Andoni Iraola walked into the press room at the AXA Training Centre knowing exactly what was coming. Bradley Barcola. Transfers. Midfield. Nottingham Forest. And somewhere beneath all of that, his first Premier League game at Anfield as Liverpool head coach.
No easing-in period here.
Barcola, wide areas and an uneasy market
Liverpool’s summer has revolved around one name and one problem: how to rebuild an attack stripped of Mohamed Salah. On Thursday morning, the club reached an outline agreement with Paris Saint-Germain for Bradley Barcola in a deal worth more than £100m, potentially rising towards £120m with add-ons based on individual and team success.
For Iraola, the need is obvious.
“There are certain things we can but it’s true we need players in the wide areas,” he said. “I’m sure if we can improve other areas we will but I don’t know how the market is going to finish. I have to be patient as well as you. It’s very uncomfortable for me as you are dealing with uncertainties all the time. In four or five days we will know what we have and then we can make proper plans.”
On Barcola specifically, he stayed firmly within the lines.
“As you know, we are trying to sign in that position. We can’t talk about players who right now aren’t ours. But we are trying to improve and fill that position as we don’t have the numbers. I hope we have good news soon but we are still not there.”
The message was clear: Liverpool’s plan has been set for weeks, the club know what he wants, but the head coach is living with the same uncertainty as everyone else until the window closes on September 2.
Midfield debate and defensive balance
If Barcola is the headline, the midfield is the argument. Iraola’s competitive debut at Newcastle ended in late drama, Dominik Szoboszlai rescuing a point in stoppage time, but the fallout has focused on Liverpool’s defensive transitions.
Iraola expected it.
“Not surprised, I expected when I came here that everything would be magnified,” he admitted. “I’m starting to understand. But it’s just one game where we did a lot of very good things, even the players in midfield did, but there are definitely things we need to improve.”
He didn’t hide from the issue that has dominated the analysis: how exposed Liverpool looked when they lost the ball.
“You go to the goals always,” he said. “If you make exactly the same mistake then it’s normal and I understand we have to talk about the defensive transitions. I thought we improved during the game in that aspect, were much much better getting the numbers. I think the first goal is more to blame than the second in terms of how we positioned when we lost the ball.”
The balance is the obsession. Iraola wants aggression, runners, numbers in the box – but not chaos.
“We don’t want to lose the offensive side, the fluidity, the arrival of numbers, but we were punished the other day. We have been intently working on it. It’s nothing new, we always want to control that. But there is a balance, we can’t go from one way where we send a lot of people forward to putting everyone back and it looks stale.
“It’s a matter of identifying the situation. The players who are very good, they smell whether they can take the risk of going or staying, it’s the quality of the player who takes those decisions.”
Ryan Gravenberch was used as the example. Iraola doesn’t want to blunt his instincts.
“I don’t want to tell Ryan Gravenberch don’t carry the ball as he scored against Monaco it came from his pass to Alex. But there is a balance, recognising the situation how we can balance those numbers in those positions. Sometimes you have to accept (the players go forward), it isn’t always one stays back and one goes forward. If the opposition are defending deep maybe both can go forward.”
“I felt we were closer to scoring than Newcastle”
For all the scrutiny, Iraola liked plenty of what he saw on Tyneside.
“I thought we controlled the game quite well, I felt we had meaningful possession, were quite direct in attack,” he said. “I was feeling good in the game, I felt we were closer to scoring than Newcastle in most part of the games. I felt good things in the first game.”
One of the biggest positives was Cody Gakpo, whose form under Iraola has quickly become a talking point in its own right – and, with the market still open, a potential concern.
“After performance he had in first game I say the same, he’s playing very well for us,” Iraola said. “He’s been very good since he’s been back from World Cup. The right attitude and I hope we can keep him at that level. He can be very influential on us.
“When the market is open and we bring in expensive players I cannot guarantee anything. But I don’t know. Our players, I cannot guarantee anything about how many we are going to sign or whatever. Experience tells us that if there’s an opportunity the last day you can do something.”
The honesty cut through. There are no promises, only intentions.
Selection calls: no Chiesa, no Elliott
Team news brought a couple of notable omissions. Fede Chiesa will not be involved against Forest.
“Fede is not available, in the game against Como he felt something in his back,” Iraola confirmed.
Harvey Elliott’s absence from the squad at Newcastle raised eyebrows. The explanation was blunt, rooted in numbers and balance rather than form.
“With Harvey and some of the players I can only choose 20,” Iraola said. “Harvey is trying and improving every week but I still prefer other options, about the balance on the bench. That’s why James McConnell was in the squad, but it’s now another new week and new chances for everyone. They have to keep that mentality.”
If there was a more encouraging individual note, it came for young defender Jacquet, who was thrown into the fire on his debut.
“He played very well considering it was his first game,” Iraola said. “It’s true he was tired, we had to sub him as you could feel he was tired in the last five minutes. He is very confident on the ball and good without the ball. Very young, we have to accept he will make mistakes.”
Forest, Glasner and a haunted fixture
Now comes a very different test – and a very awkward opponent.
Nottingham Forest have turned Anfield into an unlikely happy hunting ground over the past two seasons. Under Arne Slot, Liverpool lost both home league meetings to an aggregate score of 4-0, a pair of defeats that helped sour the Dutchman’s reign.
Iraola knows Oliver Glasner’s side will not gift him a gentler introduction.
“He has been very successful,” the Liverpool boss said of Glasner. “You can see straight away the shape. They don’t concede many chances, against Leeds it was a very tight game which was won with a free-kick in the last minute.
“We will have to earn every chance, win our duels, nothing is for free. We have to be good on the ball and patient because defensively they are very solid and good and have very good players. In transitions they are good threats on the counter.”
Forest have already shown they can strangle Anfield’s rhythm and punish mistakes. For Iraola, this is as much a psychological hurdle as a tactical one.
Anfield, emotion and the long season ahead
Beyond the spreadsheets, the transfer noise and the tactical diagrams, Saturday carries a personal weight. Iraola has already sampled Anfield in pre-season. This, though, is different.
“It’s going to be a special moment for me to have first PL game at Anfield,” he admitted. “I already felt it in pre-season. I will be thinking of the game but it’s also going to be emotional, it has to be like this as it’s a special place. I hope everything goes well and I enjoy the game.”
Enjoyment might depend on how quickly Liverpool can turn a turbulent week into something calmer. The club are closing in on their flagship attacking signing. Pundits such as Stephen Warnock are already calling for more – a right-back, a midfielder, more depth. Iraola, for now, is working inside the blur.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said of the window. “Even myself I have to be patient. Then we get to September 2, this is who we have and the options we have then we can start thinking. For now we don’t know. I have in my head what I want, we’ve been talking since the beginning with the club, they know what we want. It’s about closing the deals.”
Barcola may arrive. Others may follow. Some could leave. But at 12.30pm on Saturday, all of that noise fades and one question takes over Anfield.
Can Iraola do what his predecessor could not, and break Forest’s grip on this fixture before it tightens around Liverpool’s new era?
