Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith believes Liverpool stars Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak could benefit from the appointment of Andoni Iraola.
The pair cost a combined £241m to sign last summer, but form and injury curtailed their first year at Anfield. Speaking exclusively to Walk On (courtesy of Best Betting Sites UK), Smith said that Iraola can get more out of a squad which underperformed last season:
“I think he can improve them with what he’s got because you look at the likes of Florian Wirtz. And Alexander Isak, he’s going to come in and get a good pre-season, you’d hope, and be able to start and perhaps show his Newcastle form. Obviously, Ekitike’s out.”
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“But I think they certainly underperformed with the players that they’ve got last season under Arne Slot. So Iraola, yeah, he would see potential there to make things better fairly quickly. But like any manager, he would want to get some of his own choices in as well. So that’s going to be fascinating to see what Liverpool do.”
Wirtz and Isak’s numbers for the 2025/26 season
Out of the two players, there is no doubt that Wirtz has had the better start to his Liverpool career, with 7 goals and 10 assists, but you would be hoping for more from him in his second campaign.
Isak struggled to even get on the pitch following his move from Newcastle, scoring only 4 goals and providing 1 assist in 13 starts. With Hugo Ekitike out for the rest of this year, it is imperative that the Swedish international improves his fitness heading into next season.
Iraola needs more squad depth
The main concern about the Basque’s approach is his training demands. He doesn’t give his players any days off, and that means they will be more prone to injuries.
Combined with the fact that Liverpool have a much more intense schedule than Bournemouth, it will be interesting to see how Iraola adapts.
One thing is certain – he needs a squad with a lot of depth, or there could be moments next campaign where there are issues with player availability.
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