Liverpool players to watch in 2026/27: 4 key men
Liverpool players to watch in 2026/27: Anfield is in for a shock. Dropping to fifth and losing Arne Slot was bad enough, but the summer transfer window has turned into a proper fire sale. Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konate, and Andy Robertson are all off. Gone. That is a massive chunk of leadership out the door just as Andoni Iraola picks up the tactical whistle.
The Basque manager doesn’t do passive football. His teams sprint, press, and hunt in packs. With the old guard leaving on June 30, the players left behind can no longer hide in the shadows of club legends. Total reinvention is the only option.
1. Cody Gakpo
Empty shirts upfront mean opportunity. Gakpo spent too much of last year plugged into whatever gap needed filling, switching from the left wing to a makeshift midfield role. That stops now. Iraola needs a fixed, ruthless focal point to lead his press from the front.
Lazy, drifting performances won’t cut it under the new regime. We all know the Dutchman has the technical class to drop deep and link play. That looks nice on telly, but Anfield needs goals, cold, hard numbers in the fantasy football charts. He has to become the main man through the middle, simple as that.
2. Dominik Szoboszlai
Things are going to look very different in the engine room this August. Szoboszlai arrived with a load of hype and a rocket of a right foot, but his form fell off a cliff during the winter months.
No more Salah means the creative burden lands squarely on the Hungarians’ shoulders. When teams park the bus at Anfield, he has to be the one smashing those low blocks to pieces from distance. Iraola’s system is custom-built for physical freaks who can run all day. Szoboszlai has the engine. Now he needs the brains to match, picking the right pass in the final third instead of forcing it.
3. Curtis Jones
It is make-or-break time for the local lad. Jones loves a tackle, and he is brilliant at keeping the ball under pressure in tight spaces, but he has a habit of taking one touch too many. Iraola doesn’t want sideways passing. He hates it.
The new boss wants vertical chaos. Jones has to stop playing it safe and start acting like a proper box-to-box midfielder who hurts opponents in the penalty box. This is his chance to lock down a permanent spot in the starting eleven, but only if he can find some consistency.
4. Jeremie Frimpong
You cannot lose a backline like Liverpool just did and expect things to stay solid. Frimpong is brilliant going forward, a nightmare for left-backs when he hits top speed on the overlap. Defensive duties, though? That is where the worry creeps in.
Read: Good signing? Former Liverpool player is returning to Anfield this summer
Tracking back is non-negotiable now. Iraola expects his full-backs to sprint eighty yards to rescue a situation, a brutal physical chore over a long season. Relying on recovery pace to fix bad positioning is a dangerous game in this league. If he doesn’t sharpen up his basic defensive positioning, opposition wingers will have an absolute field day down his flank.
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