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Andoni Iraola Sets Liverpool Standards Early as US Tour and Squad Changes Loom
Andoni Iraola has wasted no time. Liverpool’s new head coach has arrived, looked at the squad and made the obvious call, nobody gets a free pass.
The opening week at the AXA Training Centre has already set the tone. Sessions have been intense, hands-on and demanding, exactly what you would expect from a coach trying to establish control quickly after a period of upheaval. Liverpool fly to the United States on Monday, with stops in Chicago, Nashville and New York, and friendlies against Sunderland, Wrexham and Leeds built around double sessions in punishing conditions.
This is pre-season with a purpose. Not a lap of honour, not a fitness box-ticking exercise. Iraola is laying down standards.
Liverpool pre-season begins with clean slate
The clearest message is also the simplest. Every player starts again. Past status means little, reputation means less. Iraola, according to BBC Sport, has told the squad he is treating each of them as a new signing, which is exactly what a new manager should do when inheriting a group in transition.
There has been plenty of movement already. Dominik Szoboszlai has signed a new five-year contract, a significant decision in a summer shaped by the departures of Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson. With Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker entering the final year of their deals, Szoboszlai looks an obvious candidate for greater leadership responsibility, possibly even the vice captaincy.
Photo: IMAGO
US tour gives academy players and fringe names a chance
The trip will also include academy prospects, among them 15-year-old Josh Abe. That matters. Iraola wants a proper look at the depth of the club, and pre-season is where judgments are made quickly and often brutally.
Harvey Elliott has returned early. Curtis Jones has reportedly had a strong summer. Jeremy Jacquet, now wearing the number five shirt, has settled after recovering from a shoulder issue. These are the details that count at this stage, who is sharp, who is ready, who can absorb instructions and who cannot.
Inside the training ground, the mood has been described as youthful and intense, with Iraola heavily involved in drills and quick to shout “bravo” when something meets his standards. Fine. Encouragement is useful, but the bigger point is that he is present and demanding.
Squad changes still expected before season starts
Iraola has made it clear the rebuild is not finished, saying: “Definitely there are going to be changes.”
He added: “A lot of senior players, players who have won everything here have left and we need other players to not replace them but assume more responsibility in terms of inside and outside the pitch.”
That is the reality. Liverpool need new leaders, more additions and a leaner squad. Some fringe players will go out on loan or leave temporarily. Others will get one chance to convince the manager. That is how it should be.
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