Updated August 17, 2026
Andoni Iraola was brought to Liverpool to restore something that had disappeared during Arne Slot's final season: intensity.
After winning the Premier League in Slot's first year, Liverpool slumped to fifth in 2025/26 despite spending more than £400 million on the squad. Slot paid the price and Iraola, having taken Bournemouth into Europe, was handed the task of making Liverpool challengers once more.
Stylistically, the appointment makes sense. Iraola's Bournemouth pressed high, attacked vertically and played with an aggression that should translate well to Anfield.
But simply playing faster will not be enough.
Liverpool have lost Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konaté, while several expensive additions have yet to consistently deliver what was expected of them. Iraola has inherited an extremely talented squad, but also one with some obvious holes.
If Liverpool are going to close the gap on champions Arsenal and challenge for the Premier League again, these are the problems Iraola needs to solve.
This is the obvious starting point. Liverpool's defensive vulnerability was one of the major problems of Slot's final season and there have already been warning signs under Iraola.
They conceded seven goals across two late pre-season friendlies, while their problems defending dead balls are particularly concerning. Liverpool conceded 23 goals from set pieces last season, an extraordinary number for a team with ambitions of competing at the top of the Premier League.
Iraola's football is naturally aggressive. He wants defenders pushing forward, the midfield compressing the pitch and Liverpool winning possession as close to the opposition goal as possible.
However, that comes with risk. Get the first press wrong and suddenly Liverpool's centre-backs can find themselves defending huge amounts of space. That was manageable at Bournemouth because Iraola was trying to make an underdog more dangerous. At Liverpool, opponents will actively look for ways to exploit it.
Ronald Araújo's arrival gives Iraola another powerful defensive option, while Jérémy Jacquet was already signed as part of Liverpool's attempt to refresh the position. But personnel alone will not fix the problem.
Liverpool need a defensive structure that allows them to press aggressively without turning every lost duel into a counterattack. That balance could determine how far Iraola's first Liverpool team goes.
For almost a decade, Liverpool could turn to Mohamed Salah whenever everything else stopped working. They cannot anymore.
Salah's departure leaves Iraola with a problem that goes far beyond simply replacing a right winger. Liverpool have lost their most dependable goalscorer, one of their main creators and the player around whom much of their attacking structure was built.
There is unlikely to be a single replacement.
Instead, Iraola needs to spread that attacking responsibility across the team.
Alexander Isak is an obvious part of the solution. A fully fit Isak gives Liverpool an elite striker capable of scoring, running behind and participating in the press. Liverpool will hope that an uninterrupted pre-season can provide the platform he lacked during an injury-disrupted first campaign at Anfield.
But Liverpool still need more threat from wide areas.
Bradley Barcola continues to be linked with a move from Paris Saint-Germain, which makes sense stylistically. He has the acceleration and direct running to thrive in Iraola's transition-heavy football, although PSG's reported asking price remains enormous.
Whether Barcola arrives or not, Liverpool cannot spend the season asking who replaces Salah.
Iraola needs to build an attack that no longer requires one player to do everything.
Of all Liverpool's existing players, Florian Wirtz may be the one whose development matters most.
Liverpool paid heavily to sign one of Europe's most talented attacking midfielders, but his first Premier League season never fully justified the expectation around his arrival.
That needs to change.
Wirtz still produced 16 goal involvements last season, but Liverpool need him influencing games more consistently if they are going to challenge Arsenal and Manchester City.
Iraola may actually be an excellent manager for him.
His football creates transitions. It creates broken defensive lines. It asks attacking players to receive possession quickly and exploit the space before opponents have time to organise themselves.
Those situations should suit Wirtz far more than sterile possession around a settled defence.
The challenge will be finding his best position.
Iraola has already spoken during pre-season about how Wirtz can be used, and Liverpool are expected to operate predominantly from a 4-2-3-1 or similar structure. That could give the German considerably more freedom between midfield and attack.
If Iraola can turn Wirtz from an expensive luxury into the creative centre of his Liverpool side, the ceiling of this team changes dramatically.
This is where Iraola's appointment becomes particularly interesting.
Liverpool's press gradually lost its bite under Slot. The side that had once suffocated opponents increasingly allowed them to play, and the emotional intensity Anfield had become accustomed to disappeared with it. Iraola should change that quickly.
His Bournemouth teams were aggressive without the ball, willing to jump onto opponents and turn recoveries into attacks before the opposition could reorganise. That is exactly what Liverpool need.
But there is a difference between making Bournemouth one of the Premier League's most uncomfortable opponents and making Liverpool champions.
At Bournemouth, chaos could be a weapon. At Liverpool, chaos cannot be the only weapon.
Arsenal, Manchester City and Europe's best sides will punish a press that becomes predictable. Meanwhile, plenty of Premier League opponents will simply sit deep at Anfield and refuse to give Liverpool the transitional situations Iraola prefers.
So the challenge is not merely to press harder.
It is to know when not to press.
Liverpool need the aggression of Iraola's Bournemouth combined with the ability to slow matches down, circulate possession and attack organised low blocks when the situation requires it.
That tactical evolution is arguably the biggest test Iraola faces at Anfield.
Liverpool's spending was not the problem last season, making all those pieces fit together was.
More than £400 million had been invested in the squad before Slot's departure, yet Liverpool somehow became less convincing as a team. Iraola therefore does not need another complete rebuild, he need clarity.
Who partners in midfield? Who provides the width? Where does Wirtz play? How does Liverpool compensate when both full-backs attack? Which players lead the press? Who replaces Salah's goals? And which centre-back partnership can survive playing 40 metres from its own goal?
Those answers need to become obvious. Iraola succeeded at Bournemouth partly because every player understood the job being asked of him. Liverpool need that same clarity, only with considerably greater expectations.
There are also questions about depth. Liverpool have lost several hugely experienced players and Sky Sports has identified the lack of squad depth as one of the remaining concerns before the new campaign.
Liverpool's starting XI can compete with almost anybody. Winning a Premier League title requires considerably more than 11 players.
There is plenty of reason for optimism. Liverpool still possess an expensive and extremely talented squad. Isak could look like a different player if he remains fit. Wirtz has another level to reach. Milos Kerkez already understands Iraola's demands from their time together at Bournemouth, and Iraola has demonstrated that his methods work in the Premier League.
Most importantly, his football should immediately inject energy back into Anfield. But Liverpool finished fifth for a reason. Iraola needs to fix the defence, replace Salah's attacking influence collectively, unlock Wirtz, rebuild the press and find a better balance between aggression and control. Do that and Liverpool have enough talent to make fifth place look like an aberration.
Fail to solve those issues and simply playing more exciting football will not be enough. The Iraola era should make Liverpool entertaining again. The bigger challenge is making them contenders again.
