NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
Liverpool has a new coach. Just over a year after Arne Slot led the Reds to a record 20 English Championships, the Dutchman has been replaced on the bench by Andoni Iraola. The managerial change has already lifted spirits at Anfield after a disastrous Premier League title defense that included 12 defeats, while Liverpool were also beaten at home by Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup fourth round, humiliated by Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals and swept by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Slot was certainly not solely responsible for the Reds’ notable regression, and would probably have been forgiven for a trophyless campaign had his team played with great intensity. However, Liverpool looked mentally and physically fragile for most of the season, so it was not at all surprising that fans grew tired of seeing their team struggle to score goals and keep clean sheets on a weekly basis.
Iraola has therefore been tasked by sporting director Richard Hughes with the task of once again fixing a broken team, having previously signed him to Bournemouth in 2023. The Basque did a remarkable job with very little money to spend at the Vitality Stadium and, after losing almost his entire defense last summer, somehow led the Cherries to a historic sixth-place finish in last season’s Premier League. The fact that he achieved that remarkable feat playing ‘top football’ is the main reason why Hughes & Co. believe Iraola is the ideal man to turn things around at Anfield.
However, it is not going to be easy for Iraola. As the Spaniard sits down to start working on his new role, he has plenty of issues to resolve before the new season begins in August. Here, GOAL breaks down the most urgent items in Iraola’s inbox:
Get Isak fired
Typically, the last thing a coach wants is to see a top player heading to a major international tournament. However, shortly before being sacked, Slot argued that Alexander Isak’s participation in the World Cup could be a good thing for Liverpool.
After all, it’s not like the Swedish international was in danger of burning out. He only started 13 times during his injury-plagued first campaign on Merseyside. Thus, one could easily understand why Slot thought it would be “very useful” for Isak to play “many games” in the World Cup.
Of course, the obvious risk is that he fails again in North America, but Isak certainly needs minutes more than any other Liverpool player.
In fact, it would be a huge boost for Iraola if the British player emerged from the tournament unscathed and with his confidence restored after a few starts and perhaps even scoring a couple of goals. The early signs are also encouraging, with Isak coming off the bench to score a stunning goal in Sweden’s friendly against Norway on Monday.
Given that Iraola joined Bournemouth three years ago, he is obviously familiar with the version of Isak at Newcastle, and that is the version Liverpool need next season. Another four-goal campaign is absolutely unthinkable for a £125m player, so while the new manager will want Isak back for as much of the pre-season as possible to instil in him the importance of pressing, the World Cup could prove key to helping him get the best out of his new number 9.
Iraola did wonders with Eli Junior Kroupi at Bournemouth. Who knows what he could achieve with a fully fit Isak at Anfield?
What to do with Wirtz?
It will be much easier for Iraola to get Isak fired if he can figure out how to unlock Florian Wirtz’s enormous potential.
For a split second midway through the 2025-26 campaign, it really looked like everything was going to fall into place for Liverpool. Isak, confidently converting a lovely little pass from Wirtz in the 2-1 win at Tottenham on December 20, gave long-suffering fans a glimpse of a brighter future.
It was nothing more than a glimpse, however, as Isak was left with a broken leg after being taken out by Micky van de Ven immediately after scoring and would not play in the Premier League again for another four months.
Of course, Wirtz continued to show flashes of his undoubted genius, particularly while working alongside Hugo Ekitike before the Frenchman’s devastating injury ended his year. However, although fate conspired against the German international on more than a couple of occasions, there is no denying that Wirtz disappeared too many times, and especially in important games.
The hope, however, is that the change in style we will now see with Iraola will benefit the £100m signing from Bayer Leverkusen, who should take on the number 10 role in the manager’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation.
Wirtz, however, is also under pressure to prove he can cope with the intensity and physicality of the Premier League, thereby dismissing claims that Liverpool would be better off deploying halfback Dominik Szoboszlai opposite Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister.
For Iraola, getting the midfield composition right is of utmost importance because the Reds were repeatedly outplayed last season, with Gravenberch providing more attacking threat but less defensive cover, and Mac Allister looking completely exhausted.
Don’t be surprised, then, if Iraola asks his new employers for the No 6 specialist Liverpool have been missing for so long to lighten the load on Gravenberch, restore much-needed balance and allow Wirtz to go and do what he does best: create.
Develop Salah’s successor
Obviously, Wirtz also needs more quality options up front, especially as there is now a glaring hole on Liverpool’s right flank.
