai signing a five-year deal stands as an important development in that regard.
Szoboszlai emerges as vice-captain candidate
One of Iraola’s key decisions will be appointing a vice-captain with an eye to the future. Virgil van Dijk played every minute for Liverpool in the Premier League last season before the World Cup, but at 35 with his contract expiring next summer, the club must plan for a new skipper.
Alisson Becker has the seniority but also expires next summer, leaving Szoboszlai as the standout candidate. “I’m 25. Mo left, Robbo left, so our vice-captain left and a club legend as well. Both of them are club legends. We’re going to miss them for sure and now someone else has to step up and if it’s me, I’m ready to do it,” said Szoboszlai, who captains Hungary.
Return to training and fitness testing
At the Kirkby base, players completed individual tests before moving to the pitch with the ball on Thursday and Friday. Iraola stays heavily involved in sessions and often says “bravo” when he likes something, with intensity clear in the club’s official training videos.
The head coach has told players he views them as new signings. Harvey Elliott returned a week early, Curtis Jones looks like he has had a great summer according to one source, and Jeremy Jacquet has settled in with the number five shirt after recovering from a shoulder injury.
Medical staff are impressed with the squad’s condition, though Iraola’s fitness test differs from past methods. Under Jurgen Klopp players did a lactate test and under Slot a six-minute race, while Iraola uses pitch movements with diagonals and cones to mimic high-intensity direction changes. “It’s deceptive as your legs just go,” defender Joe Gomez told Curtis Jones.
A youthful squad takes shape
With eight players on World Cup duty still absent, those at the training ground describe a youthful vibe. “This really is a chance for a new group to emerge before more of the seniors return,” one source said.
Iraola told Stan Sports that changes are coming. “Definitely there are going to be changes. A lot of senior players, players who have won everything here have left and we need other players to not replace them but assume (more responsibility) in terms of inside and outside the pitch.”
The 44-year-old carries respect in the building for his work at Bournemouth and says he will not change his ways. His first week shows a confident, comfortable manager who is not yet the box-office presence Klopp was.
Pre-season tour ahead
On Monday afternoon Liverpool fly to Chicago for a pre-season tour with fixtures in Nashville and New York. Most remaining first-team players and academy youngsters including 15-year-old Josh Abe will join, giving Iraola his first expanded group.
Double sessions in the heat bracket the three friendlies where most will play. From now on, the pressure on Iraola and his squad will only heat up.