Andoni Iraola’s Brutal Admission Exposes Worrying Liverpool Flaw

One of the fears many harbored about Iraola’s appointment were realized in Liverpool’s goalless draw with Fulham.

Andoni Iraola has some concerning problems on his hands. | Matt McNulty/Getty Images

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola admitted that his side suffered from “a lack of freshness” which contributed to a blunt goalless draw with Fulham on Saturday.

The visit of Álvaro Arbeloa’s porous Cottagers was Liverpool’s first quick turnaround of the season. The fears many harbored about the demands of Iraola’s relentless style of play in a campaign complicated by midweek Champions League action were realized in the listless affair at Anfield.

The main issues surrounding Liverpool’s underwhelming start to the new season had revolved around defensive instability. Iraola’s “controlled chaos” approach typically inspires full-throttle attacking thrust in both directions. There had been signs of tentative improvements in the Reds’ cohesion during recent wins over Ipswich Town and, in particular, Wednesday’s European victory over Atlético Madrid.

After falling behind to the Anfield bogeyman that is Marcos Llorente, Liverpool roared back into the ascendency to claim a deserved 2–1 win. Iraola’s side smothered their Spanish visitors, collectively sprinting 2.3 miles while racking up 167 high intensity runs, per FotMob. Three days later, there was nothing left in the legs; Liverpool covered just 1.4 miles across 124 sprints—both of which were new lows under Iraola.

“What was lacking, I think it was quite clear,” the Basque boss sighed. “It is the first game as a team where we have had problems to create chances and score goals and make the difference offensively. That is the main reason that we couldn’t create chances as we wanted.

“It is easy for me, for you, for everyone [to say] the players were tired. There was a lack of freshness, we cannot hide it. This is the worst turnaround in terms of 60-something hours after a very big game the other day. But this is going to happen in the season and we have to adapt. It is this kind of game that you need to win sometimes with a set play or a moment of brilliance from the offensive players. Clearly [we were] not as good offensively as other days.”

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Liverpool’s Unrelenting Schedule

Liverpool were off the pace from the first kick against Fulham. | James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images

There were 67 hours between kickoff in Liverpool’s clash with Atlético Madrid on Wednesday and the visit from Fulham over the weekend. By the start of November, that sequence of fixtures may look refreshing in comparison to what lies ahead.

Liverpool had the luxury of playing both games at Anfield. That won’t be the case upon their return from the elongated international break later this month when they travel to Austria to take on LASK 69 hours before facing Brentford in west London.

There will be more air miles racked up at the start of November, as Liverpool make the trip to Crystal Palace three days after traveling to Türkiye to take on Fenerbahçe in the Istanbul bear pit.

Date	Opponent	Hours After Previous Match
Tuesday, Sept. 15	Tottenham (H)	77
Sunday, Sept. 20	Bournemouth (A)	114
Sunday, Oct. 11	Man City (H)	506
Wednesday, Oct. 14	LASK (A)	73
Saturday, Oct. 17	Brentford (A)	69
Tuesday, Oct. 20	Villarreal (H)	77
Sunday, Oct. 25	Brighton (H)	114
w/c Monday, Oct. 26	Carabao Cup Fourth Round	TBD
Sunday, Nov. 1	Arsenal (H)	TBD
Wednesday, Nov. 4	Fenerbahçe (A)	73
Saturday, Nov. 7	Crystal Palace (A)	69

For all his success with Rayo Vallecano and Bournemouth, Iraola didn’t lead either club into UEFA competition. The 44-year-old’s only previous experience of the European rigors came eight years ago during his first managerial position at AEK Larnaca.

Iraola managed to lead the Cypriot outfit through three rounds of Europa League qualifying to earn the privilege of playing six group games. It was not a successful endeavor.

AEK won just a single game and were promptly dumped out of the competition. The toll of competing on multiple fronts ultimately spiraled into a disastrous stretch of form as Iraola went five consecutive matches without victory to end 2018. He had been sacked by mid-January.

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