Should Liverpool fans be worried about Iraola's fitness comments?

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Andoni Iraola's Liverpool open their Premier League campaign at Newcastle on August 23

Football reporterPublished6 hours agoFor the second friendly in a row, Andoni Iraola's Liverpool threw away a two-goal lead and went on to lose the game.

In Chicago on 2 August, new Liverpool manager Iraola said the 4-2 friendly defeat against Leeds was useful as he "learned a lot of things" about his side.

However, at Anfield on Sunday against Monaco, the Spaniard was a little more candid after a 3-2 loss.

Two weeks out from the start of the Premier League campaign, Iraola's verdict was that his side had "work to do" because they could not sustain the level that he wanted for the duration of a game.

Iraola said that his side played a good first 30 minutes but "they don't have much more, in terms of the levels required to play like this".

For what it's worth, the first half against Leeds and the first 30 minutes against Monaco was the best that Liverpool have looked throughout pre-season. They moved the ball with pace, were direct, pressed with intensity and both Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak have looked sharp.

But as the game progressed and changes were made - Iraola made nine against Leeds and 11 against Monaco - Liverpool have looked like a different team and certainly not for the better. Leeds scored four goals in 25 minutes without reply while Monaco scored three unanswered goals in 44 minutes too.

Some of the squad are still working their way back to full fitness after some time off following the World Cup while others such as Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni are sidelined for lengthy periods of time.

Uruguay defender Ronald Araujo, who can play at centre-back and right-back, completed a season-long loan move from Barcelona on Monday.

On Sunday, skipper Virgil van Dijk said: "Let's see what the next couple of weeks are going to bring. Any quality we can add to the team will definitely be welcome so let's see."

But with the squad at his disposal, Iraola is adamant that the general fitness must improve if they are to play the style that he wants. Pablo de la Torre, one of Iraola's assistants, has also made the move to Liverpool and was previously the fitness coach at Bournemouth.

Across the small sample size of four games, there have been enough signs of Liverpool playing in a busy manner in the early phases of games and that intensity was evident to see during an open training session in Chicago, where Iraola used phrases like "quicker, quicker" repeatedly.

In Chicago, Milos Kerkez said that Iraola is asking the players to "play one-on-one all over the pitch, to press high and to always be on the front foot".

Iraola's Bournemouth side ranked first in the Premier League season for direct attacks and third when it came to high turnovers.

It is worth noting that it took him 10 games to secure his first win at Bournemouth in the 2023-24 season. Any such run at Liverpool would be unacceptable but you only have to look at the way Bournemouth performed throughout his tenure to see why Iraola persisted with his ways.

His comments on Sunday were certainly concerning but he has had less than a month to work with his players and only a week or so with some. The signs are there that this team will entertain but as Iraola pointed out in Chicago, it will take time.

"I would like to say, no, on the first day, we are going to be perfect, everyone will be in place, but probably it is not going to be like this," he said, when asked if it would take a while before fully seeing his style of play. "We will have to do this as quickly as possible."

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