Despite the dizzying rumors of a quick return for Mohamed Salah following Slot’s sacking, the Egyptian king will not be returning to Anfield anytime soon and the search for a worthy heir to the throne has already begun.
It’s obviously a thankless task, given that we’re talking about an inside forward who scored and assisted more goals than any other Liverpool player in Premier League history.
Of course, the club could (and should) have gotten ahead of this problem by bringing in Antoine Semenyo last summer. Instead, he was allowed to join rivals Manchester City for a bargain £64million during the winter transfer window, and Liverpool will now have to pay much more than that if they are to land their top target Yan Diomande.
Still, the work done by Iraola at Bournemouth not only with Semenyo but also with Rayan suggests that no matter which winger the Reds sign to replace Salah, he is capable of taking his game to another level.
Help Jacquet reach an agreement as soon as possible
It is unclear at this stage whether Liverpool will regret refusing to meet Ibrahima Konate’s wage demands. What we do know, however, is that the Reds are now short on experience in the center of defence.
Veteran captain Virgil van Dijk may have at least one more big season ahead of him, but while Joe Gomez may stay for another year despite more talk of a move away from Merseyside, the versatile England international simply cannot be counted on to stay fit.
Since no one can be sure how long it will take teenager Giovanni Leoni to regain his top speed following his ACL injury, the onus to hit the ground running falls largely on newcomer Jeremy Jacquet.
The problem, of course, is that the 20-year-old spent a significant time on the sidelines last season. Jacquet suffered a serious shoulder injury in Rennes’ Ligue 1 clash against Lens on February 7, less than a week after his £60million transfer to Liverpool was confirmed.
However, Jacquet is said to have made a full recovery and should be fully fit for the start of pre-season – which is better, actually, as Iraola needs the Frenchman to quickly show why the Reds were willing to invest so much money in a defender with just 37 top-flight appearances under his belt.
Still, on the plus side, it didn’t take the former Bournemouth manager that long to get Dean Huijsen playing so well that Liverpool were interested in signing the Spaniard before he joined Real Madrid for €59.5m (£50m) last summer…
Convince Allison to stay
Liverpool knew that the increasingly injury-prone Alisson Becker was nearing the end of his career at Anfield, so they put a succession plan in place in the summer of 2024 by agreeing a deal with Valencia for Giorgi Mamardashvili that would see the Georgian move to Merseyside a year later. As a consequence, the Reds decided to allow their understandably pesky number 2, Caoimhin Kelleher, to join Brentford for an initial £12.5m.
Unfortunately for forward-thinking Liverpool, both deals now look horribly ill-advised. While Kelleher unsurprisingly played a pivotal role in Keith Andrews’ Brentford side, who surprisingly finished ninth in the Premier League last season, Mamardashvili did not look at all comfortable for the majority of his first 20 appearances for the Reds.
Of course, the 25-year-old wasn’t helped at all by the poor defense excuse put in front of him, but there was a constant air of nervousness about him, especially with the ball at his feet.
Therefore, it is not at all surprising that Liverpool are no longer willing to allow Alisson to join Juventus. The Brazilian is still said to intend to move to Turin, but Iraola should do everything he can to convince Alisson to stay for another year at Anfield. He may no longer be capable of playing 50 games a season, but it is clear that Liverpool need more time to find a more suitable successor to Mamardashvili.
Sort the position of the problem
The news that Jeremie Frimpong had missed out on Holland’s World Cup squad this summer was shocking in some ways. The versatile full-back would have been considered a safe bet this time last year. Unfortunately, however, it is easy to understand why Ronald Koeman now feels he can do without a player who had a terrible first season at Liverpool.
Frimpong started just 23 games in all competitions as he struggled for fitness and form for almost the entirety of a campaign that produced just two assists and two goals – a stunning return for a player who proved so prolific in both areas for Bayer Leverkusen.
The main problem with the 25-year-old is that no one is sure if he is good enough defensively to play at right back. Frimpong has incredible pace, but his positioning and decision-making are questionable at best.
Of course, Frimpong’s problems wouldn’t be a huge problem for Liverpool if Conor Bradley was able to play twice a week, but that now seems like a pipe dream after another injury-limited campaign.
In this context, Iraola has to make an important decision as a right back. If you don’t feel you can rely on Frimpong or Bradley to stay fit, a summer signing is essential as Liverpool are no closer to filling the considerable void left by Trent Alexander-Arnold.
